Venezuela Captures Rogue Officers After Uprising At Military Outpost

(Reuters) Mayela Armas Brian Ellsworth January 21 2019 6:48 AM CARACAS - Venezuelas government said on Monday it had suppressed a small military revolt after a group of officers stole weapons and kidnapped several officials as a video posted online showed a sergeant demanding the removal of President Nicolas Maduro. The officers attacked a National Guard outpost in the Caracas neighborhood of Cotiza a kilometer (0.6 mile) from the presidential Miraflores palace where they met firm resistance" the government said in a statement. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots at about 3 a.m. (0700 GMT). Protesters later burned trash and a car outside the outpost where the officers were arrested in a sign of growing tensions following Maduros inauguration to a second term that governments around the world have called illegitimate. Though the incident signals discontent within the armed forces it appeared to involve only low-ranking officers with little capacity to force change in the hyperinflationary economy as many people suffer from shortages of food and medicine.