Venezuela Reports 'Terrorist' Attack

As assembly ousts nation's chief prosecutor, opposition leader is returned to home
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 6, 2017 8:07 AM CDT
Venezuela Reports 'Terrorist' Attack
Venezuelan Bolivarian National Guards officers lineup outside of General Prosecutor headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017.   (Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuelan ruling party chief Diosdado Cabello says Sunday that there was a "terrorist" attack at a military base controlled by troops loyal to the government and several people were arrested. Cabello reported via Twitter that troops acted quickly to control the situation in the early morning at the Paramacay base in the central city of Valenica, reports the AP. The announcement came after a small group of men dressed in military fatigues, some armed with assault rifles, released a video declaring themselves in rebellion in Carabobo state, where Valencia is located. In the video a man identifying himself as Capt. Juan Caguaripano said that any unit refusing to go along with its call for rebellion would be declared a military target.

On Saturday prominent opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was returned home to serve his sentence under house arrest, days after being hauled back to prison in the middle of the night. The activist's wife Lilian Tintori said on Twitter that she and her husband remained committed to achieving "peace and freedom for Venezuela." The assembly voted unanimously on Saturday to remove Venezuela's chief prosecutor, a longtime government loyalist who broke with President Nicolas Maduro in April. Cries of "traitor" and "justice" erupted during the vote to oust Luisa Ortega from her post. Ortega refused to recognize the decision and vowed to continue defending the rights of Venezuelans from Maduro's "coup" against the constitution "with my last breath." (More Venezuela stories.)

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