By Laura Gamba
BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) -
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Thursday that three Americans had been detained for alleged terrorist activities.
Cabello said one of the Americans, Jonathan Pagan Gonzalez, who "had the mission of infiltrating religious organizations,"had been captured in the border state of Zulia. He also mentioned two other Americans as David Guttenberg Guillaume and Gregory David Werbe.
With the arrests announced Thursday by Cabello, there would be at least 19 detainees in the country from various nationalities including the United States, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. The interior minister said they all have in common that they speak Spanish, which allows them to infiltrate communities without being detected.
"The detained foreigners speak perfect Spanish, this is a necessary requirement for them to be able to connect with the communities," Cabello said in his statement broadcast by
state television.
The interior minister also reported on the seizure of hundreds of assault rifles and other weapons that the alleged mercenaries wanted to introduce into Venezuela. He said that 71 firearms were seized through various operations, including 33 rifles that had been stolen from the Venezuelan armed forces. In total, more than 500 weapons have been seized, said Cabello, some manufactured in the US and others in Israel.
“It is an operation in which the US Intelligence Agency brings mercenaries into Venezuela, introduces weapons, establishes contacts with criminal gangs to attack strategic points in the country and assassinate leaders of the revolution and harm the people," he said.
In December 2023, authorities released 10 Americans and 20 Venezuelan citizens from jail in exchange for the US release of Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman and close ally of President Nicolas Maduro. The US had accused Saab of pilfering millions of dollars from Venezuelan social programs as part of a money-laundering scheme
Last September, Venezuelan authorities arrested four Americans and two Spanish citizens, for allegedly trying to overthrow President Maduro.