Maduro: 'They Tried to Assassinate Me' With a Drone

Venezuelan leader blames drone strike on far-right plot
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 5, 2018 5:37 AM CDT
'They Tried to Assassinate Me:' Maduro
Security personnel surround Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, at left, as he was giving a speech in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. Drones armed with explosives detonated near Maduro as he gave a speech to hundreds of soldiers in Caracas on Saturday but he was unharmed.   (Xinhua via AP)

"This was an assassination attempt, they tried to assassinate me," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said in blaming a drone attack Saturday on a far-right plot. As Reuters reports, an explosives-laden drone detonated at a military event in Caracas as Maduro was speaking, leaving the leftist leader unharmed but injuring seven members of Venezuela's National Guard.

The event was to celebrate the 81st anniversary of the National Guard. Maduro said he saw a "flying device" that he thought might be part of a fireworks display in his honor; the AP describes him as "visibly shaken" after two explosions were heard. Maduro is blaming rightist detractors he says are linked to Colombia and Florida; he says some "material authors" of the attack are in custody. (More Nicolas Maduro stories.)

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