Venezuela accuses opposition to coordinate attacks on diplomats in 5 countries

Venezuela accuses opposition to coordinate attacks on diplomats in 5 countries

In Venezuela, Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on Monday has the opponents of President Nicolás Maduro accused of causing damage to the country's diplomatic facilities in five nations. According to Gil, the vandalism of basic groups, the so -called "Comanditos" - which means as much as small command units - was coordinated. However, he did not provide evidence of these accusations. These allegations are made only three days after Maduro was sworn in for a third term of six years, although there are convincing indications of his defeat in the election.

claim for investigation

Gil also explained that he asked the authorities in Portugal, Germany, Spain, Colombia and Costa Rica to accelerate their investigations in order to find those responsible and to ensure the integrity of the facilities. However, he did not state when the diplomatic facilities were vandalized.

Investigations in Portugal

in Lisbon, Portugal, the law enforcement agencies examine a weekend attack with a small arson attack that caused minor damage to the facade of the Venezolan consulate. The Portuguese Foreign Ministry described this incident in a declaration on Sunday as a "unbearable act" and announced that it would strengthen the security measures in the area.

The Venezolan Diaspora

Portugal has a large immigrant community from Venezuela, which is the second largest after Brazil. According to official information from the diplomatic mission, at least 200,000 Portuguese citizens are registered in Venezuela, whereby the number of descendants already born in Venezuela is not counted.

evidence of vandalism

On Monday, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry published pictures of the alleged vandalism that Gil had announced. One of the photographs shows a Venezuelan flag that hangs on a building and was sprayed with the word "Edmundo". This is the first name of the opposition candidate, which is recognized by several governments than the legitimate winner of the presidential elections in July.

controversy about election results

The Venezuelan National Collection Council, which is staffed by loyal supporters from the government, declared Maduro as the election winner, a few hours after the polling stations were closed. In contrast to previous elections, however, no detailed votes for underpinning the announced result were published. The opposition, on the other hand, collected voices of 85 % of electronic ballot boxes and made them available online, which shows that its candidate, Edmundo González, won with a more than two to one lead.

international observations

UN experts and the Carter Center based in the USA, both of which were invited by the Maduro government to observe the elections, confirmed that the votes published by the opposition are legitimate. The "Comanditos" groups were founded by supporters of the most important opposition coalition to promote voter participation and to organize further activities for the presidential election in July.