Venezuelan military personnel reaffirm ‘absolute loyalty’ to President Maduro

Venezuelan military and police forces on Tuesday reaffirmed their loyalty to President Nicolás Maduro, while the electoral authority in the capital Caracas said it had presented the official election results to the country’s top court after days of delays.

Crisis-hit Venezuela has been rocked by renewed instability in recent weeks after Maduro was declared the winner of hotly contested presidential elections on July 28.

In the latest developments in Caracas, a joint statement from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior said that the country’s security forces have once again reaffirmed their “absolute loyalty to citizen Nicolás Maduro”.

The statement came in response to an open letter from the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo González, who called on soldiers and police to side with the people and stop following the instructions of the incumbent government.

“We ask you to prevent the regime from unleashing its violence against the people and to respect, and ensure that others respect, the results of the July 28 elections,” they said.

Machado and González also said that Maduro “carried out a coup d’état that contradicts the constitutional order and wants to make you his accomplices.”

Venezuelan public prosecutors subsequently opened an investigation into the pair, accusing them of forming a criminal organization, conspiracy, usurpation of office and incitement to insurrection.

Meanwhile, Machado encouraged his supporters to remain strong.

“Nobody said it would be easy, but the world needs to realize that there is no going back,” said Machado in an audio message published on social media. “Fear will not paralyze us and we will not leave the streets.”

Machado also emphasized the importance of taking a break to prepare for the next phase of the power struggle.

“Sometimes an operational pause is necessary to ensure all elements of the strategy are aligned and ready for action.”

According to the non-governmental organization Foro Penal, at least 11 people have died and hundreds have been detained in demonstrations since the elections.

The opposition has repeatedly accused the government of electoral fraud, with the US and half a dozen Latin American countries recognizing González as the winner.

Electoral authority delivers official results

Additionally, Venezuela’s electoral authority submitted the official election results to the Supreme Court of Justice, the country’s highest court.

The court, which is seen as loyal to Maduro’s authoritarian government, said on Monday night that it had received detailed election reports from the National Electoral Council (CNE).

It had previously given the CNE three days from Friday to hand over the documents, which reportedly include complete results from individual electoral districts and evidence of a cyberattack on the CNE, which the body’s president, Elvis Amoroso, called an “incident” terrorist” which delayed the broadcast. of official data.

The CNE has received heavy criticism since the elections after refusing to publish official election results. Its website has also been down since the vote.