Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro slams CNN en Espanol

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has said that the CNN in Spanish encourages Venezuelans to ‘carry out a coup d’etat’ against the government.

“CNN en Espanol is a network controlled by those seeking destabilization, which openly urges people to carry out a coup d’etat in Venezuela, and which is delivering a distorted version of our nation’s political and social life,” Maduro said in an address aired on national television on Monday.

He added that the CNN in Spanish was part of a wider campaign of “brutal psychological warfare” aimed at destabilizing Venezuela.

“It is broadcasting 24 hours a day not to tell what’s going on in the world but rather to make Venezuela look bad,” the Venezuelan president stated.

Maduro dismissed recent reports about divisions in the Venezuelan leadership.

Maduro was elected president on April 14 after defeating opposition leader Henrique Capriles by receiving 50.7 percent of the votes against 49.1 percent, with a difference of about 235,000 ballots. Capriles claims irregularities took place during the election.