"Venezuelan opposition politician charged in plot to kill president" New York Times December 04, 2014
CARACAS — The authorities charged a leading opposition politician Wednesday with taking part in a plot to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro.
The politician, María Corina Machado, was informed of the charge in a meeting with prosecutors but was not detained.
The national prosecutor’s office said in a statement on its website that Machado was charged with conspiracy and that, if found guilty, she could be sentenced to eight to 16 years in prison.
The authorities did not make any evidence public to back up the charge, which is based on accusations government officials made this year.
In the earlier accusations, the officials showed what they said were e-mails from Machado and other opposition leaders that they said indicated involvement in a plot.
They also said the US ambassador to Colombia, Kevin Whitaker, was involved.
Jesús Loreto, a lawyer for Machado, said that in Wednesday’s meeting prosecutors produced the same e-mails as evidence.
He said those e-mails were altered or faked.
Machado was a vocal supporter of widespread antigovernment protests this year.
Another politician who supported the protests, Leopoldo López, was charged with promoting violence and has been imprisoned.
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This, of course, is the fall-out from the U.S.-encouraged destabilization effort last year that was woefully under-covered.
