Venezuela
President Maduro, at the opening of a
market,
announced that his
government had survived what he called
repeated coup attempts by
the nation's opposition and U.S.
Maduro Says Coup Efforts by U.S. and Opposition
'Defeated' (Tal Cual, Venezuela)
"President
Maduro took the opportunity to thank the Union of
South American Nations for its support … and criticized the opposition's
reaction by saying: 'They began shouting, shrieking and protesting to [UNASUR Secretary General] Ernesto Samper as if he had held a
crucifix up to a vampire.' … Foreign Minister Rodriguez reiterated that, 'the foreign
policy of the United States is militarist and imperialistic' and she rejected
'constant U.S. interventions against Venezuela.' Samper said he received
with 'concern' information about alleged plots against Maduro
and said that 'any attempt to destabilize a government will meet with the
unanimous rejection by the countries of UNASUR.'"
President Maduro has reiterated that the Obama government has
again been defeated in attempting to trigger a coup and he criticized
opposition reaction to the Union of South American Nations' proposal to help the
country shore up its distribution networks and combat food shortages. "They began shouting, shrieking and protesting to [UNASUR Secretary General] Ernesto Samper as if he had held a crucifix up to a vampire."
Last Saturday, President NicolásMaduro reiterated again to the Obama government that the
Venezuelan people cannot be defeated: "They said in 2014 that it [the attempted
coup] never happened. That's why in December they went crazy and in January began
all the madness that has been reported and which we defeated. Then there was
the coup of 2015 which began with the economic ambush that we have overcome in
peace."
During the opening of a large grocery store in Los Valles del Tuy, Miranda, Maduro said that the recent coup was dismantled, "thanks
to the great awareness of the Bolivian National Armed Forces together with the
Venezuelan people."
The head of state took the opportunity to thank UNASUR [Union of
South American Nations] for its support shoring up distribution networks to
combat food shortages and criticized the opposition's reaction by saying:
"They began shouting, shrieking and protesting to [UNASUR
Secretary General] Ernesto Samper as if he had held a crucifix up to a vampire."
"How is South America going to come and help Venezuela?,"
he asked during a nationwide radio and television broadcast to encapsulate the opposition's
criticism of UNASUR foreign ministers after they
visited Caracas last Friday (March 6).
"Can you understand why someone would object to helping
us?,” Maduro asked his
fellow citizens. During his speech at the opening of a supermarket built with
the help of Brazilian state assistance, he said that the opposition's reaction
"is just a matter of bitterness and negative emotions."
UNASUR's support will help the government
"win the economic war," the president said, denouncing a "shortage
and induced inflation" that were part of a plot to topple or even murder
him, the authorship of which he attributed to his opponents and the U.S.
government, which has repeatedly rejected the accusation.
In this regard, Foreign Minister Delcy
Rodriguez reiterated in an interview with Caracas-based international
channel Telesur
that, "the foreign policy of the United States is militarist and
imperialistic," and she rejected "constant U.S. interventions against
Venezuela."
After maintaining that UNASUR should
act in anticipation of U.S. military action like the invasion of Libya in 2011,
the chancellor warned that the same could occur in Latin America and the
Caribbean "if the pretensions against Venezuela are permitted to solidify."
"Hence the expressions of solidarity from organizations
of integration like UNASUR in favor of the people and
legitimate constitutional government of Venezuela," he stated.
The presence of a UNASUR
commission in Venezuela, "really was something incredibly positive"
and its members "may be evidence of the intended toppling of the legitimate
constitutional government of Venezuela and even the assassination of the
president, which would have thereby achieved an escalation of violence without
limit," Rodriguez said.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
The committee was composed of UNASUR
Chairman Samper and the foreign ministers of Brazil (Mauro Vieira), Colombia (Maria
Angela Holguin) and Ecuador (Ricardo Patińo).
The UNASUR commission asked that
the government and opposition resolve their differences in parliamentary
elections to be held in September, when every seat in the unicameral National
Assembly, most of which are now aligned with Maduro,
will be up for grabs.
Samper said he received with "concern" information
about alleged plots against Maduro and said that "any
destabilization effort that takes place in a democracy or any attempt to
destabilize a government will meet with the unanimous rejection by the
countries of UNASUR."
"Mr. Samper apparently came here to mount a challenge to
the Venezuelan opposition and to instigate our absence" from the meeting, in
addition to other elements of the opposition," said Executive Secretary of the
Democratic Unity Roundtable [MUD] Jesus Torrealba, who also
didn't attend.
There was at the meeting, among others, two-time MUD presidential
candidate Henrique Capriles, who tweeted that it was
an "informal meeting" during which he said he laid out: "the
truth of the situation in Venezuela, starting with the fact that the separation
of powers does NOT exist."
The Venezuela Supreme Court of Justice assured the UNASUR delegation that the judiciary acts within the
constitutional framework and that there exists in the country "full
autonomy and independence for each of the branches of government."
