Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez (C) delivers a statement at the Tiuna Fort in Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 7, 2017. An active-duty member of the military helped carry out a paramilitary attack on an army base that ransacked an arsenal of weapons, a top official said on Monday. Sunday's pre-dawn raid on Paramacay Fort in the northern state of Carabobo had the "complicity" of first lieutenant Yefferson Garcia Dos Ramos, who was in charge of the arsenal of the 41st Armored Brigade stationed there, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said. (Xinhua/Ministry of Defense/AVN)
CARACAS, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- An active-duty member of the military helped carry out a paramilitary attack on an army base that ransacked an arsenal of weapons, a top official said on Monday.
Sunday's pre-dawn raid on Paramacay Fort in the northern state of Carabobo had the "complicity" of first lieutenant Yefferson Garcia Dos Ramos, who was in charge of the arsenal of the 41st Armored Brigade stationed there, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said.
Dos Ramos "acted as an accomplice, providing information on the inside operation of the installation to the terrorist group, in exchange for huge amounts of money," said Padrino.
Authorities said on Sunday that a former lieutenant, Juan Caguaripano, had served as a spokesman for the attack, which was mainly carried out by civilians in uniform.
Caguaripano appeared in a video that was a call to arms against the government of President Nicolas Maduro, but at the same time denied the armed rebellion was a coup d'etat.
Padrino urged greater unity following the incident, saying it was designed to provoke "chaos and seize power through violence."
"I call ... for national unity. These imperialist attacks must unite us as a country, as a nation. They are intervening against a nation, not against President Nicolas Maduro, or Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez. It is against a country, a nation," Padrino said in a statement delivered at the Tiuna Fort in the capital Caracas.
Venezuela's National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) issued a statement on Sunday, condemning the attack that left one man dead and another seriously wounded.
While the FANB said it "successfully repelled the criminal paramilitary terrorists," members of the group managed to steal weapons before fleeing.
Seven others were captured and admitted to having been hired "by Venezuelan extreme right-wing activists, in connection with foreign governments," added the military.
