A man walks next to a U.S. flag at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela January 24, 2019. Picture taken January 24, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday his government had warned Washington of a "false flag operation"by "extremist sectors of the local Venezuelan right" to plant explosives at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
A false flag operation is when an act is carried out in such a way that a different party appears responsible.
The White House and State Department did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Venezuela's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez originally reported the plot on Sunday in a message on his Telegram account, saying that the alleged plans had been reported to the United States through three different channels.
He added that a European embassy was also alerted about the plans but did not specify which one. Venezuela severed relations with the United States in 2019, and U.S. diplomatic personnel left the headquarters that year.
In a televised interview late on Monday, Maduro said two reliable sources, one domestic and one international, had informed the government of the possible attack and security forces were sent to reinforce the embassy.
Maduro added the government was looking to capture those involved in the plot and knew who had orchestrated it.
"This was backed by a person who will be known soon and asked for by a person who will be known soon, but this is all ongoing," Maduro said, adding that the goal of the plot was to blame his government "and begin an escalation of conflict."
The United States has struck at least four vessels allegedly carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks. President Donald Trump has also said the U.S. would look into attacking drug cartels "coming by land" in Venezuela.
On Monday, the New York Times reported that Trump told his special envoy Richard Grenell to stop all outreach to Venezuela and called off efforts to reach a diplomatic agreement.
(Report by Vivian Sequera in Caracas; Additional reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington DC and Alexander Villegas in Bogota; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
