CARACAS, March 27. /TASS/. Armed individuals were apprehended in the immediate vicinity of a place where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was expected to deliver a speech, Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Tarek William Saab said.

"Jerry Argenis Ostos Perdomo, who was detained by security services, had a Pietro Beretta pistol with 12 cartridges," he said at a news conference, aired by Venezolana de Televisión, adding that another detainee, Carlos Eduardo Castillo, was also in possession of a firearm.

"They were just 20 meters away from the president’s platform" near the National Electoral Council, the attorney general added.

The activists admitted that "they are political activists from the Vente Venezuela, which, as we see now, is again trying to incite violence and commit an attempt on the president’s life," Saab added.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that an assassination attempt against him was foiled at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas as he addressed a major rally on Monday, after his name had been put on the ballot for the 2024 presidential election. They were detained and "confessed to being members of the already non-existent far-right Vente Venezuela party," the president added.