A former Venezuelan police officer who spectacularly attacked his country's supreme court six months ago is claiming to be behind the theft this week of 26 rifles from a military armory.
Oscar Perez, an ex-police helicopter pilot, said on Twitter late Monday he led "an impeccable tactical operation in which we recovered these weapons of the people, for the people."
He posted videos he said were recorded during the robbery that occurred in Laguneta de La Montana, in northern Miranda state next to Caracas. They showed him and a small group of masked men taunting what looked like a number of gagged soldiers.
A Venezuelan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AFP that a group of men wearing uniforms stole 26 Kalashnikov assault rifles and three pistols, along with ammunition, from an army base early Monday.
Perez gained notoriety for a June 27 attack in Caracas, in which he and other men aboard a police helicopter threw four grenades at the supreme court and shot at the interior ministry, without causing casualties.
Venezuela's government, led by President Nicolas Maduro, issued an Interpol alert requesting the arrest of Perez over that "terrorist attack."
"Behind all these attacks is the government of the United States," Maduro charged in remarks carried on state media, saying it was "organized from Miami."
Maduro has repeatedly blamed the United States for Venezuela's woes, saying Washington is trying to strangle the country with sanctions.
In one of the videos posted on Twitter on Monday, Perez called for Venezuela's armed forces to "restore legal order" by bringing in a "transitional government" to replace Maduro's.
Venezuela is in the grip of a long-running political and economic crisis. Despite international isolation, broad unpopularity and scarce food and medicine in the country, Maduro has strengthened his hold on power by sidelining the opposition and excluding it from recent local and state elections.
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