Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—An intelligence agent from the US empire has been caught attempting to co-opt an airplane pilot working for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in order to kidnap him, according to an Associated Press report.The report details how a US Homeland Security Investigations agent, identified as Edwin Lopez, approached the Venezuelan pilot after learning in 2024 that two private jets frequently used by President Maduro were being repaired in the Dominican Republic. Lopez told the pilot to divert a flight carrying the Venezuelan president to a site where he could be kidnapped by US operatives, offering a multimillion-dollar reward and even threatening his children.The pilot, identified as Venezuelan military aviation officer then-Colonel (now General) Bitner Villegas, did not betray the Chavista leader, despite the pressure he was facing. According to the AP report, signed by Joshua Goodman, Lopez stayed in touch with Villegas for at least 16 months. Villegas remained noncommittal but continued to exchange messages with the agent for more than a year, even after Lopez retired in July 2025, something very common in counter-intelligence operations.The US regime has tried countless failed operations, first to oust President Hugo Chávez and now President Maduro. Over the last two decades, the White House has used narratives involving coup d’états, interim presidents, guerrilla involvement, and so-called “Islamic terrorism,” along with human rights and environmental accusations, in order to destabilize the Bolivarian Revolution.More broadly, the revelations come as the US steps up military and intelligence pressure on Caracas to unprecedented levels. The Trump administration has authorized the CIA to conduct lethal covert operations inside Venezuela, and has deployed warships, aircraft, and almost 10,000 troops to the Caribbean for a new and reloaded “war on drugs.”The US regime placed a Department of Justice bounty on the Venezuelan president from $15 million to $25 million in January. In August, a few days before the announcement of the controversial US military deployment in the Caribbean Sea, the bounty was raised to $50 million. Numerous analysts have pointed out that this is another regime change attempt to destabilize Venezuela, a major producer of oil.Far-right actors in both Venezuela and the US have demanded for years that the bounty on President Maduro’s head to be raised to US$100 million in order to make a mercenary operation against the Venezuelan president viable, leading to the infamous mercenary boss Erik Prince making public claims for this on social media in mid-2024.In recent months, the Trump regime has accused President Maduro of being a drug trafficker, the head of the almost extinct Tren de Aragua criminal gang, defeated thanks to the civic-military union of Venezuela, and the entirely fictional Cartel of the Suns, in addition to alleged connections with México’s Sinaloa Cartel. No evidence has been presented to support any of these far-fetched allegations.Separately, US military strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific have so far murdered 57 civilians off the coasts of Venezuela, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Colombia. Both US and international experts label the military strikes as extrajudicial killings.Erik Prince is the New ‘Hero’ of the Venezuelan Far-Right OppositionIntelligence vs. counter-intelligenceAP’s Joshua Goodman has been denounced for years as a mouthpiece for the US empire’s department of war. For that reason, many analysts consider his recent “report” as another piece of the ongoing US regime change operation against President Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution, attempting to throw loyal Venezuelan soldiers into disrepute entirely fictitiously, in order to present a narrative of instability targeting the sovereign nation.Almost four weeks ago, Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello denounced fake news circulating about the alleged desertion of high-ranking Army commanders, among them being General Villegas. During his televised program Con El Mazo Dando last Wednesday, September 24, Cabello refuted the rumors about the alleged desertion of Division General Pedro Rafael Suárez and Battalion General Bitner Javier Villegas. According to the rumors, the former had fled to Trinidad and Tobago, while others claimed both were in New York.This was proven the next day, when both Venezuelan military commanders were seen actively participating in defensive drills organized in Venezuela to respond to a potential US military aggression. They also joined Minister Cabello during his weekly program.For this reason, many analysts consider that the AP/Goodman “report” is just another piece in the puzzle of US psychological and intelligence operations against Chavismo and the leadership of Venezuela. Special for Orinoco Tribune by staffOT/JRE/AU