(Caracas) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday called on his government and supporters not to accept electronic devices as Christmas gifts because of the simultaneous explosion of pagers and other communications equipment from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Do not accept electronic gifts […] “Be careful with phones, cell phones,” the leader urged in a statement broadcast on radio and television.
Mr. Maduro also asked all “ministries, institutions and state companies” to prioritize the purchase of “crafts and toys made in Venezuela” for gift exchanges during the “Venezuelan Christmas festivities.”
He brought the date forward to 1er October “in homage” to the population of the country, shaken by unrest since his contested re-election on July 28.
Hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by the Iranian-backed Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah, allied with Palestinian Hamas, exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday in an unprecedented attack that killed 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000.
The first wave of pager blasts came Tuesday shortly after Israel announced it was expanding its war aims to the northern front, the border with Lebanon, to allow tens of thousands of residents displaced by the violence to return home.
Hezbollah and Lebanon have accused Israel of booby-trapping the devices. Israel has not commented on the attacks.
“International humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby-trapped devices that appear to be harmless objects,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Friday.
“It is a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians,” he added.