Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro are rallying in Caracas. His government claims he was the target of an assassination attempt over the weekend. Police have arrested six people in connection with the drone attack. CGTN correspondent Juan Carlos Lamas reports.

Hundreds of Nicolas Maduro's supporters turned out in downtown Caracas, to show they stand behind their president and to denounce what the government says was an assassination attempt against him on Saturday.

MARIA EUGENIA PEREZ CITIZEN "I'm here to support my president so he does not feel alone. There are too many threats and betrayals."

LUIS HERNAND CITIZEN "We are unconditionally supporting Maduro, and will give our lives to defend our president and the government no matter what. We are socialists, we support the revolution and most importantly we are Venezuelans."

Venezuelan authorities have confirmed the arrest of at least six people they say were involved in the plot to kill President Maduro.

TAREK WILLIAM SAAB ATTORNEY GENERAL "The site where the perpetrators stayed in the days before the assassination attempt has also been established. The explosive experts who armed the devices have been identified, and the first international connections of these people have already been established."

JUAN CARLOS LAMAS CARACAS "Venezuelan authorities are blaming the attack on right wing enemies and the Colombian government. They say Venezuelans living in the U.S. helped plan and finance it a charge the U.S. denies."

From Bogotá, President Juan Manuel Santos said there's no basis for Maduro's accusations.

JUAN MANUEL SANTOS COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT "Yesterday, I found that there is another even more unusual accusation that I have American intelligence, that I am with the Venezuelan right wing plotting to assassinate the President of Venezuela. By God, I say to the President of Venezuela that on Saturday I was on much more important things. I was baptising my granddaughter. But simply to make things clear, I was on other much more important things."

The apparent attack underlines the struggle Maduro faces to maintain control over Venezuela, a country experiencing extreme shortages of food and medicine, hyperinflation and a deep economic crisis. Juan Carlos Lamas, CGTN, Caracas.