Venezuela captures 2 US mercenaries over maritime raids

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro confirmed the detention of two U.S. "mercenaries" among 13 attackers involved in May 4's two failed maritime raids.

"In this group were members of Donald Trump's security team: Airan Berry, a professional mercenary of the United States, and Luke Denman. They are already declaring," Maduro said in a televised speech late Monday regarding the second foiled "terrorist actions" against his government.

The president accused the U.S. and Colombia of being the perpetrators of the raids and said Venezuela already denounced the latest evidence before the UN.

Maduro showed passports and documents "belong to the two arrested Americans," as well as photos of alleged weapons, walkie-talkies, uniforms and other military instruments used during the raids, claiming all has Colombian and American origin

Authorities said they thwarted a first assault attempt in the early hours of May 4 that was carried out by Colombian "mercenaries" in the coastal Macuto city of Vargas state, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Caracas -- which left eight people dead.

The second group of suspected attackers was intercepted on the coast of the territory as well, according to Maduro.

US 'fully' involved

The U.S. government "is fully and completely involved in this defeated raid," said Maduro. "The U.S. government decided to use the time of the pandemic to fill Venezuela with violence and have the justification for another military escalation of threats, intervention and to divert attention from the COVID-19 crisis."

The U.S. is the country hardest-hit by the global pandemic with nearly 1.2 million confirmed cases almost 69,000 fatalities, according to a running tally by Maryland-based...