Opposition leader María Corina Machado urges officials to “lay down their arms” when “the time is right”
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has called on the Venezuelan people to mobilize “permanently” in the face of escalating tensions with the United States, which has not ruled out any action against the Latin American country and which on Friday announced the launch of military exercises off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago.
“I call once again on all the people of the eastern states (…) in perfect popular, military, and police unity, to establish a permanent vigil and march in the streets with the Venezuelan flag held high,” the Venezuelan president declared to thousands of people in the streets of Caracas, in statements reported by Telesur.
This mandate, according to Maduro, is a response to the “irresponsible” and “threatening” military exercises in waters near Venezuelan territory, which represent a step in the ever-increasing US deployment in the Caribbean.
“They say they’re going to do it from Monday to Thursday (the maneuvers). Well, the people of Trinidad and Tobago will see. If they continue to tolerate the use of their waters and their land to seriously threaten the peace of the Caribbean,” the Venezuelan president declared at the swearing-in ceremony of the Bolivarian Integral Base Committees (CBBI), which aspire to be the foundation of the structure of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
For his part, US President Donald Trump asserted this Friday that he has already determined his administration’s next steps regarding Venezuela and drug trafficking in the Caribbean, claiming that “progress” has been made, though he could not reveal further details at this time.
The military threat has been escalating in recent months in waters near Venezuela with the deployment of ships like the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and the constant attacks on vessels in the Caribbean Sea allegedly transporting drugs, which have already left more than 70 dead.
The United Nations, along with the governments of Venezuela and Colombia, have denounced these practices as extrajudicial killings and have indicated that the victims are primarily fishermen.
“LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS, DON’T ATTACK YOUR OWN PEOPLE”
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has called on Venezuelan state officials to “lay down their weapons” when “the time is right,” in a message urging public employees to disobey Venezuelan authorities and rebel against “this barbarity.”
“Those who obey infamous orders, ruining the lives of their own brothers and sisters, feel guilty; they cannot look their children or their mothers in the eye,” the recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate stated.
She also asked that they be “a source of pride, not shame, for their families.” “This coming day, join us. Venezuela and your brothers and sisters await you,” she declared.
