France denies Venezuelan opposition leader Guaido's presence at Caracas embassy

France denied reports that Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido was at the French Embassy in Caracas after President Nicolas Maduro hinted that his rival was “hiding” at a diplomatic location. Earlier,  Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza had said that the security forces can not enter the premises of French or Spanish Embassy and arrest by force is not possible.

Guaido has emerged as a challenger for the Maduro regime after he took the oath of office in January 2019, declaring himself interim president of the South American nation. He promised to end to the “usurpation” Maduro, called for the creation of a transitional government and free elections. He received support from the United States and many Latin countries like Brazil and Colombia.

Maduro has repeatedly accused Guaido of planning a coup with the help of the US and European countries, especially after authorities arrested ex-Green Beret for an alleged failed attack to overthrow the incumbent President. Venezuela state TV broadcasted a “confession video” of the US citizen in which he admitted to being involved in the plan to overthrow Maduro regime in a coup.

Luke Denman, one of the 13 people captured by the authorities, said in the video that he was hired to help Venezuelans take back control of the country. Denman, a former US special operations forces member, appeared to explain that the plan was to take Maduro out of the country by taking control of an airport.

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Maduro accused Trump of invasion

Maduro held a press conference after the video was shown on state television and accused US President Donald Trump of trying to overthrow him. Calling Trump the “direct chief” of invasion, Maduro assured that the US citizens would have a fair trial but did not disclose the whereabouts of the detainees.

Later, Trump denied the government’s involvement in what Venezuela called a failed armed incursion and captured two American “mercenaries”. The US State Department lashed out at Maduro for allegedly cooking up a “melodrama” to distract people from problems festering inside crisis-hit Venezuela. 

Read: Venezuela To Partially Reopen The Country From June 1 With On-off Policy

(Image: AP)