Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro showed what he said was proof of “sabotage” that caused the power outage that plunged most of his country into darkness on Monday night, accusing them of trying to create chaos before the municipal elections this weekend.

The blackout on Monday affected the capital Caracas and other major cities, shutting down the Metro, and silencing the President who was giving a major address to the nation at the time. 

The next day, Maduro went on TV and showed photos of what appeared to be a severed cable, and promised that more evidence was to be revealed on Wednesday. 

“What motive could there be for leaving a whole country without electricity?” asked Maduro.  He added, “We always face these attacks by the right-wing fascists.. They wanted to make me, as president of the republic, decree a state of emergency and suspend the elections.”

The opposition rejects the sabotage allegations as buffoonery,  and says the governments of President Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, have failed to maintain the power grid to meet growing demand, and resorted to conspiracy theories to divert attention from mismanagement.