Hours after dodging an apparent assassination attempt, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on President Trump to help him fight the terrorists he believes are behind the attack. 

“This was an attempt to kill me,” Maduro said in a televised address hours after Saturday’s attack. “ Today they attempted to assassinate me.” 

The South American leader had been delivering a speech to hundreds of soldiers, in an event broadcast live on TV, when drones armed with explosives flew toward him and exploded. 

Footage of the event showed him suddenly look up startled mid-speech, while his wife Cilia Flores, who stood next to him, could be seen wincing after a loud bang pierced the air.  Soldiers broke rank and could be seen running in panic from the area as bodyguards moved to shield the president and his wife. 

Maduro said several perpetrators were caught, without elaborating. 

He blamed an international “far right” plot linked to Colombia, including president Juan Manuel Santos, and people in Florida, where many Venezuelan exiles live. 

“The preliminary investigation indicates that many of those responsible for the attack, the financiers and planners, live in the United States, in the state of Florida,” Maduro said, according to CNN. 

He called on the Trump administration to “fight the terrorist groups that commit attacks in peaceful countries in our continent, in this case, Venezuela.” 

A senior state department official said: “We’ve heard the reports coming out of Venezuela.  We are carefully following the situation.” 

A Colombian official told Reuters the claim about Santos was “absurd” and that the Colombian president was at his granddaughter’s baptism on Saturday. 

Firefighters at the scene disputed the government’s account about the drones, with three local authorities telling the Associated Press there had been a gas tank explosion inside an apartment near Maduro’s speech, where smoke could be seen streaming out the window. 

Venezuela’s government routinely accuses oppositions activists of plotting to overthrow Maduro, a deeply unpopular leader in a nation crippled by an economic crisis where people are suffering a shortage of food and medicine. 

Attorney General Tarek William Saab said the assassination attempt also targeted high-ranking military officers on stage with Maduro.  Saab said he would give more information about the investigation into the attack on Monday. 

Adding to the confusion, a group calling itself Soldiers in T-shirts claimed responsibility, tweeting: “We showed that they are vulnerable.  It was not successful today, but it is just a matter of time.”  The organization didn’t respond to a message from the Associated Press. 

Seven National Guard soldiers were injured in the attack that left Maduro unscathed.  Images shared on social media showed officers rushing to surround Maduro with what looked to be a black, bullet-proof barrier. 

Maduro said he never panicked. 

“That drone came after me,” he said. “ But there was a shield of love that always protects us.  I’m sure I’ll live for many more years.” 

With Post wires