Venezuelan militia women being decorated by the FANB. Caracas, September 23, 2025. Photo: EFE.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) has decorated five female militia members, declaring them “defenders of the homeland” in a direct response to what Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino described as a supremacist and misogynistic social media post by the president of the US empire, Donald Trump.
“The militiawomen I have here to my right, who come from the state of Sucre and whose hands will not shake,” the minister said this Tuesday, September 23, “were decorated today, on the instructions of our commander-in-chief, Nicolás Maduro, by the Bolivarian National Armed Force.”
The women, each holding machine guns and wearing militia gear, were honored on a stage set up on Bolívar Avenue in Caracas. The emblematic thoroughfare was filled with a massive crowd that had marched through the capital to reject US imperial military threats and warmongering rhetoric.
Condemnation of ‘supremacist’ mockery
The event was a response to a sarcastic social media post by Trump on Monday. Commenting on a video from a Bolivarian Militia training session that showed an overweight participant carrying an automatic weapon, he wrote, “Top secret: We have caught the Venezuelan military in training. A very serious threat!”
Minister Padrino condemned Trump’s actions as “just another farce” and an “act of little human value,” as well as an act of “disrespect.”
“Their mockery is racism […] that can’t be called anything other than supremacism,” he added. “They see the rest of the world in a minuscule way, because of course, they have imperial hegemony and all their technology and military equipment to intimidate and frighten the peoples of the world.”
Women vow to defend their homeland
One of the decorated women, Isabel Arias, spoke before the crowd, saying she was willing to “pick up a rifle” as many times as necessary to defend peace in her country.
“My name is Isabel Arias, a woman of the communes, a worker, a fighter,” the young militia woman said. “Today, my spirit is higher than ever. Nothing and no one will trample on the dignity of Venezuelan women. If I have to pick up a rifle 20,000 times to defend peace in Venezuela, I will be here 20,000 times to do it. We are brave women, warriors, and fighters who will give our all for our families, our children, our homeland, and for peace. Venezuelan women are to be respected, and that is why we are here.”
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“Today, I feel more morale-boosting than ever,” she said. “Nothing and no one will trample on the dignity of Venezuelan women.”
Caracas Mayor Carmen Meléndez also condemned Trump’s remarks, noting she had “never seen” in her life “a president mock women” in such a way.
She stated that “the women of Venezuela have the strength to defend their homeland,” adding, “I tell that president that a woman gave birth to him, he has a wife and daughters, so Venezuelan women are to be respected.”
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/AU
