Police officer stages helicopter attack: A Venezuelan police officer staged a helicopter attack on government buildings in Caracas in June 2017, hijacking a helicopter and flying through Caracas pulling a "Freedom" banner. He opened fire and dropped grenades on the Interior Ministry and Supreme Court but nobody was injured. Maduro called that attack a terrorist assault to overthrow him and lambasted Western nations for not condemning it. But many government critics doubt the official version, and some even suggested it may have been staged to divert attention from the country's economic and political crises. In a video, Perez said the attack was "perfectly achieved" with no collateral damage "because it was planned, because we are not murderers like you, Mr. Nicolas Maduro." Perez said he had staged an emergency landing on the Caribbean coast following the attack, and returned to the capital after hiking through mountains. Perez, who has portrayed himself as a James Bond-cum-Rambo figure on social media, also is an actor who starred in a 2015 movie about the rescue of a kidnapped businessman. Although he has claimed wider support within the security forces, Perez's actions so far appear to be a rogue stunt organized by a small group of disaffected policemen. REUTERS/Christian Veron

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