Venezuelan opposition tried to stage coup with criminal gangs – minister

Venezuela’s far-right opposition collaborated with criminal gangs and carried out cyber attacks in an attempt to overthrow the government, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto said during a meeting with diplomats.

“The criminal organizations Aragua Train and Llano Train were hired by the opposition for a coup d’état and were used for that purpose, along with a campaign on social networks and a cyber coup,” Globovision TV quoted a senior Venezuelan diplomat as saying.

According to him, the involvement of criminal organizations for political purposes was “designed by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) of the United States.”

At the same time, large-scale cyberattacks were launched against Venezuelan government institutions, with at least 25 million of them targeting the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alone.

According to Gil Pinto, the opposition’s so-called agents of influence “are being paid to launch a social media campaign aimed at overthrowing the legitimate and constitutional government of Venezuela.”

On July 28, presidential elections were held in Venezuela. The National Electoral Council, after processing almost 97% of the ballots, announced that 51.95% of the people voted for incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, while 43.18% voted for his main rival, the candidate of the far-right opposition party Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

One of the opposition leaders, Maria Corina Machado, said on the day of the vote that Gonzalez’s team would not give up.

The next day, protests and riots broke out in downtown Caracas. According to Venezuelan authorities, more than 2,200 rioters were arrested for arson and other offenses.

Within 48 hours, public order was restored in Caracas and other cities.

Russia, Bolivia, Honduras, Iran, China, Cuba and Nicaragua congratulate Maduro on his victory in the presidential election.

Meanwhile, a number of countries, including Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Chile, refused to recognize Maduro’s re-election.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry has announced that it plans to recall its diplomats from these countries and is demanding that they do the same.