AREQUIPA, Peru – The Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, stated this weekend in Caracas that he is preparing, along with allied regimes in Cuba and Nicaragua, for armed struggle.
Maduro’s remarks surfaced during his speech at the closing of the so-called International Anti-Fascist World Festival “For a New World,” and came just a day after his leading role in the Chavista coup d’état in Venezuela.
“Venezuela is preparing, along with Cuba, along with Nicaragua, along with our elder brothers in the world, so that if one day we have to take up arms to defend the right to peace, the right to sovereignty, and the historical rights of our homeland, we can fight the battle and win again,” said the dictator.
On January 10, Maduro was sworn in as president of Venezuela without presenting the records to prove his victory in the July 28 elections. Additionally, he closed the country’s airspace and barred the entry of Edmundo González Urrutia, who had been legitimately elected by over seven million Venezuelans to lead the nation.
“We are not weak leaders; we are the Bolivarian Revolution of the 21st century. Let no one make a mistake about Venezuela, let no one make a mistake about us,” warned Maduro, who also emphasized that “if the case arises,” he would respond to “fascism with weapons in hand and armed struggle.”
The situation in Venezuela has grown even more tense following the highly criticized swearing-in of the Chavista leader. Opposition leader María Corina Machado warned on Friday that “Maduro will not be able to rule Venezuela by force, a Venezuela that has decided to be free,” and emphasized that, despite the repression, Venezuelans are no longer afraid: “Yesterday we showed that we are not afraid, and I know that there will be many more of us in the streets of Venezuela and around the world,” she said.
Machado also addressed the increase in security operations and denounced arbitrary detentions following the protests: “We all know that starting today [January 10], the pressure will intensify until Maduro understands that this is over. Yesterday, the regime unleashed brutal repression, chasing and detaining more than 20 Venezuelans (…). They are our heroes, and we are going to free every one of them,” she affirmed.
Meanwhile, González Urrutia concluded his tour of the United States and Latin America this Thursday in the Dominican Republic. “We have been in constant communication during his extraordinary journey through nations of our hemisphere, where he has been received with the honors of a head of state,” said María Corina Machado, who also insisted that the conditions will be created “in the near future” for the politician to return to Venezuela and be sworn in before legitimate institutions.
In another part of her speech, Machado referred to her arrest last Thursday after leaving the opposition protest in Chacao, Caracas, and said she was “okay,” though she has “severe pain and bruises” on her body. The opposition leader explained that, as she was leaving the protest on a motorcycle, she was intercepted by “armed officers of the Bolivarian National Police” carrying “long guns.”
“I was violently pulled off the motorcycle, and [the officers] put me on another one, between two men. That’s how they are: they attack a woman from behind,” the opposition leader said. “Suddenly, they stopped and told me they had been ordered to let me go,” she added.
According to Machado, this incident “reveals the deep contradictions within the regime.” “Their erratic behavior is yet another demonstration of how divided they are internally,” she said.
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