Maduro blames Colombia and US for refinery attack

Venezuelan authorities opened an investigation into an alleged missile attack this week on the Amuay refinery, one of the country's largest, the government announced Thursday. The plant number 4 of the Amuay refinery, which operates within the Paraguaná Refinery Complex in the western state of Falcón, was attacked on Tuesday afternoon with a "remote missile" that authorities presume was launched "from a drone, or a boat," Petroleum Minister Tareck El Aissami said in a broadcast on state television.

The attack was first denounced yesterday by the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during a press conference broadcast by state television, and on Thursday Maduro blamed once again Colombian President Ivan Duque and former president Alvaro Uribe for planning the attack.

"They have no limits. Iván Duque and Álvaro Uribe Vélez are behind this attack, they are behind this attack together with the intelligence agencies of the United States government." Maduro said

Maduro also accused Facebook of censoring various videos posted on his Facebook account that showed information on the alleged COVID vaccine the Venezuelan government is developing. "We did what all the countries in the world have done: announce that we are in experiments (and we are doing well, from the scientific point of view) of a medicine that aims to treat and cure the coronavirus. And that is why Facebook censors me to silence the voice of Venezuela," Maduro said. 

(Image Credits: AP)