President Maduro said the group includes money fighters and “hit men”, saying the two US prisoners are “very high”.
President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro announced the arrest of a group of foreign “soldiers”, including citizens of Colombia and the United States, which he said were planning to block his inauguration this weekend.
Maduro said on Tuesday that the group was planning “acts of terrorism” ahead of Friday's opening ceremony, describing them as two Colombian “fighters”, three “soldiers” from the war in Ukraine and two US citizens.
He said the Americans arrested were “very high profile,” but did not provide details or evidence of the arrests.
“Today, we arrested seven foreign soldiers, including two important soldiers from the United States,” he said in a broadcast on state television, before announcing that police and soldiers had been deployed across the country.
“I am sure that in the next few hours, he will reveal,” he added.
Maduro, who is due to take office for a third term on Friday following last July's election, said the group was captured in unspecified areas of Venezuela.
In his speech from the presidential palace in Miraflores, he said that security forces arrested 125 soldiers from 25 different countries. He said he had entered the South American country “to commit terrorism against the Venezuelan people”.
Neither the US State Department nor Colombia's Foreign Ministry immediately responded to a request for comment.
Maduro, who came to power in 2013, has for years spoken of a US-led conspiracy to oust him.
In late 2023, the Venezuelan government released many prisoners including 10 Americans after months of negotiations between Caracas and Washington, while the US released Maduro's close friend, Colombian businessman Alex Saab.
The latest arrests came just hours after US President Joe Biden met with Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and after reports that Gonzalez Urrutia's son-in-law was present. was captured in Caracas.
During the meeting, Mr Biden said he supported a “peaceful return to democratic rule” in Venezuela and warned of further repression in the country.
I had a long meeting with President Biden. His commitment to a peaceful and orderly transition in Venezuela is unsurpassed.
For 45 minutes we were able to explore in depth how the growth of democracy starting in Venezuela will be interesting in the region.… pic.twitter.com/PuBS6vvgqL— Edmundo González (@EdmundoGU) January 6, 2025
Translation: I had a long meeting with President Biden. His commitment to a peaceful and orderly transition in Venezuela has not changed. For 45 minutes, we were able to discuss in depth the positive effects that the growth of democracy starting in Venezuela will have on the region. Thank you, President Biden!
Gonzalez Urrutia – who was announced as the president-elect by several governments in the region, including the US – is visiting friendly countries in order to increase his support around the world.
Washington and some of Venezuela's democratic neighbors believe the opposition leader won the July presidential election by a landslide and the results were rigged.
The opposition has called on “millions” of Venezuelans to protest on Thursday to prevent Maduro from continuing in power and being sworn in.
They are facing an uphill battle.
Maduro, 62, and his political mentor Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013, ruled Venezuela for the past century.
Both have abandoned international and national pressure, maintaining power through popular appeals, counter-elections and the power of the military, police and armed forces.