Two Colombians allegedly planning to assassinate Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro have been arrested in Venezuela, authorities from that country said Monday.
The Venezuelan government announced the arrest on Monday after “checking the identity of the assassins with Colombia police.”
Víctor Joan Gueche Mosquera and Erick Leonardo Huerta Ríos were captured on August 15th on the Panamericana highway in Venezuela.
Authorities said that the suspects were found with two firearms equipped with cartridges and laser sights, a photo of Maduro and the president of the National Assembly, as well as 10 Venezuela army uniforms.
According to Venezuelan Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez, the plot is part of “an international conspiracy that is trying, through violent means, to destabilize our country by taking the life of the President or, if unsuccessful, the president of the National Assembly.”
The minister recently accused former Colombia president Alvaro Uribe of being behind a plot to assassinate Maduro.
MORE: Uribe again accused of plotting to assassinate Venezuelan president
Torres accused Uribe of twice meeting with the former interim president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, a delegation sent by infamous Venezuelan terrorist Luis Posada, an active Colombian state official, and a CIA agent.
According to Torres, the aim of these meetings – allegedly held in April in both Miami, Florida, and Bogota – was “to make contact with the right-wing Venezuelan [opposition] and plan these destabilizing actions.”
In May, Maduro himself accused Uribe of being a “murderer” and of using paramilitary groups to try to kill him. He has also accused Uribe of plotting with Venezuela opposition leader Henrique Capriles; Uribe denies ever having met him.
MORE: Venezuela claims capture of ‘Colombian paramilitaries’