The Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) of Venezuela ratified this Sunday its “absolute loyalty and subordination” to President Nicolás Maduro, Following the validation of his victory in the July 28 elections by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ)controlled by judges close to Chavez.
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“Today we ratify our absolute loyalty and subordination to the commander in chief of the FANB and president, Nicolás Maduro, as well as to the legitimately constituted Bolivarian revolutionary process,” reads a message shared on Instagram by the strategic operational commander of the military institution, Domingo Hernández Lárez.
The Constitution, in its article 328, states that the FANB is an “essentially professional institution, without political militancy,” which is “at the exclusive service of the Nation and in no case at the service of any person or political party.”
According to the message published by Hernández Lárez, the Armed Forces “absolutely and categorically accept” the decision of the Electoral Chamber of the TSJ that confirms the results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which grant Maduro victory for a third consecutive term.
The majority opposition, which insists on the victory of its standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, has accused this official result of being fraudulent.
The TSJ – chaired by Chavista Caryslia Rodríguez – assumed the “validation” of the results at the request of Maduro, who introduced an appeal that was never known and for which the 10 former candidates were summoned, although González Urrutia declined to attend, considering that verification is not the responsibility of the Supreme Court, but of the CNE, which after 28 days of the elections, has still not published the disaggregated data.
The leader of the main opposition coalition – the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – rejected the TSJ ruling, and said that “sovereignty resides, untransferably, in the people.”
The opposition bloc maintains that its candidate won by a wide margin, and published “83.5% of the minutes” – which it claims to have obtained through witnesses and polling station members – to reinforce its claim, which has been backed by several countries and national and international organizations.
The anti-Chavez majority has urged the FANB to “enforce popular sovereignty” as expressed in the presidential elections.
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