US Embassy is behind unrest over vote in Venezuela: Maduro

Venezuelan President-elect Nicolas Maduro has blamed the United States for fuelling violence in the South American country.
Maduro said on Tuesday that the US Embassy in Caracas is responsible for all the violence that has happened in the wake of Sunday’s presidential elections.

He stated that the US Embassy has been “financing and leading all the violent acts,” adding that it is backing what he called “neo-Nazi groups” in his country.

The 50-year-old accused the opposition of trying to stage a coup after anti-government protests on Monday and Tuesday left seven people dead in Venezuela.

Earlier in the day, Venezuela’s attorney general Celia Flores announced that seven people had been killed and 61 injured during opposition protests over election result.

Maduro won the election by a margin of 50.8 percent to 49 percent over Henrique Capriles.

On Tuesday evening, Capriles called on the government to start a dialogue to quell the violence.

“We are ready to open a dialogue with the government so that the crisis can be ended in the coming hours,” he said.

“As of now, I have not heard from Mr. Maduro any solution for the problem the country is going through … an idea to get out of this crisis,” Capriles said at a press conference.

Maduro became Venezuela’s acting president on March 8, following the death of President Hugo Chavez, who lost a two-year-long battle with cancer on March 5. He has promised to continue the socialist policies of the former Venezuelan leader.