Vice President Delcy Rodríguez accuses Machado, opposition leader, and US military contractor
Afp
La Jornada Newspaper
Tuesday, November 19, 2024, p. 22
Caracas. The government of Venezuela denounced yesterday that its oil industry suffered three attacks last week with million-dollar losses and blamed opposition leader María Corina Machado and former member of the US Navy SEAL Erik Prince.
Two attacks were committed at facilities of the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), one in the east and the other at the country’s main refinery, in the west, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez told the press.
The official linked Prince by citing a publication that the US military contractor made on his X account, in which he made reference to an explosion at an operations complex in Venezuela.
Prince comes out saying that the complex has been attacked, that a gas pipeline exploded in the Muscar operations center in MonagasRodríguez indicated by showing a photo of the message and later linking it to Machado, whom he called terrorist.
He did not give details about the alleged connection between Prince and the opposition leader, who is in hiding after denouncing fraud in the July elections. President Nicolás Maduro has said that he has already left the country, but she denies this.
Rodríguez said that the attacks affected the oil industry, the petrochemical industry and steel companies, as well as the electrical system. The state of Nueva Esparta (northern), where the tourist Margarita Island is located, is suffering prolonged power outages.
Oil and electrical installations usually have a strong military presence and the leftist government usually denounces attacks for which it blames the opposition.
The most affected facility, according to the vice president, was the Muscar complex, responsible for distributing 80 percent of the country’s gas.
An explosion occurred there on September 11, injuring five workers and for which 11 people have been arrested so far.
There are losses of more than 240 million dollars, according to the government’s balance sheet.
These events have had a direct economic impact (…). In the case of PDVSA, oil and gas, the impact has been 157.8 million dollars; in the petrochemical industry, almost 56 million dollars; in basic companies (steel), almost 30 million dollarsRodríguez pointed out.