Venezuelan authorities have arrested 125 mercenaries from several countries, including at least one Israeli, the country’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello said on Monday.
In a press conference broadcast by the state-run channel Venezolana de Televisión, or VTV, Cabello indicated that the suspects, who were detained for “acts of terrorism,” hailed from several countries, including Israel, Colombia, the United States, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Guyana and Yemen.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The arrests appear to be connected to Venezuela’s July 28 elections, according to the El Diario news site. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s electoral council declared him the winner of those elections despite partial results and independent exit polling that suggested opposition candidate Edmundo González had captured twice as many votes. González claims to have won the elections. Maduro, a Socialist authoritarian who is the successor of the late Hugo Chavez, has continued Chavez’s anti-Israel policies.
