Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro commemorates the sixth anniversary of the death of Hugo Chavez during a military ceremony in Caracas. (Ho/AFP/Getty Images)— Venezuela’s government expelled the German ambassador and detained a U.S. freelance journalist in Caracas on Wednesday as President Nicolás Maduro sought to maintain control amid a Western-backed opposition campaign to unseat him. Earlier Wednesday, military counterintelligence forces raided the Caracas home of U.S. journalist Cody Weddle and took the Virginia native into custody. They also seized Weddle’s assistant, Venezuelan journalist Carlos Camacho. Weddle’s lawyer, Theresly Malavé, confirmed late Wednesday afternoon that the journalist was being held for questioning at the military counterintelligence headquarters.

Source: Washington Post March 06, 2019 18:04 UTC