Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday that authorities in his country have captured “an American airplane pilot, who also has Latino roots.”
Maduro, who did not identify the pilot, said he had been arrested in the past few days in Táchira, a state in the western part of Venezuela that borders Colombia.
The pilot was involved in recruitment activities, presumably of Venezuelans who would take part in a coup, Maduro said.
During a speech at a rally in Caracas, the Venezuelan President linked the capture of the U.S. pilot to the implementation of a mandatory visa requirement for all Americans visiting Venezuela.
The pilot had “all kinds of documentation,” according to Maduro.