Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shows the passports of two US citizens arrested by security forces, during a video conference meeting with international media correspondents, at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, on May 6, 2020. (AFP photo)

One of the US hirelings arrested in Venezuela in the middle of a marine incursion attempt says he had been instructed to capture President Nicolas Maduro and take him to the US.

In a video broadcast by Venezuelan state TV on Wednesday, detained American national Luke Denman said his mission in Venezuela was to seize control of and secure the Caracas airport so that his team would be able to bring in a plane to take Maduro to the US.

Denman, however, did not explain how his team was going to capture the Venezuelan president.

The 34-year-old American national was part of a group of US-backed mercenaries who tried to intrude into the northern state of La Guaira on boats before dawn on Sunday, but Venezuelan authorities foiled the attack, which was launched from Colombia, killing eight of the armed men and arresting two others.

In a state television address on Monday, Maduro said authorities had detained 13 terrorists involved in the Sunday attack, including Denman and another man identified as Airan Berry.

They were playing Rambo. They were playing hero, Maduro said.

The Venezuelan president noted that the two US citizens were working with an American military veteran, Jordan Goudreau, who leads Florida-based security firm Silvercorp USA.

He also claimed that the plot was coordinated with Washington and aimed to oust him, but the White House denies any involvement.

Speaking in a virtual press conference after the release of the Wednesday video of Denman, the Venezuelan president said Trump is the direct chief of the invasion.

He said Venezuela would seek the extradition of the plot mastermind Goudreau.

He also claimed that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), via drug cartels, was the operational and logistical part of this conspiracy.

The DEA has also denied any role in the failed incursion, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Russia says US denial ‘unconvincing’

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Washington’s statements that ’the US government has nothing to do with what happened in Venezuela over the last few days’ sound unconvincing.

The ministry said in a statement that the actions of the mercenaries deserve unequivocal and decisive condemnation, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

There should be no place on Venezuelan soil for mercenaries sent from elsewhere, it added.

It also condemned certain countries for their political tunnel vision and obsession with removing the lawful president of Venezuela from power.

Washington has been openly calling for the ouster of Maduro, increasing pressure on Caracas in recent months by indicting the leftist leader as a narco-trafficker and offering a 15-million-dollar reward for his arrest.

SOURCE: PRESS TV