Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro talking with an indigenous leader during a march held in Caracas commemorating Indigenous Resistance Day, October 12, 2025. Photo: Presidential Press of Venezuela.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—The Venezuelan head of state spoke after welcoming a March in Defense of Peace and Sovereignty held in Caracas on October 12, commemorating Indigenous Resistance Day.
“We Venezuelans are called firebrands. Let the imperialists know that we are the people of the firebrands, and they will never be able to defeat us, by hook or by crook. Colonial imperialism will never be able to defeat the firebrands, we, the heirs of this warlike, indomitable, invincible, and indestructible Caribbean lineage,” he said.
President Maduro stated that two worlds are colliding in modern society.
“Their world is imperialism, whose ambitions, racism, supremacy, plunder, colonialism, and hegemonic vision have become its main synonyms. They, with their supremacy, have failed; it is now a decadent and defeated model,” he said. “Meanwhile, we here, with our millennia-old and victorious resistance, continue to advance in cultural diversity, in the deepest fusion of our roots, which is synonymous with resistance and the freedom we so desire.”
He emphasized that independence is not a privilege, but a right bequeathed by national heroes. Therefore, the people cannot allow a setback where master-slave concepts proliferate as a result of US warlike and interventionist ambitions.
“We have fought and will fight with perseverance, with persistence, and always victorious for the freedom of our people, for the independence of our homeland, and for the right to peace, which must be earned and sustained day after day. We are an indestructible people, we are, let no one be mistaken about Venezuela,” he emphasized.
Militia to defend sovereignty
President Maduro ordered the formation of the Internationalist Militia Brigades of the Indigenous Peoples of Our America to defend Venezuela. He also called on the Bolivarian National Armed Force to accelerate and expand the Bolivarian National Indigenous Militia throughout the country.
“I will instruct the commander of the Bolivarian Militia to deepen and accelerate the expansion of the Bolivarian Indigenous Militia throughout the country. We also hope to form internationalist militia brigades of the Indigenous peoples of South America to come and defend Venezuela if necessary,” the president declared.
He noted receiving letters from various Indigenous communities in Latin America offering their strength and skills to fight for Venezuela’s sovereignty.
“Everything to defend the homeland of Guaicaipuro and Bolívar. We are a people who love peace, yearn for peace, enjoy peace, and if you want peace, prepare to win it with popular-military-police unity, with permanent national unity,” he said. “The order is given: win peace, exercise permanent sovereignty over our territory and seas, defend the right to life of the humble people, of the common people, of our boys, our girls, our youth. Defend the right to life that this land has earned over the years.”
This Sunday thousands of Venezuelans marched on Indigenous Resistance Day in Caracas to reaffirm their commitment to the government in defense of peace and the country’s sovereignty.
The event was attended by Indigenous peoples from across the country, as well as social movements, women, organized youth, and activists from the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
The mobilization, dedicated to celebrating cultural diversity and reaffirming the spirit of resistance, began in Chacaíto and ended at the Paseo de la Resistencia Indígena in Plaza Venezuela. There, President Maduro inaugurated the monument in honor of Grand Chief Guaicaipuro and Chief Urquía.
Earlier in the day, Venezuelan authorities commemorated the 533rd anniversary of Indigenous Resistance with a solemn raising of the national tricolor flag at the National Pantheon. The ceremony honored the historic struggle of Indigenous peoples against European colonization.
Presiding over the event, Clara Vidal, minister for indigenous peoples, presented the flag to cadets of the Venezuelan Military Academy to be raised at the Liberation Forum, at the entrance of the pantheon.
Minister Vidal highlighted the presence and indomitable spirit of the Indigenous peoples. “Only in Venezuela, in this Indian homeland taught to us by our Commander Hugo Chávez, is it an honor for our Indigenous peoples to have Apacuana and Guaicaipuro in the Pantheon,” she said.
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Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
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