Venezuela government claims control after 'terrorist' attack on military base

• Party chief Cabello says Paramacay base in Valencia is under control
• Video released showed group of armed men calling for rebellion

Diosdado Cabello speaks during a session of the National Constituent Assembly in Caracas on Saturday. Photograph: Cristian Hernandez/EPA

Sunday 6 August 2017 

The head of Venezuela’s ruling party, Diosdado Cabello, said on Sunday there had been a “terrorist” attack at a military base controlled by troops loyal to the government and several people had been arrested.

Cabello reported via Twitter that troops acted quickly to control the situation at the Paramacay base near the city of Valencia. One witness in the area, in the town of Naguanagua, reported hearing gunshots before dawn.

The defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cabello’s announcement came after a small group of men dressed in military fatigues, some armed with assault rifles, released a video declaring themselves in rebellion against President Nicolás Maduro in Carabobo state, where Valencia is located.

In the video, a man identifying himself as Capt Juan Caguaripano said that any unit refusing to go along with its call for rebellion would be declared a military target.

“We demand the immediate formation of a transition government,” he said. “This is not a coup d’etat. This is a civic and military action to re-establish constitutional order. But more than that, it is to save the country from total destruction.”

Venezuela is wracked by tension and violence, as the unpopular Maduro government seeks to hold on to power. More than 100 people have been killed, nearly 2,000 wounded and more than 500 detained.

On Saturday chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega was removed and replaced after her office was surrounded by soldiers.

Delegates to the constitutional assembly later swore in as her replacement ombudsman Tarek William Saab, who was recently sanctioned by the Trump administration for failing to protect protesters from abuses in his role as the nation’s top human rights official.

The assembly was seated despite strong criticism from the US, other countries and the Venezuelan opposition, which fear that it will be a tool for imposing dictatorship.

Two prominent opposition leaders were taken from their homes by intelligence agents last week. On Saturday one, Leopoldo Lopez, was returned home to serve his sentence under house arrest.

Lopez was released from prison on 8 July and placed under house arrest after serving three years of a 13-year sentence on charges of inciting violence at opposition rallies. Many human rights groups considered him a political prisoner.