CARACAS, March 9. /TASS/. Any attempt of US imperialist aggression will be given a firm response by the patriots determined to courageously defend their homeland, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

"The empire of the United States has once more underestimated the awareness and resolve of the people of Venezuela. I assure you that any attempt of the imperialist aggression will receive a firm response from patriots - men and women - who love and bravely defend our homeland," Maduro tweeted.

Earlier, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez lambasted the attack on the country’s power grid as an act of aggression. Later, Communications and Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez explained that Lopez meant a cyberattack allegedly committed from the US.

Caracas and 20 or 22 Venezuelan states were hit by a blackout on Thursday. Thus, the blackout hit nearly the entire territory of the South American state. According to Caracas’ residents, the outage has been the longest ever in the capital. By Friday night, power supplies were restored in some districts of Caracas.

According to the National Electric Power Company, sabotage at the country’s largest Simon Bolivar Hydroelectric Power Plant in the Bolivar state was the cause of the blackout. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused "American imperialism" of the incident. The US Department of State dismissed the allegations.

Turmoil in Venezuela

Juan Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker, whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas on January 23. Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him as president. Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro blasted these actions as an attempted coup and said that he was cutting diplomatic ties with Washington.

In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.