CARACAS – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has promised that the country will decisively and effectively respond to every act of aggression by the United States against Venezuela. This was the message he wrote on March 9th, on his Twitter , in reference to the American attack on Venezuela’s electric system. Millions of citizens were left without electricity for over 24 hours, as technicians scrambled to repair the sabotaged system and get the system back up.
El imperio de los EE.UU., una vez más, subestima la conciencia y determinación del pueblo venezolano. Les aseguro, que cada intento de agresión imperial se encontrará con una respuesta contundente de las y los patriotas que amamos y defendemos, con valentía, nuestra Patria.
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) March 9, 2019
Maduro stressed that “the US empire again underestimates the conscience and determination of the people of Venezuela.” A big march against imperialism will be held in Venezuela on March 9th – on this day four years ago, then United States President Barack Obama issued a decree recognizing the republic as a threat to his country.
Maduro’s tweet was specifically in response to the role that Venezuela accuses the U.S taking in the massive power-outages that struck Venezuela 48 hours ago, causing considerable damage to the infrastructure. The Venezuelan authorities are considering it a terrorist attack. Venezuela has recently announced a return to functioning power to most of the effected areas.
La guerra eléctrica anunciada y dirigida por el imperialismo estadounidense en contra de nuestro pueblo será derrotada. Nada ni nadie podrá vencer al pueblo de Bolívar y Chávez. ¡Máxima unidad de los patriotas!
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) March 8, 2019
La guerra eléctrica anunciada y dirigida por el imperialismo estadounidense en contra de nuestro pueblo será derrotada. Nada ni nadie podrá vencer al pueblo de Bolívar y Chávez. ¡Máxima unidad de los patriotas!
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) March 8, 2019
The attack on Venezuela’s electric system was all but admitted to by high ranking U.S officials and politicians, who made statements leading up to the attack indicative of guilt, as well as gloating about the attack in its aftermath.
The nationwide power failure in #Venezuela now going on its 25th hour is causing devastating long term economic damage.
In the blink of an eye the countries entire aluminum production capacity was destroyed by damage caused by the blackout.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 8, 2019
On March 1st, US authorities announced the imposition of further sanctions on six Venezuelan citizens. Later, Washington approved additional visa restrictions against dozens of officials accused of undermining democracy in the republic.
After the sudden decline in the price of crude oil, US sanctions are by and large the single-most decisive factor in the economic problems that have struck Venezuela.
The political crisis continues in Venezuela, which escalated on January 23rd, when, against the backdrop of protest actions, the chairman of the Venezuelan parliament, Juan Guaido, declared himself the interim president. His move was directed by the USA and Canada, a number of Latin American and European states. In response, President Nicolas Maduro broke off diplomatic relations with Washington and accused the White House of attempting a coup d’état. Russia, China, Mexico, Cuba, Bolivia, India, Nicaragua, Syria, Turkey and others expressed support for the constitutional and democratically elected government of Maduro. Moscow called the events in the republic an attempted coup with the participation of foreign countries.
To date, the expected results of the coup – the change of power in Caracas – has failed to materialize.