"The situation becomes critical": why Maduro said the "criminal attack" on the power system of Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called the power outages of Venezuela a “criminal attack”. About this he wrote on his Twitter page.

“Against the background of a new criminal attack against the calm and peace of the motherland, the government and the armed forces are at the disposal of citizens. We will show once again our indomitable will, ”the Venezuelan leader wrote.

Ante el nuevo ataque criminal contra la tranquilidad y la Paz de la Patria, el Gobierno Bolivariano y la #FANB se encuentran desplegados atendiendo las necesidades del pueblo. Los hijos e hijas de Bolívar demostraremos una vez más nuestra voluntad inquebrantable. ¡Venceremos! pic.twitter.com/M6SYC0VIEA

The day before, the Minister of Communications and Information, Jorge Rodriguez, reported on power outages across the country. According to him, an “electromagnetic attack” took place, the purpose of which was the main hydropower system of the republic. According to Rodriguez, this is evidenced by the initial results of the investigation.

Earlier it was reported that a massive power outage occurred in several areas of Caracas and another 16 states of Venezuela. According to the local newspaper El Nacional, as a result of the incident, the work of three of the five metro lines of the capital of the country was suspended.

It is not the first time that a similar incident has occurred in the Bolivarian Republic. The latest series of massive electricity outages occurred at the end of March. Then Maduro announced that the participants in the unrest were trying to organize an “electric coup” in the country. Prior to this, the Venezuelan president blamed the energy collapse on the United States.

• Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
• Reuters
• © Ivan Alvarado

“A cyber attack on the Venezuelan electrical system is a terrorist act by the US government against the people of Venezuela. And the people of Venezuela won the terrorist attack of the government of Donald Trump, and now we are preparing to move forward, ”Maduro said then.

The main initiator of the Venezuelan blackout, the leader of the Bolivarian Republic, called the adviser to the US president on national security John Bolton.

“A new attack on the facilities of the Venezuelan energy system is beneficial to those who need a change of power in the country,” said Mikhail Kalashnikov, deputy director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences.

In turn, the dean of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, Alexander Chichin, called what is happening in Venezuela “the beginning of a new stage in the unwinding of civil war” in the republic.

“The acuteness of the Venezuelan issue is not removed, the crisis situation becomes critical - in the foreseeable future there can be a rapid development of events. The situation looks even more complicated, ”the expert emphasized in an interview with RT.

According to him, the goal of a possible attack on the power system of Venezuela is to strike at the reputation of the country's president and create an atmosphere of discontent among the population.

"Destabilize the situation"

Considering that relations between Carcass and Washington have become extremely aggravated over the past few days, it was the United States that could organize an attack on Venezuelan energy facilities in order to “shatter the situation in the country” even more, analysts say. In addition, the day before, John Bolton blamed Venezuelan military for “provocative actions” against the American plane.

"The United States condemns the provocative actions of the illegal Venezuelan regime in relation to the US Navy aircraft performing a normal mission," wrote Bolton on his Twitter page.

According to him, the actions of the republic’s military are “another example of deliberate violation” of the Venezuelan president of international legislation.

Earlier, the Southern Command of the United States Armed Forces reported that the Venezuelan Su-30 aircraft was “aggressively pursuing” US intelligence officer EP-3.

Recall, on July 20, in the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense announced the discovery of an American plane of electronic intelligence, which violated the airspace of the Bolivarian Republic. The authorities of the Latin American country decided to send interceptors to him, who eventually accompanied the ship until it left the region.

Earlier in the Ministry of Defense of Venezuela noted that this is not the first such case, which can be regarded as a serious threat from the outside.

Nevertheless, on July 21, Bolton declared that the American side “will not calm down” until Maduro loses his post.

"The United States will not calm down until the despotic Maduro leaves and the corrupt do not stop abusing Venezuelans," the adviser to the US president wrote on his Twitter account.

• Assistant to the President for National Security John Bolton
• Reuters
• © Kevin Lamarque

According to Alexander Chichin, the likelihood that the power system of Venezuela was attacked by Washington cannot be ruled out.

“The intervention of the United States of detailed kind is quite possible. Thus, the American side can support the opposition, increase the chances of the Guaido, who previously recognized his failure, to change the regime in the republic, as well as to destabilize the situation as a whole, ”the analyst explained.

As Chichin notes, Washington wants Venezuelans to become disillusioned with Maduro’s economic policy.

“For this, the American side needs to lead the situation to social tensions. In addition, the White House may provoke clashes of the population with the army of Venezuela, after which it will try to bring the republic to the imposition of martial law, curfew - attributes of civil war. In this case, the United States will have a pretext for military intervention, ”the expert suggested a possible development of events.

Chichin also added that if Trump is re-elected as US president in 2020, the US policy on the Venezuelan issue will not change.

"During the second term, Trump expects to strangle the Bolivarian Republic, changing the regime there, and also to distribute the natural resources of this country as it will be convenient for the White House," the analyst said.

Desire to break the negotiations

According to experts, the United States could attack the Venezuelan energy system, including with the aim of preventing the negotiation process between the opposition and the government of the republic.

Recall that last week the second stage of official Caracas negotiations with representatives of the opposition ended in Barbados. Following the summit, Maduro proposed to establish a permanent dialogue between the parties. Prior to this, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that at this meeting it was necessary to resolve the issue of the resignation of the current president of the republic.

Earlier, on July 11, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreas said that the United States wants to stop the dialogue between the opposition and the power of a Latin American country.

“Before the fact of the complete failure of all variants of aggression against Venezuela, the Trump administration intends to destroy the process of political dialogue between the government and the opposition, trying to impose war as an agenda,” Arreas said on his Twitter page.

Washington could really attack the power system of Venezuela to thwart the negotiation process between the Venezuelan opposition and the authorities of the republic, said Alexander Chichin. However, the American side in this case only in vain spent its resources, since these contacts would hardly lead to any results, the analyst notes.

“This dialogue cannot bring the country out of the crisis: Guaido wants to hold presidential elections under international supervision, and Maduro wants to hold elections to the National Assembly. These diametrically opposed positions will be extremely difficult to reduce to a compromise, ”explains the expert.

• Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreas
• Reuters
• © Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Chichin also added that these negotiations are not able to translate the situation into a peaceful course, since for representatives of the opposition, meetings of this kind are simply a decoration with which they hide themselves, wishing to actually change the regime. At the same time, the expert added that at this stage the Venezuelan authorities are successfully coping with the situation around the power outages.

However, Caracas has other ways to continue to keep the situation in the republic under control, the expert notes.

“Maduro has good political resources - the army of the Bolivarian Republic is still on the side of the Venezuelan leader, and this increases his chances of overcoming the crisis,” the analyst concluded.