Hours before voting began, an oil pipeline in the west of the country was damaged by a small blast the government branded a sabotage attack on the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter.

“This is a miserable terrorist attack,” Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel told state television.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said the explosion at a pipeline supplying the country’s huge Amuay-Cardon refinery had not affected fuel supplies or exports and that firefighters had controlled a subsequent fire and oil spill.

The damaged pipeline carried 150,000 barrels per day to the refinery, state news agency ABN said. Authorities said the explosion was caused by a home-made pipe bomb, but they stopped short of directly accusing Chavez opponents, blaming only “radical groups.”

Chavez, a former army officer opposed to Washington, has accused US officials of orchestrating the boycott to trigger a political crisis. —Reuters