With Venezuela’s presidential inauguration one month away, President Nicolas Maduro says the country’s US-backed opposition is working to create the conditions to replicate the circumstances of Syria in Venezuela.
“Looking at the events in Syria, we are witnessing the painful suffering of the Syrian people,” Maduro said. “Now, the outspoken fascist extremists are calling for a civil war to be waged in Venezuela as well. I tell them: make no mistake. The people of Venezuela, in perfect unity—military, police, and civilian—will triumph through the path of peace. Venezuela will have peace, stability, national unity, and the Constitution will prevail.”
Speaking at the bicentennial commemoration of the Battle of Ayacucho, the president said that the Empire and its accomplices have exhausted their playbooks in Venezuela.
“We’ve faced ambushes, psychological warfare, political warfare, economic warfare. We’ve endured conspiracies. The Empire and the fascist right have run out of playbooks. They have tried everything against Venezuela. Every time something happens in the world, they want it to happen here.”
He recalled the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, which led to widespread destruction. “When the U.S. army criminally entered Iraq, they called for the same to happen in Venezuela. But the result was frustration and defeat for them. Tranquility, peace, development, and national sovereignty triumphed.”
He drew further comparisons, pointing to the destruction of Libya and the fascist takeover of Ukraine.
“When the U.S. attacked Libya, bombing and killing thousands, the Venezuelan opposition called for the same action against Chávez. Our Commander-in-Chief, despite the illness he was battling, told them that Venezuela is not Libya. Venezuela is the land of the liberators. We love Libya, we love its people, and we mourn the barbaric attack that tore Libya apart and plunged its people into chaos. In Venezuela, however, union, peace, and sovereignty reign.”
He also recalled the 2014 coup attempt in Ukraine, where Nazi groups seized power and murdered dozens of innocent people. “When this happened, they said, ‘Now it’s Venezuela’s turn.’ But we know how that story ended: in 2014, our people, with the Constitution in hand, defeated the guarimba and the attempt to plunge our beloved Venezuela into civil war.”
Despite threats of a forthcoming attempt to establish an illegitimate government, to be recognized by Washington and its allies, Venezuela’s Commander-in-Chief remains confident that the Bolivarian Revolution will triumph over any imperialist plot.
“Neither Iraq, nor Libya, nor Ukraine. No civil war, neither yesterday nor today. No, no, no, no, no! We are the children of Ayacucho. We are the children of the Sun. If Ayacucho was the Waterloo of the Spanish Empire in America, then, imperialists, if you dare—fascists—you will see that it will be the Waterloo of all conspiracies. You will regret, for 100 years, daring to disturb the sacred peace, stability, and unity of our beloved Venezuela.”
