CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolas Maduro went on television Tuesday night to accuse one of Venezuela's most prominent opposition leaders of being linked to a weekend assassination attempt using drones.
Maduro said statements from some of the six suspects already arrested pointed to involvement by Julio Borges, an opposition leader living in exile in Colombia.
Critics of Maduro's socialist government had said immediately following Saturday evening's attack that they feared the unpopular leader would use the incident as an excuse to round up opposition politicians as he seeks to dampen spreading discontent over Venezuela's devastating economic collapse.
In the attack, two drones armed with explosives detonated near Maduro as he spoke outdoors during a military celebration. Images on live television showed Maduro and his wife looking up at the sky at one blast and then hundreds of soldiers scrambling.
The president also named opposition lawmaker Juan Requesens, seen in a video widely circulating on social media being arrested by Venezuela's political police force.
As elected lawmakers, Borges and Requesens enjoy immunity from prosecution under Venezuelan law. But Diosdado Cabello, the powerful socialist party leader and president of the National Constitutional Assembly, said in a tweet Tuesday that he plans to introduce legislation stripping lawmakers of this protection.
Maduro said he would provide evidence to officials in the United States and Colombia and ask for their cooperation handing over suspects who helped orchestrate and finance the attack.