Reply #2: Blasts injure three in Venezuela as opposition boycotts elections

[MelissaB]

Blasts injure three in Venezuela as opposition boycotts elections

By Ian James
ASSOCIATED PRESS


CARACAS, Venezuela - Three explosions went off at a military base and near a government office as Venezuela prepared for a congressional vote Sunday amid a boycott called by opposition parties, the attorney general's office said.

One homemade explosive went off near a government legal office Friday afternoon, injuring two people, said Aryeli Vera, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. Two other explosives thought to be grenades went off in Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas, seriously injuring a police officer, she said.

"I don't want to blame all the opposition, but there are absolutely irrational sectors in the opposition camp who believe they can disturb the process with those acts," Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel told reporters Saturday, citing reports of the explosions.

President Hugo Chavez has accused major opposition parties of staging a U.S.-backed conspiracy by pulling out of elections days before the vote.


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Opposition leaders have argued the National Electoral Council is pro-Chavez. They also have alleged irregularities with the voter registry and argued that touchscreen voting machines are vulnerable to confidentiality breaches.


More: http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/13325476.htm