Speaking at a rally on Wednesday, Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Hugo Chavez's preferred successor and a former bus driver, told the crowd that he was the target of at least one assassination plot.
"For several weeks we've been following groups that have infiltrated the country with the aim of making attempts on the life of (Assembly head) Diosdado Cabello and my own," Maduro said, according to Reuters. "They will not manage it against either of us."
While opposition leader Henrique Capriles has taken to Twitter to call the idea "bullshit", and many observers have pointed to similar proclamations from Chavez during his reign, the tension left in the country by return of Chavez's cancer and his absence seems to have resulted in the threat being taken seriously.
The AP notes that Maduro gave the speech while a "large contingent of police and troops with rifles stood guard".
"Don't be surprised by the actions that will be taken in the coming days," Maduro said.
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