US rejects claims of CIA involvement in alleged plot to kill Maduro after Venezuela arrests six

State department says allegations of American collusion are categorically false' as US navy member identified among foreign citizens detained

The US state department rejected wild allegations of CIA involvement in an alleged assassination plot against Nicolas Maduro after Venezuelan officials announced the arrest of three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech on Saturday.

The claims of a plot against Maduro - the Venezuelan president, whose recent re-election is contested - were made on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens including a US navy member were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television programme, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the alleged plotters.