Venezuela’s military high command backed President Nicolas Maduro in a joint statement from Caracas, Tuesday, after the US Treasury announced sanctions against the Latin American leader one day earlier.
Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez stated that “The Bolivarian National Armed Forces holds on more than ever to its constitutionally assigned mission. It ratifies its unconditional support and loyalty to our commander-in-chief.”
SOT, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Venezuelan Minister of Defence (Spanish): “The Bolivarian national armed forces hold on more than ever to its constitutionally assigned mission. It ratifies its unconditional support and loyalty to our commander-in-chief and reiterates the historic commitment to defend national sovereignty and independence. This homeland of Bolivar, this homeland of Zamora, this homeland of Chavez does not receive orders nor accept threats from foreign powers or empires. We will defend at all costs the most sacred interests of the Venezuelan people. Their dignity, freedom, and inalienable right to defend their own destiny.”
SOT, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Venezuelan Minister of Defence (Spanish): “(Maduro is) a constitutional president, he is not a dictator. A dictator is not the one who calls for elections. It is not a dictator the one who calls upon the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It is not a dictator the one who has worked for the peace of Venezuelans and tried to avoid what other stateless sectors invoke every day: death, civil war, confrontation between Venezuelans.”