Ex-Venezuelan spy chief says Maduro ordered illegal arrests

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the most prominent defectors in two decades of socialist rule in Venezuela has come to Washington seeking revenge against his former boss, President Nicolás Maduro.

In a daylong interview with The Associated Press, Gen. Manuel Cristopher Figuera says the president ordered him to jail opponents and victims of torture. Cristopher Figuera says he secretly plotted to launch a short-lived military uprising that almost ousted Maduro. Now he wants to help the United States investigate Venezuela’s human-rights violations.

Cristopher Figuera says his mission is to free his country “from disgrace.”

The allegations emerged as scrutiny of the Maduro government’s human rights record intensifies. A naval officer died in state custody last week with apparent signs of torture.

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