Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello shows a video of the detained far-right politician Juan Pablo Guanipa escorted by security officials, May 23, 2025. Photo: Alba Ciudad.
Venezuelan Minister of the Interior Diosdado Cabello reported the arrest of the far-right politician Juan Pablo Guanipa, who was allegedly the head of a group that was plotting terror attacks in embassies, hospitals, police stations, public utilities, subway stations, electricity, oil and service facilities, and against public figures amid the upcoming May 25 elections.
“Throughout yesterday and today, right at this moment, Venezuelan security agencies are working to dismantle this terrorist group,” Cabello reported at a press conference on Friday, May 23. “Early this morning, we arrested one of the chiefs of this terrorist group, Juan Pablo Guanipa Villalobos.”
According to Cabello, this group “claims that they are going to boycott the elections in Venezuela, this was what they said in their internal communications.” Regarding Guanipa, Cabello said that “he was mocking, he thought he was untouchable, invisible. The State security agencies have shown that no one is invisible here.”
The security personnel found notebooks, telephones, and diaries that revealed the methods of financing and the locations of the planned terrorist acts. The list of targets for abduction by the gang includes people from various political parties allied to the government, as well as opposition parties like Avanzada Progresista and Fuerza Vecinal.
On Thursday, May 22, a group was arrested in Zulia with five grenades, which they were allegedly going to throw at police stations.
Cabello also reported that, on Thursday, the wanted opposition member Iván Simonovis held a meeting in the United States and announced that the placement of explosives in Venezuela would begin on Friday. For this reason, security forces have been deployed throughout the country. “Hopefully, nothing like that will happen,” Cabello stated.
He explained that there are groups of coyotes [human traffickers] that take people in and out of the country. Through these networks, mercenaries have entered the country, and people associated with international drug trafficking are financing these operations.
In the raids, weapons, C4 explosives and detonators, cash, load testers, computers, and equipment for placing explosives have been found.
Cabello added that the name of MarĂa Teresa Clavijo, whose name had appeared when the first mercenaries were apprehended late last year, has reappeared in these investigations.
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In addition to Guanipa, JosĂ© Rito Ledezma, Carlos Rafael Marcano, Isidro LeĂłn Fariñez, Luis Alberto GutiĂ©rrez Vargas, Carlos Alberto GĂłmez Durán, Naomi Arnaudez, Yraida Ruiz GarcĂa, Enrique GĂłmez MĂ©ndez, Jhonnel Narváez Blanco, Yalida Pastora Mendoza, and Elicer Sánchez Linarez were arrested.
“We have more than 70 detainees, including Venezuelans and foreigners,” Cabello reported.
A mercenary who came from Ecuador, who has a record of murder, was arrested in the state of BolĂvar, “and his telephone speaks of meeting with people who were going to deliver explosives to him here in Venezuela.”
Four individuals of Pakistani nationality were arrested with false identity documents. Apart from one, these detainees did not speak Spanish.
Albanian-Colombian Enit Kasmi, wanted for drug trafficking in Europe, was among the detainees. Cabello said that Kasmi was initially in denial, but upon unlocking his phone, the security personnel discovered that he was handling “large quantities of money associated with drug trafficking, to finance the conspiracy in Venezuela.”
Minister Cabello also reported the arrest of Antun Mrdeza, who has a Bulgarian document but is actually Serbian and is “wanted by foreign courts for crimes of drug trafficking and murder—a mercenary. He said he was willing to pay $25,000 to meet some people on the high seas. The person took him to the site, but the operation was discovered by Venezuelan security forces. He was going to meet a sailboat, where an Argentinian citizen was arriving. With him were three Venezuelans, explosives, weapons, graphics, and contacts with opposition sectors. The Serbian manages accounts for more than one billion dollars.”
Antun Mrdeza was arrested in Colombia in 2023 and was going to be deported to European countries that were requesting his extradition for drug trafficking. He was taken to the RĂo Negro airport in Antioquia, Colombia and “escaped from under the noses of these people” in May 2023. Cabello showed a Noticias Caracol video of Mrdeza’s escape.
The detainees also include Argentinian citizen Germán Dario Giuliani, JesĂşs Gerardo Hernández Rojas, Carlos Manuel Espinoza Uzcátegui, Omar JosĂ© Serrano González, and Elvis Luis RodrĂguez Marval.
The arrest of Giuliani was repudiated by the Argentinian government despite the fact that it was known he was helping a drug trafficker escape.
German citizen Michael Alfred Gustav, linked to drug trafficking and human trafficking networks, was arrested in Zulia.
Venezuelan-Spanish Armando LĂłpez Ortega, also involved with drug trafficking networks in the east of Venezuela, was arrested as well.
Cabello also confirmed that a US Air Force pilot, Joseph St. Clair, was handed over to the US government on Tuesday, May 20, as part of negotiations, details of which will be provided by other government officials at a later date. “We have the details of what he said and what he was coming to do, but that is another matter. He was detained,” Cabello said in response to a journalist’s question.
“At this moment, we are holding a vessel with over 700 kilograms of cocaine, in an operation coordinated with a European country,” he also reported.
Cabello further explained that many of the detainees did not have network services on their phones and were communicating with Wi-Fi. He added that it is possible to locate people who use this method to communicate.
“The Venezuelan opposition, the far-right sector, has lost all shame and cares about absolutely nothing,” said Cabello. “The human and legal rights of Juan Pablo Guanipa are going to be respected, but from now on, he is accountable to justice. With Guanipa falls a whole network of terrorism in Venezuela.”
Cabello explained that people from the neighborhoods and communities “report people who have been arriving, people who have left. Then, they inform us about people who are offering money to generate violence. We tell them to accept the offer, and the person accepts. Thus, we arrest the contact and obtain relevant information.”
Last Monday, May 19, the arrest of 38 people, including 21 Venezuelans and 17 foreigners, was announced.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SF
