CARACAS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday that the former director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Manuel Ricardo Cristopher, "organized the coup" against him on April 30.
"The person who organized the coup is a coward, is a traitor, his name is General Manuel Ricardo Cristopher, traitor and coward," Maduro said at a public event.
The general fled and in spite of organizing the movement, he "was not capable of going to the site where he ordered the coup in Altamira, he did not show up, he left his troops alone," said Maduro.
"He fled in the early morning hours, and up till today continues to flee," he said.
He said that investigations confirmed that the former SEBIN director had been recruited by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
"We have confirmed that General Manuel Ricardo Cristopher, for more than a year had been recruited by the CIA and worked as an infiltrated traitor in the capacity he was given," he said.
Maduro said that the former SEBIN director "sooner than later will come to Venezuelan justice for his treason."
The former intelligence chief had been sanctioned by the United States for belonging to SEBIN, an agency claimed by Washington as part of a "torture center." However, following the coup, Vice President Mike Pence announced the withdrawal of the sanctions on May 7.
Maduro also reiterated his trust in Defense Minister Padrino Lopez, Supreme Court of Justice President Maikel Moreno and Presidential Guard Commander Hernandez Dala.
After the coup was defeated, General Gustavo Gonzalez Lopez was appointed as director of SEBIN.
Gonzalez Lopez once served as the Minister of Interior Relations, Justice and Peace. This year he assumed the role of security and intelligence adviser to Maduro.
