Seven people arrested, accused of an “attack” against an electrical substation

The attorney general, Tarek William Saab, reported this Friday that seven men were arrested for its alleged connection with an “attack” against an electrical substation in the state of Anzoátegui.

The subjects “were captured for being involved in the attack perpetrated against the Atapirire electrical substation,” the prosecutor said on Instagram.

In that sense, he indicated that the seven detainees intended, with “vandalism, to cause damage to the national electrical system,” whose facilities, according to orders from the Executive, are guarded by members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), which activated in June a “special 24-hour patrol and surveillance plan.”

Saab, who shared photographs of the seven men on the social network, announced that they “will be charged with the crimes of illicit trafficking and marketing of strategic material and association to commit a crime.”

On August 30, Venezuela experienced the longest blackout since March 2019 – when it spent several days in the dark – after suffering an electrical failure that altered daily life in the oil-producing country, at a time when it was going through a political crisis.

The government alleged a “criminal attack” against the electrical system and pointed out that the opposition grouped together in what it calls the “extreme right” was responsible.

Various states of the nation register frequent failures in the energy flow that range from brief and repeated fluctuations to indefinite interruptions that, during the time they last, also turn off the telephone, the internet connection, the pumping of drinking water and other services. basics.

During the first half of the year, 397 protests were recorded throughout the country due to blackouts, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict.