Venezuela's leader Nicolás Maduro announced on state television on 7 January the arrest of seven foreigners whom he accused of being "mercenaries", allegedly trying to prevent him from taking the presidential oath.

Syria had experienced 13 years of civil war and splintered into religious and ethnic factions before the regime fell. While Venezuela’s situation differs in many respects from that of Syria, the repressive regime in Caracas shares allies with Assad’s ousted government and, like his, is loathed by most citizens.

Two U.S. citizens have been arrested in Venezuela, part of group of what President Nicolas Maduro described on Tuesday as seven "mercenaries," the embattled leader said in remarks broadcast by state television.