MONTEVIDEO – The Uruguayan government announced Saturday the deactivation of an explosive device planted in its embassy building in Venezuela, and said that the case, which came eight days before the Venezuelan elections, is under investigation by the authorities.

The bomb was discovered Friday morning in the garden of the building housing the Uruguayan Embassy, the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry said in a communique.

The device, “which did not explode, was removed by Venezuelan police,” who proceeded to disarm it and who are currently “investigating the case,” he said.

“There was no personal or material damage” at the Uruguayan diplomatic mission, he said.

The Uruguayan Embassy in Caracas “sent a note” to the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry about what happened and “remains in contact with the corresponding authorities,” the communique said.

Found with the explosive device were pamphlets attributed to the Jorge Rodriguez Sr. group, the Uruguayan press said.

Jorge Rodriguez Sr. was a university leader and one of the founders of the Socialist League, a Marxist party, who died in 1976 in custody of the then-political police of Venezuela after being charged with taking part in the kidnapping of an American executive.

The son of Jorge Rodriguez is currently the mayor of Libertador, the largest municipality of Caracas, and head of Hugo Chavez’s Carabobo command for the Oct. 7 elections, in which the Venezuelan president seeks reelection.