Venezuela: Opposition Legislator Linked to Drone Attack Detained

Opposition legislator Juan Requesens was detained after being linked to the assassination attempt by retired military man Juan Carlos Monasterios.

Venezuela’s Bolivarian Service for National Intelligence (Sebin) detained legislator Juan Requesens Tuesday, after evidence was found linking him to the failed assassination attempt against President Nicolas Maduro last week.

He was linked to the failed attempt by retired military officer Juan Carlos Monasterios, alias Bons, who was also involved in the plot that flew explosive drones over Avenida Bolivar in Caracas.

Monasterios revealed that Requesens was in charge of establishing the contacts in Colombia to host and train a group of young Venezuelans who are members of the Venezuelan opposition.

Monasterios also participated in the attack on the Frente Paramacay on August 6, 2017, and trained a group of Venezuelans in Colombia that same year.

Requesens is a member of the opposition party Primero Justicia or First Justice. Diosdado Cabello, president of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly, announced they would start proceeding to revoke parliamentary immunity for those legislators involved in the assassination attempt; the first step to begin a trial.

In a public statement, Tuesday president Maduro announced he would use the country’s international accords to request the extradition of at least five people, including a former colonel, who has been implicated in the “terror attack” and is currently living in the United States or Colombia.

Maduro also alleged the former president of Venezuela’s National Assembly Julio Borges was involved in the attack. “All the statements (of the six people detained) point to Julio Borges, who lives in a mansion in Bogota protected by the outgoing government of Colombia,” Maduro said.

A former police chief, Salvatore Lucchese, who is also in Bogota, also claimed to have played a role in the attack and warned of others in a televised interview. “We had an objective, and at the moment we were not able to materialize it 100 percent… The armed struggle will continue,” he said.