2 Blasts, a Stampede and a ‘Flying Thing’: Witnesses Tell of Attack on Maduro

In the presidential box stood the small cadre who run the country: a loyal general who was now the interior minister, the chief judge of the Supreme Court and Nicolás Maduro, the president, who looked down at a parade of national guard troops.

Then, an explosion erupted.

One general ducked. Cilia Flores, the first lady, stumbled and reached to clutch the arm of the Supreme Court judge beside her. Security officials rushed the platform and surrounded the president with large black shields.

All looked to the sky in fear.

Mr. Maduro was under attack in what the government said was an assassination attempt, the first such known use of drones against a head of state.

The chaotic scene was the most striking evidence of unrest in Venezuela since the violent protests of last summer that were crushed by security forces, with more than 100 killed and over 3,000 arrested. Since the government crackdown on those demonstrations, and the re-election of Mr. Maduro in May in a vote widely described as rigged, the opposition has largely been quieted.

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