Maduro warns of severe penalties against sabotage

CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Friday warned that anyone found sabotaging the nation's electricity network will face "the most severe penalties."

"We have given the highest priority to safeguarding Venezuela's electricity system, safeguarding against criminal sabotage, because there's no other term for a Venezuelan doing such a thing, " said Maduro.

Maduro spoke during a tour of an alternative energy facility, the La Guajira Wind Farm, in northwest Zulia state, after his government announced a 90-day national electricity system state of emergency last week, as it struggles to optimize the service.

Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chavez as president of Venezuela in presidential elections held April 14, recalled that various blackouts in different parts of the country due to sabotage marred the campaign period leading up to the vote.

The supply of electricity is "quite sacred for the Venezuelan people," said Maduro, pledging to solve the nation's energy shortage, a problem since 2007.

"Those we have captured, we are handing over to the Prosecutor' s Office, because it is unforgivable for anyone to take electricity away from the people to sabotage a government during election time," said Maduro, adding "but this has to stop."

Legal reforms to punish sabotage will introduce harsh penalties, without providing suspects any type of judicial leniency, he warned.

To tackle its energy problems, the government recently named Jesse Chacon as Energy Minister, the former military man and Science and Technology Minister under Chavez has proposed a seven- step action plan called "Electric Mission."

The plan calls for first safeguarding the energy output and distribution of the National Electric Corporation (Corpoelec), created in 2007 following the nationalization of the country's electricity network, then following up with other measures, including raising rates applied to the private sector and large consumers, such as shopping centers; creating alternative energy sources; and promoting a culture of conserving energy.

Venezuela has the capacity to generate 27,495 megawatts of electricity, but output is currently at 16,900 megawatts, because the remainder of the system is undergoing maintenance, according to a 2012 report from the Energy Ministry.