Maduro says sabotage prevents ships with gasoline, food from reaching Venezuela

Vessels carrying gasoline and food to the crisis-stricken Venezuela are being prevented from reaching the country’s coast because of sabotage attacks, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said, adding that Caracas was trying to find a solution to the issue.

“Last week, sabotage was committed against ten tankers [with gasoline] to prevent them from reaching the Venezuelan coast. In any case, this problem is being dealt with and we are stabilizing the situation,” the president said late on Monday as broadcast on Twitter.

The president added that ships carrying food for Venezuelan citizens have were facing similar challenges, without specifying where the vessels were coming from, and who could have been responsible for the sabotage.

Since the beginning of the major political crisis in Venezuela in late January, the Latin American country has also suffered several major blackouts, with the authorities attributed to attacks as well, pinning the blame on the United States, which is supporting the Venezuelan opposition and is striving to oust Maduro from power. Washington denies the accusations.