A man walks next to a U.S. flag at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela January 24, 2019. Picture taken January 24, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuela's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said on Sunday that Washington had been warned of a "false flag operation" by "extremist sectors of the local Venezuelan right" to plant explosives at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.

A false flag operation is when an act is carried out in such a way that a different party appears responsible.

In a message on his Telegram account, Rodríguez added that the alleged plans have been reported to the United States through three different channels.

The White House and State Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

He added that a European embassy was also alerted of the plans but did not specify which one. Venezuela severed relations with the United States in 2019, and U.S. diplomatic personnel left the headquarters that year.

(Report by Vivian Sequera in Caracas; Additional reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington DC; Writing by Alexander Villegas; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)