Maduro vows to fend off ‘coup’ after attacks

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has vowed to fend off a “coup attempt,” shortly after a grenade and gunfire attack on key government buildings in the country’s capital.

Branding the raids as “terrorist” attacks, Maduro said on Wednesday that the incidents were part of an “escalation” by right-wing “coup” plotters against the ruling Socialist party.

The Venezuelan president also ordered security stepped up by putting the army on alert following the attacks in Caracas, where shots were fired from a helicopter at the Interior Ministry building and grenades were dropped on the Supreme Court building on Tuesday.

“I have activated the entire armed forces to defend the peace,” Maduro said in remarks broadcast from the presidential palace.

No casualties were reported in the Tuesday incidents.

The Venezuelan government blamed the attack on Oscar Perez, a 36-year-old police pilot, who had called for the resignation of Maduro and early elections in a video published on social media.

SS