Caracas, Aug 7 (EFE).– President Nicolas Maduro accused CNN of conducting a “terrorist campaign” against Venezuela by airing false reports about looting in order to “destabilize” the country.

“That’s what CNN is doing…from the United States once again…but we are dismantling the plan and they know that we’re dismantling it,” Maduro said during a Cabinet meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace.

The president accused the governor of the central state of Miranda, opposition leader Henrique Capriles, of being an accomplice of the U.S. media outlet in this destabilization plan.

Aragua Gov. Tareck El Aissami, for his part, said the “terrorist” CNN made its plan obvious by reporting on “the alleged looting going on in different cities” around the country.

“We are in perfect coordination with all the units and organizations of citizens’ safety in the country, and not one case of violence has been reported – they are trying to spark violence and trying to attempt acts of violence,” El Aissami, a former interior minister, said.

This is not the first time Maduro has slammed CNN, since early last year his leftist government canceled its journalists’ permits to work in the country, only to reactivate them hours later after asking the network for a more “balanced” and “rectified” coverage of the strong anti-government protests at the time. EFE