Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested on Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro .

The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the nation's interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television programme, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.

The arrest of the American citizens included a member of the Navy, who Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said that Gomez was a navy seal who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Spain's embassy in Venezuela did not reply to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.

The US State Department late on Saturday confirmed the detention of a US military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional US citizens detained in Venezuela.”

“Any claims of US involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.

The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the US Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by Washington of obstructing voting during the disputed July 28 Venezuelan presidential election and carrying out human rights abuses.

Earlier this week, Spain's parliament recognised opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of the election, angering Maduro allies who called on the Venezuelan government to suspend commercial and diplomatic relations with Spain. (AP)