Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro survives drone assassination attempt

Chaos has struck Venezuela following an apparent foiled assassination attempt against the country’s embattled president, Nicolás Maduro.
Several drones armed with explosives were flown towards Maduro as he addressed a military parade in the capital Caracas on Saturday afternoon.
The drones did not reach Maduro, though it is not clear if they were shot down or exploded prematurely. The president survived unharmed while seven people were injured in the attack, the country’s information minister said.
Jorge Rodríguez said “the investigation clearly reveals [the explosions] came from drone-like devices that carried explosives”.
Maduro, speaking from the presidential palace two hours after the attack, announced that those behind the attempt on his life had been captured.

“I am alive and victorious,” the socialist president said in a bellicose televised address, before blaming the attack on the government of neighbouring Colombia.
“Everything points to the Venezuelan ultra-right in alliance with the Colombian ultra-right, and that the name of [Colombian president] Juan Manuel Santos is behind this attack.”
A spokesperson for Santos – who leaves office on Tuesday – quickly shot the allegations down. “This has no base,” the official said. “The president is focused on the baptism of his granddaughter and not on bringing down foreign governments.”
The two presidents have often sparred, with Santos regularly labelling his Venezuelan counterpart a dictator who is leading his country into economic and political turmoil.

No one has claimed responsibility for the alleged assassination attempt outright, though one group – Soldiers Franelas – suggested involvement in a tweet.

“We have shown [the government] is vulnerable,” the group, whose members are not known, said. “[The attack] wasn’t achieved today but it is just a matter of time [until it is].”