July 28, 2024, 9:10 AM
July 28, 2024, 9:10 AM
Six men with plans to “cut off electricity” to seven regions in western Venezuela, on the eve of the presidential elections, were arrested in the last few hours when they were “entering” an electrical system installation, reported this Saturday (07/27/2024) the governor of the state of Táchira (west, bordering Colombia), Freddy Bernal.
Of the six subjects, four are Venezuelan and two Colombian -alleged paramilitaries-, according to the official, who explained through X that these “terrorists” intended to “dismantle” an electrical substation in Táchira to generate “a cascade effect” in other facilities and, in this way, “leave this region without electricity” for at least a week, as well as Mérida, Trujillo, Barinas, Apure, Zulia and Yaracuy.
“We have dealt a direct blow to terrorism, they wanted to harm the peace of Venezuelans,” said the governor, who called on citizens to “go, with absolute peace of mind,” to the polling stations this Sunday, July 28.
They intended to dismantle an electrical substation
Bernal shared a video showing the six detainees with their backs turned and the material that, according to the official, was going to be used to dismantle the substation.
Since Wednesday, July 24, more than 388,000 members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) and various state security forces have been deployed in Venezuela’s 335 municipalities to ensure the security of the electoral process.
On the other hand, since Friday, July 26, “the border closure for the movement of people, as well as the passage of vehicles” has been maintained at the accesses that link Venezuela with the neighboring countries Colombia and Brazil, and a “strict control” is applied at customs and air and sea entrances.
The measure came into effect at 00:00 local time on Friday (4:01 GMT on the same day) and will be extended until 8:00 (12:00 GMT) on Monday, July 29.
