WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied any involvement by the U.S. government in what Venezuelan officials have called a failed armed incursion into the South American country that led to the capture of two American “mercenaries.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs on travel to Phoenix, Arizona from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., May 5, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Trump made the comment to reporters at the White House after socialist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday said authorities there had detained the pair of U.S. citizens working with a U.S. military veteran who has claimed responsibility for the foiled operation.
“We’ll find out. We just heard about it,” Trump said when asked about the incident and the Americans’ arrests. “But it has nothing to do with our government.”
In a state television address, Maduro said authorities arrested 13 “terrorists” on Monday involved in what he described as a plot coordinated with Washington to enter the country via the Caribbean coast and oust him.
Eight people were killed during the incursion attempt on Sunday, Venezuelan authorities said.
Maduro showed what he said were the U.S. passports and other identification cards belonging to Airan Berry, 41, and Luke Denman, 34, whom he said wer