On the eve of Chavez-protege Nicolas Maduro’s victory in Venezuela’s presidential election, hackers allegedly working from Bogota hijacked his twitter account to claim election fraud.
Hackers from Lolz Security Peru tweeted from Maduro’s account on Sunday evening. The accounts of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and other Maduro allies were also hacked. The attacks were carried out from Bogota, according to local media.
“Election fraud,” read one of the tweets from Maduro’s account.
Venezuela’s Internet access temporarily went down after the attack. The Minister of Science and Technology, Jorge Arreaza, tweeted “Compatriots there are no problems with the internet. Calm!! It was a brief maneuver to prevent more conspiratorial hacks from the outside.”
Fraude electoral by @lulzsecperu #hacked
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) April 14, 2013
Maduro, who received full endorsement from deceased president Hugo Chavez, narrowly beat out Henrique Capriles in Sunday’s election. Capriles however did not acknowledge the Maduro victory, and instead pointed to irregularities in the voting.