Venezuela's acting president says security forces have detected a plot to assassinate the country's opposition leader.

Nicolas Maduro says the government has offered to provide security for Henrique Capriles as Venezuela prepares for an upcoming presidential election.

Maduro says intelligence agency director Miguel Rodriguez Torres has met with representatives of Capriles to discuss the issue.

A member of the opposition leader's campaign camp told The Associated Press that government officials and Capriles representatives met to discuss coordinating security, but authorities did not talk to them about the plot mentioned by Maduro.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue.