Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro said that his government captured a U.S. spy near oil refineries on its northern coast.
Maduro announced the capture on Friday, although he didn’t provide many details about the individual. He said that the person in question was a U.S. Marine who had worked as a CIA operative in Iraq, although he provided no proof to back up his claims, according to the Associated Press.
He said the man was found near the Amuay and Cardon refineries in the state of Falcon and was being interrogated, according to the Associated Press. The CIA declined to comment about the matter when contacted by the Washington Examiner.
Maduro also warned oil workers to be on alert and asserted that Venezuela uncovered a separate plot earlier this week to blow up an oil refinery in Carabobo state.
“The gringo empire wants revenge against Venezuela,” he said. “It wants to prevent Venezuela from producing all petroleum products, gasoline.”
Maduro has desperately clung to power despite the United States and other Western countries recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaido as the rightful leader of the country, which has experienced a crippling economic and political crisis under Maduro’s rule.
Earlier this year, Maduro’s regime announced that it had captured two former Green Beret soldiers, Airan Berry and Luke Denman, whom it accused of attempting to foment a coup. The U.S. denies involvement in the alleged plot. The duo was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
