CARACAS, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela on Wednesday dismissed as "cynical" Washington's reaction to the arrest of anti-government operatives attempting to destabilize the South American nation.
The U.S. government has lost its "moral compass" yet intends to condemn Venezuela for taking steps to preserve peace, Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"It is not surprising that Washington advocates in favor of the architects of the frustrated terrorist operations in Venezuela and even provides them with its complicit stance," it said.
"Defending" schemes, it said, meant to generate instability that "fosters violence and threatens the normal development of the 2024 electoral process."
This year's elections will find "guarantees of peace" in Venezuelan institutions and its people, it added.
Venezuelan authorities this week revealed that since last year they have succeeded in thwarting at least five schemes to destabilize the country, including a plot to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.
The Venezuelan Prosecutor's Office has ordered the arrest of more than 30 suspects in connection with these plots.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of State said that it was "deeply concerned by the issuance of arrest orders and detentions against at least 33 Venezuelans," which it deemed "contrary to the spirit of the October 2023 electoral roadmap agreement" signed between sectors of the opposition and the Venezuelan government. ■
