President NIcolas Maduro of Venezuela has announced the capture of “an American spy” with heavy weapons and money near two refineries in the state of Falcon. The man is said to be a Marine who worked for the CIA in Iraq.
The spy was trying to collect information on the refineries in Amuay and Cardón, Maduro said in a televised address on Friday. The two facilities are located on the Paraguaná Peninsula, along the Venezuelan coast just south of Aruba.
According to the president, the detained American is a member of the US Marine Corps who worked with the CIA in Iraq, and was captured with “heavy, specialized weapons and a large amount of cash.”
Maduro added that he ordered heightened security at all Venezuelan refineries after the spy was captured. Earlier, he said, the country’s Petroleum Ministry discovered and thwarted a plan “to cause an explosion” at the El Palito refinery in Carabobo, west of Caracas.
Maduro accused the US of waging an economic war against Venezuela, trying to destroy the country’s oil industry. “They have reached a level of madness,” he said.
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