Venezue­lan Pres­i­dent Nicolás Maduro has claimed that a group of para­mil­i­tary “ter­ror­ists” was in­ter­cept­ed while try­ing to en­ter the coun­try from Trinidad and To­ba­go with a cache of weapons.

He was speak­ing at the swear­ing-in cer­e­mo­ny for Jhoan­na Car­ril­lo, the new gov­er­nor of Su­cre State — a coastal re­gion in north­east­ern Venezuela that faces Trinidad and To­ba­go across the Gulf of Paria.

The state’s strate­gic lo­ca­tion has made it a key area in cross-bor­der se­cu­ri­ty con­cerns, es­pe­cial­ly amid ten­sions in­volv­ing mi­gra­tion and smug­gling routes.

He said war-grade weapons were seized dur­ing the op­er­a­tion.

"Yes­ter­day, a group of ter­ror­ists were cap­tured at­tempt­ing to en­ter the east­ern part of the coun­try from Trinidad and To­ba­go with a ship­ment of weapons of war, in­clud­ing Colom­bians," the pres­i­dent de­nounced.

Maduro blamed what he called the “fas­cist far right” for on­go­ing desta­bil­i­sa­tion at­tempts and urged Venezue­lans to re­main alert.

“Be vig­i­lant, be­cause they have not been able to, nor will they be able to, es­tab­lish vi­o­lence in the coun­try,” he said.

This is a de­vel­op­ing sto­ry.