Man planned to kill Chavez nabbed

A Venezuelan man has been captured on suspicion of planning to assassinate President Hugo Chavez, according to a statement by the interior minister.

The man was detained on Thursday in Merida, a city near the border with Colombia, said interior minister Tareck El Aissami.

The suspect’s identity has not yet been released.

The 29-year-old man has traveled frequently to Colombia and police found messages on his computers alluding to a plot to kill the Venezuelan leader, El Aissami said.

He added that the incident showed the constant risk to Chavez from “the Venezuelan bourgeoisie, the US Empire and its transnational agencies.”

The Venezuelan government has reported numerous purported plots against Chavez, the leading South American critic of the United States, in recent years.