Russia rotated military technicians out of crisis-hit Venezuela on Wednesday, its embassy in Caracas said, as the regime declared that it thwarted an alleged coup plot.

Russia -- whose president, Vladimir Putin, meets his US counterpart Donald Trump later this week -- angered Washington three months ago by sending around 100 military experts to Venezuela.

Russia is a major backer of President Nicolas Maduro, whom the United States is seeking to oust.

"The Il-62 plane which is carrying Russian technicians who have been in Venezuela over the past months... is leaving Caracas for Moscow on June 26," the Russian embassy in Caracas said in a post on Facebook.

The embassy earlier tweeted that an aircraft had arrived on Monday bringing another technical team for "regular maintenance" of Russian equipment.

It linked to comments by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov who said that no new technicians were coming.

Ryabkov denied a Russian military "presence" in Venezuela, saying it was about "the fulfilment of after-sale service contracts."

In Washington, a senior US official also said that the total number of Russian technicians "will not change substantially."

After the United States demanded the withdrawal of the Russians in March, Moscow said the experts would stay "for as long as needed." Russian mercenaries are also believed to be operating in Venezuela.

Maduro has been locked in a months-long power struggle with opposition leader Juan Guaido, who in January declared himself acting president, claiming Maduro's re-election last year was illegitimate.

More than 50 countries led by the United States lined up behind national assembly head Guaido, but Russia and China have backed Maduro.

In a renewal of instability, Maduro on Wednesday warned he would be "ruthless" with the opposition after his government said it had thwarted a plot to assassinate him.

In early June, The Wall Street Journal said Russia has cut its staff in Venezuela to just a few dozen, from about 1,000 at the height of cooperation between Moscow and Caracas several years ago.

The pullout was due to a lack of fresh contracts and the realisation that Maduro's regime no longer has the money to pay for Moscow's services, the newspaper said.

Russia denied the report at the time.

After the report Trump tweeted that "Russia has informed us that they have removed most of their people from Venezuela," which Moscow denied.

Trump will meet Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka.

Venezuela government says it thwarted 'coup' plot
Caracas (AFP) June 27, 2019 - Venezuela's socialist government said Wednesday it had derailed a coup bid, claiming the United States, Colombia and Chile colluded in a military plot to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro and install a general and former defense minister in his place.

Maduro warned that he would be "ruthless in a revolutionary counter-offensive against an attempted fascist coup -- ruthless!"

In a speech broadcast nationwide on radio and television, an agitated Maduro denounced a "fascist attempt to assassinate me" -- and lashed out at Colombian President Ivan Duque saying his "complicity" was "evident."

Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez earlier said the alleged coup involved active duty and retired military officers, and was to have been executed between Sunday and Monday this past weekend.

"We were in all the meetings to plan the coup d'Etat. We were in all the conferences," he said, suggesting informers had infiltrated the alleged plotters -- at least six of whom had been detained.

In his televised speech, Rodriguez also accused opposition leader Juan Guaido of planning "a bloodbath."

Guaido for his part dismissed the coup claims as fiction, saying the media had "lost count" of how many times the same accusations had been repeated.

Recognized by the United States and more than 50 countries as the country's interim president, Guaido said he would continue to call on the armed forces to abandon Maduro.

- Moles among the plotters? -

Rodriguez accused Colombia's Duque of being closely involved in the alleged plot, and implicated Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and US National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Without referring directly to the charge, Colombia's foreign minister, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, said his country would "continue to act through political and diplomatic means" in Venezuela.

Rodriguez presented testimony from one of the detainees -- Lieutenant Carlos Saavedra, identified as the nephew of retired General Ramon Saavedra, who was arrested Wednesday by Venezuelan intelligence agents.

According to Rodriguez, surveillance of the plotters and Saavedra's recorded "confession" revealed that the plan envisaged the takeover of three military bases, including La Carlota air base in Caracas.

- Recordings, surveillance -

The plotters hoped to spring Raul Baduel -- a former defense minister under late president Hugo Chavez -- from jail to proclaim him president, Rodriguez said.

Maduro demoted Baduel last year as part of a purge of senior military officers, which also included another general, Antonio Rivero, allegedly another leader of the coup bid.

The head of the National Assembly, Guaido proclaimed himself Venezuela's interim president in January on the grounds Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate.

Venezuelan authorities recently said that 17 people had been charged with attempting a coup on April 30, during Guaido's failed attempt to inspire a military uprising.

Only some 30 military personnel joined Guaido, and the revolt fizzled after two days of deadly clashes.

Several people close to Guaido have since been detained, though not the lawmaker himself.

However, in the wake of Rodriguez's accusations, he told reporters he had "frustrated" an attempt to kidnap several members of his entourage on a Caracas highway. The kidnappers were armed and "dressed as civilians" he said.

- Ex-intel chief 'a mercenary' -

Rodriguez also accused Maduro's former intelligence chief Cristopher Figuera -- who has defected to the United States -- of seeking "hundreds of thousands of dollars" for supporting the abortive uprising.

Figuera "turned out to be a mercenary," Rodriguez said.

In a series of shock claims made to US media, Figuera said members of Maduro's family and his government were engaged in money laundering and corruption, and alleged Hezbollah cells were allowed to operate in Venezuela and raise funds.

On Wednesday Ivan Simonovis, a former Venezuelan national police chief who fled house arrest in Caracas where he was being held on murder charges, was in Washington to talk to US lawmakers about "criminal activities" of the Maduro government. He backed up many of Figuera's allegations.

Washington has imposed crippling sanctions on Maduro's government, holding the president responsible for the collapse of the Latin American oil giant, which has seen millions flee amid widespread shortages of basic goods and medicines.

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