USAID "humanitarian aid" being unloaded from a US Marine Corps CH-53E super stallion helicopter in Haiti (2016). File photo courtesy of US Marine Corps.
Caracas, February 14, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, today rejected the plan formulated by Mauricio Macri, former president of Argentina, to invade Venezuela in 2019, revealed in leaked Argentinian intelligence documents referring to the Puma Military Drill.
“In an Argentine news piece, information about the invasion plan that was being hatched from that country by Macri came to light,” said President Maduro. “This information seems credible to me. Hopefully in Argentina someone dares to raise their voice so that they investigate these facts and the truth is known.”
The Venezuelan people and the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) are willing to defend the independence and sovereignty of Venezuela, said President Maduro, with the formula that has successfully prevented foreign aggression thus far: the civic-military union.
President Maduro added that “they went to the extreme of breaking all the rules of the game of diplomacy, of ignoring international law, of thinking that they can wage war against Venezuela.” President Maduro noted that the general who led these military drills is an officer who is still active within the Argentine army.
RELATED CONTENT: Argentine Patagonia Threatened by British, Israeli & US Citizens
The Argentinian commander in question is General Juan Martin Paleo who, at the time of the military exercise in 2019, was commander of the Rapid Deployment Force and currently is the Chief Commander of the Joint Chief of Staff of the Argentinian Armed Forces, according to the the Argentinian news outlet El Cohete A La Luna, responsible for leaking the information.
This Sunday, the Argentinian website reported that Macri committed to sending troops in a possible intervention led by US forces and exposed what the Argentinian army called the Puma Military Drill, where a “humanitarian invasion” of Venezuela was planned, entering through Colombia, almost during the same time the penetration of alleged “humanitarian aid” was attempted by Washington and the Lima Group, in February 2019. The Puma drill was carried in seven sessions at the Campo de Mayo garrison.
President Maduro made the comments from Miraflores Palace, Caracas, during a farewell and decoration ceremony for Andreas Wickham, Ambassador of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in Venezuela.
Diosdado Cabello demands that Argentina investigate
During the weekly PSUV press conference, the party’s Vice President Diosdado Cabello demanded an exhaustive investigation into the alleged link of former Argentine president Mauricio Macri with the plans to invade Venezuela in 2019 via the Puma Military Drill.
“We want to denounce the facts that are being aired from Argentina, in which they provide an account of the plans for an invasion against Venezuelan territory in a military operation prepared by the Argentine military high command,” said Cabello.
RELATED CONTENT: Argentina’s Macri Sent Arms for Bolivia Coup Massacres
Cabello added: “It causes us great sadness that it is revealed through these channels, through a journalistic investigation. We have not heard any statement from the current government of Argentina. We demand a clear investigation, the PSUV demands it.”
He mentioned that something similar happened with the evidence that the Macri government actively participated in the coup d’état against Evo Morales in Bolivia, and there are no indications that Argentinian authorities are working to identify those responsible. This represents a bad precedent for the PSUV leader, possibly indicating that there is some sort of complicity between the previous Argentinian government and the current one, led by Alberto Fernandez.
Cabello condemned “any military intervention, [or] attempted invasion of any country.”
“We will never be in favor of that,” said Cabello. “This is our firm position in the face of the attempted invasion of our homeland.” Cabello concluded by saying that Venezuela would “not bow down before imperialism or any of its lackeys.”
Featured image: USAID “humanitarian aid” being unloaded from a US Marine Corps CH-53E super stallion helicopter in Haiti (2016). File photo: US Marine Corps.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by Jesús Rodríguez Espinoza
OT/JRE/SL
Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza
Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza is an expert in international relations, Venezuelan politics, and communication. He served for several years as Consul General of Venezuela in Chicago (United States); before that, he was part of the foundational editorial team of Aporrea.org. He is the founder and editor of the Venezuelan anti-imperialist news outlet Orinoco Tribune.
