Venezuelan Vice President for the Economic Area and Minister for Petroleum, Tareck El Aissami, denounced the latest terrorist attack perpetrated against facilities of the state petroleum company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), just a few minutes after the news of its occurrence arrived.
ATENCIÓN | Ministro Tareck El Aissami denunció un nuevo ataque terrorista perpetrado contra PDVSA.
El hecho ocurrió en un tramo del gasoducto, al norte del estado Monagas, afectando el centro de operaciones El Tejero, que sirve como planta de inyección de gas. pic.twitter.com/9ywxYadjb0— Misión Verdad (@Mision_Verdad) March 21, 2021
“This incident is the latest addition to the criminal record of sanctions, blockade, sabotage, and threats that our principal oil industry has suffered, with the alleged intention of interrupting all operations associated with PDVSA in its different areas,” said the minister.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of Saturday, March 20, in a section of a gas pipeline in the Ezequiel Zamora municipality of Monagas state, and disrupted services of the El Tejero Operational Center, a gas injection plant.
Many right wing news outlets reported the attack as an “accident” caused due to the incompetence of the workers and the lack of equipment, without carrying out any investigation. They also conveniently forgot to the mention the US blockade as the reason behind the shortage of equipment.
El Aissami informed that no injuries or casualties were reported in the incident. He added that contingency equipment and necessary protocols have been deployed to restore operations in that facility as soon as possible.
(Mision Verdad) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune