Three alleged mercenaries have been arrested in connection with the attempted invasion of Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro said, bringing the total captured to 34.
“We have captured three more mercenaries. We have been meticulously looking for all those involved and we are going to capture them all,” Maduro announced during a television address.
The failed invasion saw men landing in early May at Macuto, less than an hour from Caracas.
Two former US soldiers, Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, have been imprisoned and charged with “terrorism, conspiracy, illicit trafficking of weapons of war and (criminal) association.” They could face between 25 to 30 years in prison.
The others implicated in the case are Venezuelans.
The US army has confirmed that Denman and Berry were former members of the Green Berets who were deployed to Iraq. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US government would “use every tool that we have available to try to get them back.”
Maduro’s government claims the plan was to remove him from power, allowing opposition leader Juan Guiado — recognised as the interim president by the US and a number of other nations — to take control.
Maduro reiterated that he believes US President Donald Trump was involved in the operation, with Guiado as his accomplice.
Trump has strongly denied the accusations.
Trump has roundly rejected the accusation, telling Fox News on Friday: “If I wanted to go into Venezuela I wouldn’t make a secret about it.” 
“I’d go in and they would do nothing about it. They would roll over. I wouldn’t send a small little group. No, no, no. It would be called an army,” he said.”It would be called an invasion.”
And despite Maduro’s accusations against Guaido, he has not been charged with anything.
Venezuela’s military earlier said it had seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found while patrolling the Orinoco river.
In a statement, the defence ministry said the boats were equipped with machine guns and ammunition, but had no crew, adding they were discovered as part of a nationwide operation to guarantee Venezuela’s “freedom and sovereignty.”
According to a preliminary investigation the boats were dragged away by strong river currents, Colombia’s navy said in a statement.
Colombia’s navy said it is talking with its counterparts in Venezuela to recover the boats.
Maduro said the military would return the boats if the Colombian government made an official request for them.
Venezuela will make an official complaint to the United Nations accusing Colombia and the US of violating international law for the failed invasion attempt, Maduro added.
Maduro on Wednesday accused Colombian President Ivan Duque of enabling the operation, which Duque denied.