Venezuela has charged two former US soldiers with terrorism and conspiracy offences for taking part in a botched bid to oust President Nicolas Maduro, the country’s top prosecutor said on Friday.
Luke Alexander Denman and Airan Berry were among at least 17 people captured by the Venezuelan military following a foiled attempt by mercenaries to kidnap President Maduro in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab said the ex-soldiers had been charged with “terrorism, conspiracy, illicit trafficking of weapons of war and [criminal] association,” and could face up to 30 years in prison.
Saab’s office also requested the detention and extradition of US military veteran Jordan Goudreau and two Venezuelans accused of orchestrating the failed incursion.
Maduro said on Thursday that evidence will soon come to light that will show that US President Donald Trump himself ordered the plot. Trump later dismissed the idea, saying he would have done things differently, ordering a full “invasion.”
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