Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (right) with the governor of Zulia, Luis Caldera (left). Photos: Presidential Press.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has condemned a plan developed by secretary of state for the US empire, Marco Rubio, that has been activated in Colombia “to overthrow the progressive government of President Gustavo Petro and impose a scenario for the return of a far-right, neo-fascist government.”
The plan “aims to fill all of Colombia with criminal gangs, violence, and terrorism,” the Venezuelan president said during the inauguration ceremony of Zulia state Governor Luis Caldera in Maracaibo this Wednesday, June 11. Zulia is one of the Venezuelan states bordering Colombia.
Terrorist attacks and assassination attempt
On Tuesday, June 10, 24 terrorist attacks were reported simultaneously in urban and rural areas of Colombia, in the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, leaving seven people dead and at least 30 seriously injured. The violence was concentrated in municipalities such as Corinto, Caloto, Toribío, El Bordo, Villa Rica, Morales, and Buenos Aires in Cauca, as well as in the cities of Cali, Jamundí, Buenaventura, and Palmira in Valle del Cauca.
On Saturday, June 7, Colombian senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay was the victim of an attack during a rally in Bogotá. A 15-year-old boy shot him three times using a nine mm Glock pistol imported from the US entity. The 39-year-old politician is in critical condition.
Security efforts in Zulia
“[In Zulia state,] we have made a great effort,” President Maduro reported. “The Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB), in a perfect unity of the people, the military, and the police, have made a great effort to rid Zulia of drug trafficking gangs. All of them, all of them, come to us from Colombia.”
He denounced the proliferation of irregular armed groups and coca crops near the Venezuelan border, noting that Venezuelan authorities have led cleanup operations in the region to prevent the establishment of drug labs.
“Catatumbo is full of irregular groups. There’s talk of more than 50,000 or 60,000 hectares of coca leaf plantations,” he explained. “How many times have we had to clear the entire Venezuelan Catatumbo of attempts to establish chemical laboratories in Venezuela to manufacture drugs? A tremendous battle, in which we have managed to seize more than 30 tons of hidden drugs brought in from Colombia!”
The Venezuelan head of state also highlighted the importance of refining defense strategies in coordination between the military, grassroots movements, and police forces, in order to prevent the infiltration of these extremist and destabilizing groups.
Colombia’s Petro Says Senator Uribe Turbay’s Security Detail Was ‘Strangely’ Reduced Before Attack
Binational economic zone
President Maduro urged his counterpart, Gustavo Petro, to proceed with signing the Binational Economic Zone for Joint Development between Zulia and Colombia. “We will incorporate Táchira into a large zone,” he said, “of agricultural, industrial, commercial, educational, and technological development. It is the dream of several generations.”
He said that with Luis Caldera as governor, Zulia could be freed from drug traffickers and mafias, “and whoever breaks these rules, to hell with them!” President Maduro warned. “Whoever falls into criminal gang networks, [we need to use] a firm hand against crime and criminality!”
Solidarity with Cristina Fernández
“It is possible to have a country at peace, especially at this time, when we see how the geopolitics of the Americas is shifting toward destroying popular and nationalist leadership,” President Maduro said. “We saw how Argentinian fascism attacked former Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and we send our solidarity to her and the brave people of Argentina. Long live Perón! Long live Argentina forever!”
President Maduro also recalled the recent electoral fraud in Ecuador, directed “by the Albanian mafia entrenched in Ecuador,” as well as the coup attempts, imprisonment, and assassination plots against Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“Here at the gates of the Basilica de La Chinita [in Maracaibo], I ask you to protect the peace of our country,” President Maduro said, addressing the Venezuelan public. “There is much we have to defend.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
