Caracas Archbishop Jorge Cardinal Urosa Savino rebutted the accusations of conspiracy the pro-government electoral taskforce Comando Zamora launched against the Catholic Church in connection with a video footage taped during a meeting in a hall in Los Samanes, Caracas, last month.

In a communiqué, the prelate said he forwarded a letter to Comando Zamora leader and Venezuelan Vice-President Jorge Rodríguez explaining that the meeting -attended by Chacao Municipality Mayor Leopoldo López and Alejandro Peña Esclusa- was convened by the local community council to assess the draft constitutional reform.

"Obviously, the Church does not take responsibility for the opinions of the people who took part in the meeting. Such opinions are the responsibility of their authors, within the framework of freedom of speech and political pluralism, which are two major values of the Venezuelan State," Urosa reminded Rodríguez.

The Cardinal stressed that the meeting was not held in a chapel, but in a hall that was formerly used as a temple.