Intensification of Sabotage to the Venezuelan Electrical System is Intentional: Prosecutor Saab
The Attorney General’s Office is conducting investigations to verify if the acts are connected with Colombian paramilitaries.
On Friday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab provided details on the progress of the investigations that the authorities are conducting regarding the acts of sabotage against the electrical system organized by the Venezuelan far-right.
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These criminal acts have intensified in the context of the current electoral process, which will culminate with the presidential elections on June 28.
“The intensification of sabotage is intentional. These illegal groups steal materials from the electrical system, particularly in border areas like Zulia and Tachira, which are important for the country,” he said.
Among the most recent sabotages are those that occurred in Caracas, Tachira, and Merida. The investigation of these criminal acts led to the arrest of Altorroso Vargas on July 10 and Ricardo Albacete on July 11.
During the raids on the sites where these criminals were located, authorities found strategic materials belonging to the company CORPOELEC valued at around US$150,000.
In Palmira, authorities found 20 stolen transformers, 500 kg of high-tension cables, 50 electric lightning rods, and 250 aluminum ingots made from stolen material and then melted down. These materials, which are the exclusive property of the Venezuelan state, were stored clandestinely in warehouses.
The Attorney General denounced that the criminals involved in the electrical sabotage received funding from abroad to carry out their actions. Phone records reveal that they are linked to far-right groups led from Colombia by politicians like former presidents Alvaro Uribe and Ivan Duque.
Albacete is accused of being a frontman for a Chinese businessman detained by Colombian authorities for corruption and for his involvement in a plane crash that left 71 passengers dead.
“During the electoral campaign, the Venezuelan far-right is promoting sabotages to blame the authorities for the incidents and to irritate the population,” Saab emphasized.
Currently, the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office is conducting investigations to verify if the acts perpetrated by Albacete are connected with the Colombian paramilitary group Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra, which claimed that the Venezuelan far-right contacted it to execute acts of violence before and after the presidential elections on July 28.
In another matter of international significance, the Attorney General also confirmed that the authorities processed an extradition request made by Spain against Yerson Guerrero, brother of the former leader of the now-defunct criminal organization known as the Aragua Train. His brother Grenket Guerrero was also detained and will be prosecuted.
Saab highlighted that these judicial actions decisively disprove the smear campaign that seeks to demonize Venezuela by linking it without any basis to the Aragua Train.