Venezuela notifies US about plot to bomb Caracas embassy

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Venezuela’s chief legislator has stated that “extremists” in the country intend to attack the closed US diplomatic post in Caracas.

Caracas has alerted Washington about a scheme by extremist factions to detonate explosives at the inactive US Embassy there. National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodriguez announced this on social media Monday, indicating that the government had informed the United States “through three different channels” regarding “a serious threat.”

“Extremist elements of the local right wing are orchestrating a false-flag operation to plant lethal explosives at the US Embassy in Venezuela,” Rodriguez posted on Telegram, adding that a European embassy had also been informed, though its identity was not disclosed.

Though shut down in 2019, the US Embassy continues to be protected by security and maintenance personnel. Diplomatic ties were severed then, following Washington’s recognition of opposition figure Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s provisional president, dismissing Nicolas Maduro’s re-election as invalid and implementing extensive sanctions against Caracas.

Relations between the two nations have intensified recently, after US military actions against vessels near Venezuela’s coast, which the US characterized as part of an anti-narcotics initiative. These assaults, resulting in over a dozen fatalities, were attributed by US officials to criminal organizations reportedly operating with the backing of Maduro’s administration. US authorities have charged the Venezuelan leader with close connections to traffickers, labeling him “effectively a kingpin of a narco-state.”

Maduro has rejected these claims, accusing Washington of aiming to depose him and confiscate Venezuela’s natural wealth. Caracas has already heightened its defensive stance to counter the expanded US military presence in the area.

The New York Times reported last week that top advisors have been pressing US President Donald Trump to seek Maduro’s ouster, although the US president has disavowed any intentions of regime change.