A group of FANB officials issues a statement. Photo: TeleSUR.
“It is cynical that this insurrectional faction tries to cover itself with a cloak of legality which they have never practiced,” said General Vladimir Padrino LĂłpez on Tuesday from Venezuela’s Ministry of Defense.
These words were part of a a statement in which the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) repudiated a “seditious letter” signed by the US-backed opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia (EGU) and the ultra-right agitator MarĂa Corina Machado (MCM) and addressed to the military and police.
Below is the statement read by Padrino LĂłpez:
The Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the Police Corps attached to the Ministry of Popular Power for Internal Relations, Justice and Peace, strongly reject the desperate and seditious statements contained in a letter published on social networks yesterday, August 5, by Mr. Edmundo González Urrutia, former presidential candidate, and the ultra-right MarĂa Corina Machado.
First of all, it is important to bring up that those who today claim to be democrats have a long and dark history as promoters of radical and absolutely unconstitutional, anti-democratic actions contrary to all laws and the highest interests of the people of Venezuela. These actions include the request for military interventions in the sacred territory of the homeland, as well as the request for unilateral coercive measures and the support of everything that involves the hybrid war which the North American empire and its allies have applied to our nation for more than a decade. Therefore, it is blatantly cynical that now, this insurrectional faction of the Venezuelan political opposition is trying to cover itself with a cloak of legality that it has never practiced.
#6Ago đź“Ł #IMPORTANTE đź“„Comunicado Oficial por parte del ciudadano GJ VladĂmir Padrino LĂłpez en uniĂłn Militar-Policial, en rechazo a planteamientos apátridas difundidos por la ultraderecha venezolana. 🇻🇪
Enlace: https://t.co/n6BE0SwG12 pic.twitter.com/8sBu757Ziu— Prensa FANB (@PrensaFANB) August 6, 2024
On the other hand, this fascist current continues trying to position the thesis of an electoral victory that they wanted to build on the basis of false surveys and a media campaign orchestrated to create fictitious expectations in only one sector of the population, which they intend to continue deceiving and manipulating. It is necessary to reiterate that the Presidential Elections of July 28 were held under the highest standards of transparency, with the assistance of more than 900 international observers and representatives of all registered candidates, and they constituted an extraordinary demonstration of civility in which the Electoral Power, even under cyber attack, and being the only constitutionally empowered entity, issued the corresponding results.
But now they are trying to tarnish the aforementioned Electoral Process through the well-known script of violence. On this occasion, they are resorting to the so-called “Comanditos,” which are really fourth-generation criminal gangs with which they have established alliances, in order to control the political power that they were unable to achieve with the votes, being pertinent to clarify that their government plan is openly subservient and neocolonialist.
These criminal organizations unleashed a wave of terrorism through acts of vandalism that have attacked health centers and schools; public service and recreational structures; food collection centers; private commercial establishments; heritage monuments and sculptures; and political party facilities; among others. They have also carried out cyberattacks on computer platforms of public administration entities in order to generate anxiety and misinformation. In addition to the above, they raided military unit headquarters and more than 250 posts of the Bolivarian National Police Corps (PNB), using firearms, explosives and incendiary devices.
Given this reality, it is offensive that they try to address the military and police officers whom they have always despised, inciting them to disobey the laws and, ironically, urging them to stand on the side of history and the people, when precisely, in the stoic defense of their rights, peace and healthy coexistence, these officers are the most affected by the violence that they themselves have unleashed. So far, 59 police officers and 47 FANB personnel have been injured, in addition to the death of two professional troops of the Bolivarian National Guard. For this reason, it is even more insulting and injurious to mention the relatives of such selfless men and women in uniform, who are also significantly aggrieved by the savage and fascist destabilizing plan that they have been developing, which has left orphaned children and psychological traumas in these families. These events will not go unpunished and will be the object of ironclad justice.
Without a doubt, these fatuous and irrational calls seek to undermine our unity and institutionality, but they will never succeed. We successfully fulfilled, as we have always done, with discipline and professionalism, the tasks corresponding to Operation Republic to guarantee the security of the election facilities, the electoral material, and especially that of the voters; also, we acted as witness to the transparency of the electoral process. Now, in perfect civic–military–police union, we will safeguard internal order and peace throughout the country, always within the framework of respect for human rights and constitutional precepts.
We ratify our absolute loyalty to citizen Nicolás Maduro Moros, Constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Commander in Chief of the FANB, who has been legitimately reelected by the People’s Power and proclaimed by the Electoral Power for the next presidential period, 2025-2031. At the same time, we support his republican spirit, reflected in the proposal to resolve the electoral dispute through the Supreme Court of Justice, which will have the last word, demonstrating once again the strength of the country’s democratic institutions.
What bravery of the heroes of JunĂn! What honor and what glory, those Liberators! Always with the same determination that they showed, we will remain firm in the defense of our beloved and cherished Homeland.
Peace will prevail! Chavez lives… the Homeland continues! Independence and Socialist Homeland… We will thrive and win! The Sun of Venezuela rises on the Essequibo! Independence or nothing! Always loyal… Never traitors!
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/KW/SL
