Venezuela formally charges Caracas mayor

Prosecutors in Venezuela formally charged Caracas mayor and opposition politician Antonio Ledezma Tuesday with staging a US-funded attempted coup against President Nicolas Maduro.
The charge comes as Maduro -- an elected socialist -- heads to a regional leaders' summit in Panama Friday at which Obama is to meet with Maduro's key political ally Cuban President Raul Castro.
"The Prosecutors' Office on Tuesday formally charged Caracas mayor and opposition member Antonio Ledezma, who was arrested February 19, with allegedly supporting groups plotting to use violent acts to destabilize the country," it said in a statement.
Caracas' chief prosecutor Jose Luis Orta charged Ledezma, 59, with conspiracy and plotting with the as-yet unnamed individuals, and requested that he not be set free, the office's statement added.
The United States dismissed the claims as "baseless and false," and has condemned Ledezma's arrest.
Ledezma is jailed at the Ramo Verde military prison along with fellow Maduro opponent Leopoldo Lopez. The latter has been charged with inciting antigovernment violence that left 43 people dead between February and May 2014.
Their wives, Mitzy Capriles and Lilian Tintori, are due to attend a forum of non-governmental groups on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in Panama City Friday and Saturday.