Maduro slams ‘terrorist attack’ on Venezuelan oil company’s pipeline

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has condemned a “terrorist attack” on a major gas pipeline at a time when the Latin American country is already reeling from fuel shortages due to illegal US sanctions against Caracas.

The incident took place on Saturday and led to a major fire at the facilities in the northeastern state of Anzoategui. Media reports said the fire has left no casualties and workers at the state-run oil and gas company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) have already stopped the gas leak.

“Today we suffered a terrorist attack on the eastern gas pipeline that caused a huge fire that at this time is already controlled by the workers of Petroleos de Venezuela," Maduro said during a Saturday address broadcast on YouTube.

The president, however, did not give further details on the fire incident but said the “attack” sought to compromise the country's fuel supplies.

A video clip from the scene showing the fire was shared on social media.

Maduro has in the past charged the US with organizing attacks on Venezuelan infrastructure, including communications, energy, and oil and gas facilities.

He has said western sanctions targeting PDVSA and its subsidiaries are an attempt to seize the state-run oil and gas company’s foreign assets and prevent the firm from completing transactions.

Venezuela sits on the world’s largest oil reserves and its refineries can produce more than 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of fuel, but they are working at less than 20 percent of their capacity mainly due to power outages and lack of spare parts amid US sanctions.

Venezuela hopes to ‘turn the page’ with US

Also on Saturday, Maduro said he was willing to "turn the page" with the US under newly-elected President Joe Biden, calling for a "new path" after years of tension with the Trump administration in Washington.

"We are willing to walk a new path in our relations with Joe Biden's government based on mutual respect, dialogue, communication and understanding," the Venezuelan president said, adding that he "is willing to turn the page" with the new US administration.

In November, when Biden won the US presidential election, Maduro congratulated the then-president-elect and said Caracas was “ready for dialogue and good understanding with the people and government of the United States.”

Maduro also repeated the message in December, with reports saying that Biden also expressed readiness to re-establish talks with Venezuela.

SS