NEW: Venezuela Takes Two Americans Hostage During Biden’s Lame Duck Period

Venezuelan Dictator Nicolás Maduro’s announced on Tuesday evening that two “important American mercenaries” had been arrested for attempting to “destabilize” his regime. In addition to two American citizens, the regime also arrested three Ukrainian and two Columbian nationals ahead of Maduro’s inauguration for a third term, which comes after a blatantly rigged election.

According to Maduro, the two Americans were part of a broader “mercenary group” of seven individuals. The foreign nationals have been accused of attempting to “generate violence” in Venezuela ahead of Maduro’s inauguration on January 10, when he will begin a third, six-year term.

“We have captured at this hour seven foreign mercenaries, including two important U.S. mercenaries in North America. They are captured. They were caught with the kilos, compadre, of the highest level,” Maduro said. “Convicted, and I am sure that in the next few hours they will be confessed, they came to carry out terrorist actions against the peace of Venezuela.”

Maduro speaks at his second inauguration in 2019

Maduro did not provide the identities of the two captured Americans and failed to list any evidence of their alleged crimes, describing them only as two “important mercenaries” in a speech given during an official event. While dressed in beige military fatigues before a group of soldiers, Maduro stated that the “mercenaries” have already been “convicted,” adding that he is confident they will soon confess.

“They came to carry out terrorist actions against the peace of Venezuela. Two Colombian assassins, captured in different parts of the country, and three mercenaries who came from Ukraine, from the Ukrainian War to bring violence to our country. Seven mercenaries we captured today,” the dictator declared. “And as we say in Venezuela, I don’t know if it has a translation; seven mercenaries at this hour, and the operations continue. And the ranch is burning, compadre. Let’s go for everything. Let’s go get them!”

The most recent arrests of American citizens adds to a growing list of Americans who have been detained on dubious charges relating to “terrorism” since the events of the blatantly fraudulent presidential election back in July. Tens of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to protest the results, though they were suppressed by Maduro’s military forces and allied paramilitary groups. Dozens of Venezuelan opposition figures were also arrested in the weeks following the rigged result, while arrests have continued ahead of the inauguration.

In October, four Americans were detained in the South American nation and accused of attempting to “hack” and “sabotage” state infrastructure, in addition to unspecified “terrorism” offenses. Three additional Americans who were accused of working for the CIA were detained back in September and also stand accused of attempting to assassinate Maduro and carry out “terrorist acts” in Venezuela. The Maduro regime has yet to provide any evidence of guilt surrounding any of the arrests of American citizens.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced this week that more than 125 “mercenaries” have been detained and accused of plotting “terrorist and destabilizing acts” since the sham July 28 election. According to Cabello, a sizable portion of the “mercenaries” are Venezuelan citizens, along with foreigners from at least 25 countries. Argentinian President Javier Milei recently accused the Maduro regime of “forced disappearance” before the International Criminal Court regarding the arrest of Nahuel Gallo, an Argentine gendarme.

In total, more than 2,000 Venezuelans and at least 50 foreign nationals have been detained since July 28.

According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, the Maduro regime is “stocking up” on American prisoners during the final weeks of the Biden Administration due to an anticipated hardline response from President-elect Donald Trump. Maduro is likely hoping to use the prisoners as “bargaining chips” in an effort to deter the Trump Administration.

“The idea of capturing foreigners is to use them later in an effort to force their home countries to accept conditions in negotiations or to trade them,” said Gonzalo Himiob, a human-rights lawyer and director of Penal Forum, whose lawyers represent political prisoners in Venezuela. “What we can see is that the Venezuelan government is preparing for a scenario of high confrontation in the weeks and months ahead.”

The Maduro regime has conducted several prisoner swaps with the outgoing Biden Administration since 2021. In 2o22, Venezuela released a group of kidnapped American citizens in exchange for Efraín Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas, the socialist dictator’s nephews. The two men were arrested in 2015 by DEA agents in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, while attempting to transport 800 kilograms of cocaine belonging to Colombia’s Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which is designated as a terrorist organization into the United States. The two had been convicted and sentenced to 18 years in a U.S. prison in December 2017.

In December of 2023, the Biden Administration released Alex Saab, who has been described by the U.S. government as the regime’s top money launderer. He is now set to serve as interior minister in Maduro’s new cabinet. Saab was arrested by federal agents in Cape Verde in 2020 after allegedly laundering more than $350,000,000 through American financial systems.