CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Latest on Venezuela's announcement of a drone attack aimed at President Nicolas Maduro (all times local):

People living near the site of what appeared to be an assassination attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro say they saw a drone crashing into an apartment building as explosions occurred during the event.

Officials say attackers flew drones loaded with explosives toward the president during an open-air military ceremony that was broadcast on live television. Maduro wasn't injured.

Witnesses interviewed by The Associated Press on Sunday confirmed seeing at least one drone apparently linked to an explosion.

One showed a cellphone video of a drone hovering over a residential street two blocks away and then crashing into a building. While the video doesn't show an explosion, the witness said it fell and then exploded, starting a fire.

Another resident apparently saw the same drone. Maerum Gonzalez says she heard a thundering explosion and in terror ran to her fifth-floor balcony. She says she saw a drone strike the same building mentioned by the other witness and then fall. Moments later she heard a second explosion and saw black smoke rising.

President Donald Trump's national security adviser says the U.S. played no role in the apparent assassination attempt on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuelan officials say drones armed with explosives detonated while Maduro was delivering a speech to hundreds of soldiers being broadcast live on television.

Trump's adviser, John Bolton, says he can state "unequivocally" that "there was no U.S. government involvement in this at all."

As to what happened in Caracas, Bolton said "it could be a lot of things from a pretext set up by the Maduro regime itself to something else."

Maduro on Saturday did not directly blame the U.S. government, pointing instead at Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. But he asserted that the "intellectual authors" and financiers behind the plan live in Florida. And he said the attack's goal "is what U.S. imperialism is seeking" — "a Venezuela in conflict, in civil war."

He asked Trump to arrest the terrorists.

Apparently in response, Bolton said " ''If the government of Venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of U.S. criminal law, we'll take a serious look at it." </s> The man who claims he planned the exploding-drone attack on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro along with defectors from the Venezuelan military has come forward to tell his story – to CNN, of all people.

The would-be drone bomber says he met with US officials three times after the attack that took place at a military parade in August last year. In an interview with CNN, he claims the US officials seemed receptive to giving them “things in return” for information about the assassination attempt.

A State Department spokesman declined to comment, saying only “Our policy is to support a peaceful transition in Venezuela.”

The assassin, who wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, provided video of the conspirators tinkering with the improvised drone bomb, which they reportedly built themselves in a farmhouse in Colombia using materials they purchased online from the US. His footage also showed the group practising flying the drones “high enough to not be seen,” then diving steeply to hit their target, before dismantling them and sneaking them into Venezuela.

The man acknowledged the attack could have killed innocent civilians, had the bombs not detonated prematurely when the cellular signal blockers protecting Maduro reactivated, but claimed he was desperate.

“We have tried every peaceful and democratic way to bring an end to this tyranny that dresses itself as democracy,” he told CNN, claiming he had friends who had been jailed and tortured by Maduro’s government.

While National Security Advisor John Bolton initially suggested the attack had been faked to create a “pretext” for a crackdown, US officials have since confirmed to CNN that they believe it was a “genuine attack gone wrong.”

Self-appointed president Juan Guaido believes the attack was staged, telling CNN, “I think this was something internal, done by the government. It ends up making them look like victims.”

Maduro ultimately blamed the “Venezuelan ultra-right in alliance with the Colombian extreme right” for the attack.

If you like this story, share it with a friend! </s> New videos obtained by CNN provide chilling insight into a mystery drone attack against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last year-the world's first known attempt to kill a head of state with a retail drone,One man has come forward as an organizer of the attack,. In an exclusive interview with CNN, he recounted how they prepared for the attack, and provided cell phone videos of their drones, explosives, and practice flights in the rural farmlands of Colombia."We have tried every peaceful and democratic way to bring an end to this tyranny that dresses itself as democracy," he told CNN on condition of anonymity, referring to the Maduro regime. "We have friends who are in custody, tortured. This was a hard decision."He also acknowledged that the attackalongside their target.he said. "We cared about that as the Venezuelan people are always the ones feeling the consequences.""Such options are not good," he said. He added that. "I think this was something internal, done by the government. It ends up making them look like victims."US National Security advisor John Bolton said the morning after the attack that it might have been faked to provide the Maduro government with a "pretext," perhaps for a crackdown.As Maduro addressed a military parade on Avenida Bolivar, one of the capital's main thoroughfares, the sound of an explosion suddenly scattered civilians and soldiers alike. State news cameras and social media at the event captured fragmented images of mass confusion - smoke rising above the city, a formation of soldiers scattering, bodyguards leaping to shield the president.Only later would the story be pieced together: Two small drones flying over the event had exploded. Neither was close enough to do lethal damage, though seven members of the Venezuelan National Guard were injured. An unharmed Maduro would later say that he thought the explosions were fireworks.In the aftermath, dozens of people were arrested as Venezuelan officials launched an investigation to work out who had orchestrated the apparent attack. Some were tortured, activists say, while others on the government's list of suspects remain at large. Maduro also blamed far-right activists and the Colombian government, which denied any responsibility.The attack organizer told CNN that Colombia was not involved. He said that the drone attack was orchestrated by a groupdefectors from the Venezuelan military, with the aim to assassinate Maduro.The attacker claimed that. "After, they set up three meetings which I imagine was to collect information to study the case, but it didn't go past that," he said."They wanted to get information and then we asked for things in return. They took notes on this, and we asked if they would be able to help.."A US State Department spokesman declined to comment on the alleged meetings, but said: "Our policy is to support atransition in Venezuela." CNN has not found proof that the meetings happened.The plan was foiled by guards who caused the drones to explode prematurely, the attacker says.The Venezuelan government's account of the attack, provided by the interior minister,, including the drones' flight paths.The attack was prepared on a rented farm in rural Colombia. Weeks before Maduro's speech, the Venezuelan defectors had ordered commercially available drones online from the United States, and customized them to detonate a homemade bomb through the remote control app.In the videos the defector provided to CNN, you can hear men complaining that the drones' screws are too tiny. It's hard to read the Chinese lettering on the boxes, one says.Videos also show the group practicing the tricky bit: flying the drones high enough to avoid detection, and then swooping down at a steep angle to strike their target. They practice in different scenarios: amid green hills over a swimming pool, launched out of a car window, under cover of night. One drone would be later blown up in a test.Later, they dismantle the machines to be smuggled across the border into Venezuela. Once back in their homeland, they would slowly rebuild the two drones destined for the president. </s> In brief: Using drones for illegal activities is nothing new, but this weekend may have seen UAVs used in an attempted crime on a whole different level. Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, said he survived an alleged assassination attempt when drones carrying explosives detonated near him as he gave a speech.

We’ve heard reports of commercial UAVs helping to deliver drugs to prisoners, survey potential robbery locations, spy on people, and even disrupt an FBI hostage raid, but this could be the first time they’ve been used in an assassination attempt on a country’s leader.

Maduro was speaking at a military event in Caracas on August 4 when the apparent attack took place. Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said one of the explosives went off near the president, though he was unhurt. Seven National Guard soldiers are reported to have been injured.

The event was being shown live on national television. The audio was cut off at the time of the explosion, followed by footage of soldiers running away. Images on social media show Maduro being protected by black bulletproof panels.

Maduro has often been criticized for policies that undermine democracy and violate human rights. Falling oil prices have pushed Venezuela into the middle of an economic crisis, and the President’s recent re-election brought claims of fraudulent polling. Rodriguez claimed Venezuela's right-wing opposition was behind the attack. "After losing the vote, they failed again," he said.

Maduro, however, said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was responsible, a claim the Colombian government has called “absurd.” He also alleged that elements within the US were part of "a right-wing plot" to kill him.

Maduro said initial investigations indicated that “several of those intellectually responsible and the financiers of this attack live in the United States, in the state of Florida.” He called on Donald Trump to fight these “terrorist groups.”

A group called Soldiers in T-shirts used social media to claim responsibility for the drone attack, though it has offered no evidence. It claims the UAVs were shot down before reaching Maduro.

If this really was a drone attack—some authorities claim it was a gas tank explosion—it could mark the start of a practice where non-military UAVs are used in assassination attempts on high-profile targets.
A CNN reporter alleges an unnamed source has provided new video details about the August 2018 drone explosion in Caracas, claiming that it was part of a plot to kill Nicolás Maduro.