Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Friday told the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) that he would not hand over the presidency “to any minority or puppet government,” according to international media reports.
“I swear before you that the baton of this supreme leader will remain in safe hands for years to come. “It will never fall into the hands of any minority or puppet government. I swear that you will never be subjected to this shameful act,” Maduro said, according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, referring to Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.
Maduro’s speech came amid a military parade of Venezuelan independence and the Venezuelan armed forces, an institution that has so far shown unconditional support for the dictator in his campaign for the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for July 28.
“This is the anti-colonial armed force that was born as a force with its weapons to confront the most powerful empire of all time,” Maduro responded at the parade, which featured Russian soldiers carrying that country’s flag.
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He stressed that Venezuela has the support of Russia, China and Iran.
Similarly, Nicolas Maduro warned during his speech that Venezuela has military and technological support from its allies Russia, China and Iran.
“We have support from countries with advanced technology in the field of drones and anti-drone combat. Our sister Russia, our sister China, our sister Iran, so no one is wrong about Venezuela.”
On the other hand, Maduro confirmed that he had asked the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office to investigate a video published by the Colombian paramilitary group Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra Nevada (ACSN), in which it claimed that Venezuelan “far-right groups” had contacted them in order to “destabilize” the Caribbean nation’s government.
“We have many intelligence sources (…) who have obtained this information, I publicly ask the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, to take over this investigation within the framework of his duties (…) because it is very serious,” Maduro said.
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Edmundo González Urrutia intends to modernize the FANB
The candidate of Venezuela’s largest opposition bloc, Edmundo González Urrutia, promised on Friday to modernize the Bolivarian National Armed Forces to face “new strategic military scenarios looming on the national and global level” if he wins Venezuela’s presidential election. July 28.
“For my mandate, improving, modernizing and strengthening the social welfare system for all active and retired members of the military establishment will be a priority for me,” the candidate said in a statement on the occasion of the country’s 213th anniversary of independence. Venezuela.
As determined by the National Electoral Council, the presidential election campaign will end on July 25, three days before the elections.
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