Venezuela accuses opposition of coordinating attacks on diplomatic facilities in 5 countries

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s foreign minister on Monday accused opponents of President Nicolás Maduro as being linked to damages at the country’s diplomatic facilities in five nations.

Foreign Minister Yvan Gil in a statement said the vandalism was coordinated by grassroots groups known as “comanditos” — meaning small commandos — but he did not offer any evidence to back up the accusation, which comes three days after Maduro was sworn in to a third six-year term, despite credible evidence of his election defeat.

Gil said he has asked the authorities in Portugal, Germany, Spain, Colombia and Costa Rica to expedite their investigations “to find those responsible and to ensure the integrity of our facilities.” He did not say when exactly the diplomatic facilities were vandalized.

The main opposition coalition did not immediately respond to the minister’s accusations.

Law enforcement authorities in Lisbon, Portugal, are investigating a weekend attack with a small incendiary device that caused some minor damage on the façade of Venezuela’s consulate in that city. Portugal’s Foreign Ministry in a statement Sunday called it and “intolerable act” and said it was reinforcing security in the area.

Portugal has a strong immigrant community in Venezuela, the second largest following Brazil. According to official data by the diplomatic mission in the country, at least around 200,000 Portuguese nationals are registered in the country – a figure that does not include the descendants already born in Venezuela.

Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry on Monday released images of the alleged vandalism that Gil announced. One shows hanging from a building a Venezuelan flag spraypainted with the word “Edmundo,” which is the first name of the opposition candidate recognized by several governments as the legitimate winner of Venezuela’s July presidential election.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, stacked with government loyalists, declared Maduro the election winner hours after polls closed. But unlike in previous contests, electoral authorities did not provide detailed vote counts to back the announced result.

The opposition, however, collected tally sheets from 85% of electronic voting machines and posted them online — showing its candidate, Edmundo González, had won by a more than a two-to-one margin. U.N. experts and the U.S.-based Carter Center, both invited by Maduro’s government to observe the election, said the tally sheets published by the opposition are legitimate.

The comanditos groups were formed by supporters of the main opposition coalition to encourage voter participation and organize other efforts for the July presidential election.