Venezuela arrests 3 more suspects related to failed anti-government incursion

Venezuela has arrested another three suspects allegedly involved in a failed armed incursion intended to topple President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month, a top military official said on Sunday.

According to a Chinese news agency, Xinhua, the suspects were arrested in Tovar, a city in central Aragua state, in an operation to capture those behind the incursion, said Remigio Ceballos, strategic operational commander of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces.

On May 4, Maduro said that authorities had arrested a group of “mercenaries” who launched an armed incursion on May 3 in the port of La Guaira, 30 km north of the capital Caracas.

Venezuela said the incursion was part of an anti-government mission called “Operation Gideon,” backed by the United States.

So far, more than 30 suspects, including two U.S. citizens named Luke Denman and Airan Berr, have been arrested.

U.S. President Donald Trump earlier said that his government had nothing to do with the incursion, while U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. government would “use every tool that we have available to try to get them back.”