Maduro warns that assassination plot against him threatens elections accord with opposition

Casting new doubts into Venezuela’s chances of holding free and fair elections this year, President Nicolás Maduro said the recent discovery that opposition leaders had been plotting to kill him has done serious damage to the roadmap to a vote that both sides agreed to in Barbados in October.

“The Barbados agreements are mortally wounded,” Maduro said on national television Thursday. “I declare they are in intensive care; they stabbed them; they kicked them. Hopefully we can save the Barbados agreements and move forward, through dialogue, to a great agreement of national consensus ... without plans to assassinate me, assassinate us or fill the country with violence.”

Maduro made the comments amid a government crackdown against former military officials and opposition leaders following an announcement made earlier by his attorney general that four different plots to overthrow or to assassinate Maduro had been discovered and thwarted.

Regime officials said they had made at least 32 arrests of alleged plot members and issued arrest warrants against 11 others, which include journalists, human-rights activists and members of the Venezuelan community in South Florida.

On Tuesday, the Biden administration said it had “deep concerns” about nearly three dozen arrests made in Venezuela, saying that they are contrary to the electoral deal reached in Barbados in which the Venezuelan government agreed to open the electoral process to, among other things, allow opponents to run for office, including the presidency.

“Arrests without due process run contrary to the spirit of the October 2023 electoral roadmap agreement signed between the Unitary Platform and representatives of Nicolás Maduro. We call for the end of politically motivated harassment, including attacks upon opposition campaign offices and all efforts to stifle the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people through fear and intimidation,” the U.S. State Department said.

“Actions that run counter to the spirit and the letter of the Barbados Agreement will have consequences. We urge Maduro and his representatives to adhere to the electoral roadmap agreement, including by announcing a clear timeline for the 2024 presidential election, and to reinstate all political candidates,” it added.

The U.S. has been waiting for Caracas’ socialist regime to comply with the commitments it made in a series of negotiations held throughout last year with members of the Biden administration.

The talks culminated with the signing in Barbados of two separate accords with opposition leaders to hold presidential elections in the second half of this year. Prior to the signing, representatives of the Biden administration and Maduro held several meetings over the persistent political and economic crisis that has led millions of Venezuelans to seek refuge in neighboring countries and the United States.

As part of its commitments, the regime agreed to lift bans blocking opposition leaders from running for office, implement deep reforms to the often criticized electoral system, allow international observers to monitor the election and free all political prisoners.

In exchange, the Biden administration, which had kept in place sanctions on Venezuelan oil, granted a six-month general license temporarily authorizing transactions involving the oil and gas sector in Venezuela, and a second general license authorizing the operations of state-run Minerven, a previously sanctioned gold-mining enterprise that had been trading on the black market.