Caracas: Accusing his former US counterpart, Donald Trump, of leading a plot to assassinate him in 2018, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims the White House gave the order.
Maduro claimed US and Colombian involvement in the attack while speaking to commemorate 86 years since the establishment of Venezuela's National Guard, an anniversary that fell on the same day as the failed assassination attempt five years ago.
The president mentioned "the personal and direct involvement that former President Donald Trump had, the White House, in ordering the Colombian president to prepare the attack," which he added was carried out by a "terrorist group" organised in the neighbouring state of Venezuela.
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Then-President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, according to Maduro, was "the direct operator from Bogota" who funded and planned the murder just days before he was scheduled to leave office. This, he claimed, was revealed by the investigation that followed.
In 2018, former US national security advisor John Bolton suggested that Washington and Bogota had no involvement in the attack and that it was instead "a pretext set up by the regime itself."
Two drones carrying explosives detonated over the scene of the attempted assassination on August 4, 2018, as Maduro spoke to National Guard members outside in Caracas. The explosions reportedly injured a number of soldiers, but Maduro was unharmed and no one was killed in the attack.
The explosions were captured on camera, and Maduro's bodyguards could be seen swooping in to shield the president with ballistic shields before escorting him away.
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Following 91 different hearings, seventeen suspects were ultimately found guilty on August 4 of last year. Twelve of them received 30-year sentences for offences like attempted murder and treason, while the other five will serve sentences of 20, 16, 8 and 5 years in prison for their roles in conspiracy and terrorism, respectively.
