Venezuelan Defense Chief Accuses Exxon Mobil of Financing Assassination Attempts on Maduro

© AP Photo / Ariana CubillosVenezuelan Defense Minister Chief General Padrino Lopez
Venezuelan Defense Minister Chief General Padrino Lopez - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 23.01.2024
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MEXCICO CITY (Sputnik) - Earlier, Venezuela's security forces reportedly thwarted preparations for a number of terrorist attacks and conspiracies, the detained people in the case are believed to have recruited Venezuelan military staff and planned, in coordination with the US authorities, assassination attempts on the country's officials.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has alleged that US oil giant Exxon Mobil sponsored preparations for the 2023 foiled assassination attempts on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with the aim of exploiting rich resources of the Essequibo region.
On Monday, Venezuelan Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab said that the country's security forces thwarted preparations for five terrorist attacks and conspiracies, with 27 people detained in the case. The detainees are believed to have recruited Venezuelan military personnel and planned, in coordination with the US authorities, assassination attempts on Maduro, Padrino and Freddy Bernal, the governor of the Venezuelan state of Tachira.
"I dare say, this is funded by Exxon Mobil so that once the task of these conspiratorial actions is completed — the task of assassinating the Venezuelan constitutional president, our commander-in-chief, of killing him, taking him out — [the US can] come after the Essequibo region. These are not crazy ideas, this is a geopolitical analysis constantly carried out by the General Staff of the Bolivarian armed forces," Padrino Lopez said in an speech broadcast by the state-run VTV channel on Monday.
Aerial view of the Rupununi Savannah in western Guyana, near the border with Brazil and Venezuela, taken on April 12, 2023.  - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 10.12.2023
Venezuela, Guyana to Hold Talks on Disputed Essequibo Region, Foreign Ministry States
The US government, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Drug Enforcement Administration have allegedly been involved in the foiled assassination attempts on Maduro with an eye of "taking him out of the game," he stated, adding that the Venezuelan authorities "had to swallow these conspiratorial events in 2023" amid the negotiations with the US government on the relief of some oil sanctions against Caracas.
The oil- and mineral- rich Essequibo region has long been a subject of dispute between Venezuela and Guyana. Venezuela gained independence from Spain in 1845, with Essequibo recognized as part of its sovereign territory. However, in 1899, the United Kingdom filed and won an arbitration claim to recognize Essequibo as part of its then-Caribbean colony of British Guiana. Independent Guyana cited the 1899 Arbitral Award in its 2018 International Court of Justice suit against Venezuela to reassert its claim of sovereignty over the disputed territory.
In December 2023, Venezuela held a referendum in which almost 96% of the population voted in favor of incorporating the Essequibo region into the country. Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali said that Georgetown was considering Caracas' actions to incorporate Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana's territory, as a threat to the country's national security.
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