Venezuela’s Maduro Survives Assassination by Drone

FEATURING MIGUEL TINKER SALAS – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has survived a drone attack said government officials on Sunday. According to Associated Press, “The assailants flew two drones each packed with 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosive toward Maduro, his wife and other top leaders as he spoke Saturday evening at an event,” and that, “A little-known group calling itself Soldiers in T-shirts claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it planned to fly two drones loaded with explosives at the president but soldiers shot them down.”

So far six people have been arrested in connection to the attempted assassination. Mr. Maduro also blamed the US for supporting opposition groups against him. On Sunday Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Fox News, “If the government of Venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of U.S. criminal law, we’ll take a serious look at it.”

On Monday Venezuelan authorities released a video showing the moment that Maduro was interrupted by the sounds of a loud explosion while speaking at an event.

Miguel Tinker Salas is a Professor of Latin American History and Chicano/a Latino/a Studies at Pomona College in Claremont, California. He has written several books including The Enduring Legacy: Oil, Culture and Citizenship in Venezuela, and Venezuela: What Everyone Needs to Know, and co-edited Venezuela, Hugo Chavez and the Decline of an Exceptional Democracy.