Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino pointing at a map during a military brief on Wednesday, Sept. 17, in Caracas, Venezuela. Photo: Presidential Press via EFE
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino announced this Sunday, September 21, the upcoming launch of the “Cumanagoto 200″ military drill for comprehensive defense in the state of Sucre, eastern Venezuela.
He explained that President Nicolás Maduro ordered the withdrawal of forces and resources from the naval drill carried out on La Orchila Island, dubbed “Caribe Soberano 200,” calling it “a complete and successful exercise.”
“We are in the withdrawal phase so that from now on, following the instructions of our commander-in-chief, we will go to the state of Sucre with its 15 municipalities … four quadrants, 60 URRAS (Rapid Reaction Units) will occupy the territory of the 15 municipalities to conduct reconnaissance, to clear the area,” said the defense minister.
Sucre state neighbors Trinidad and Tobago and is the area from where, according to news reports, some of the small boats destroyed by the US military originated.
The top military commander recalled that from Trinidad and Tobago, “there’s a lot of smuggling of fuel, weapons, ammunition, and a lot of human trafficking; all of this happens there along that axis between Macuro, La Punta, Paria Promontory, and Trinidad and Tobago.”
“We’re going there to clear out any terrorist group or drug trafficking gang operating illegally in that territory. It’s an order from our commander-in-chief, and the strategic commander is already carrying it out and is directing all means and forces to ensure that Operation Cumanagoto 200 is carried out in the eastern Caribbean,” he stated.
He highlighted the efforts of security agencies to contain human trafficking, fuel and food smuggling, and drug trafficking syndicates. “Recently, we were able to see the transport of weapons there, when we detected the smuggling of collective weapons, rocket launchers, rifles, and grenades. What could be the purpose of this? What do they intend with this?” he questioned.
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Operation details
The commander of the Eastern Strategic Comprehensive Defense Region (Redi), Gen. Juan Sulbarán, explained from Carúpano that in this operation the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB), in a popular, military and police fusion, “are conducting military operations and joint, unified and comprehensive actions” in the entity.
He noted that Joint Task Force Sifontes is made up of seven task forces: land, maritime, aerospace, special forces, military engineering, intelligence and electronic warfare, and internal order.
“This comprehensive defense operation is being carried out to occupy, secure and control the territory of the state of Sucre, to block, channel, or isolate the enemy, which will lead to the dismantling of its organizational structure and logistical system,” as well as to capture or neutralize its members and eradicate the criminal activity they carry out in the region, such as drug trafficking, smuggling of food and strategic material, human trafficking, trafficking in arms, ammunition and explosives, as well as other punishable activities that affect the peace of the population.
Sulbarán emphasized that the operational activities carried out include reconnaissance and combat patrols, land, sea and air patrols, land, sea and air reconnaissance, checkpoints and roadblocks, and aerial reconnaissance with drones, among others.
Assessment of the FANB’s deployment in communal circuits
The minister also presented a brief on the “The Barracks Go to the People” military training, featuring the FANB deployment, held on Saturday, highlighting the population’s participation in the country’s 5,336 communal districts, in a “perfect fusion of military, police, and grassroots.”
He also reported that in the morning he “received the approval signed by our commander-in-chief establishing the 335 comprehensive defense areas, one for each municipality. We were able to see the communal combat militia units, organic, armed units with special defense purposes, throughout the territory, in the communes.”
He described the day as a milestone and recalled the words of Commander Hugo Chávez regarding the massive participation of the people in the tasks of defending their territory. “We are developing and training in a time of peace so that if, at some point, US imperialism dares to set foot on this sacred soil, every man and woman will have a mission, a weapon, and a territorial space, a place to defend it,” he added.
Venezuela Launches Military Exercises in All Regions Throughout the Country
Fake news
On Saturday, Minister Padrino denied fake news published on US social media platformss, which claimed that “deserted” generals from the army are selling information to them. He reaffirmed the commitment and morale of the commanders of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB), emphasizing that “there are no cracks in our leadership.”
Through a social media post, Gen. Padrino shared a video in which he is accompanied by Gen. Hernández Lárez, commander of the CEOFANB, and Major Gen. Pedro Rafael Suárez Caballero, with whom he reiterated that the FANB “remains united, disciplined and loyal to the people and the Constitution. There are no cracks in our leadership.”
The social media campaign pointed at high-ranking military officials as having deserted and being in US territory. Analysts claim that in the coming weeks social media fake campaigns will escalate, some of them pointing at the Attorney General’s Office.
(Últimas Noticias) by María Eugenia Rodríguez with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SA
