Army pledges loyalty to Maduro

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino assured last night that the country's armed forces are "absolutely loyal" of President Nicolás Maduro in the context of the tension created by the results of the presidential elections disputed by the opposition, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.

The minister made the statement after opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado called on the armed forces to "stand by the people". Gonzalez and Machado made their appeal in a letter that was published that day.

"We testify our absolute loyalty to the citizen Nicolás Maduro Moros," Padrino said in an address broadcast on Venezuela's national television, surrounded by the top leadership of the Venezuelan army.

These “reckless and irrational calls aim to break our unity and institutionality, but they will never achieve that," added the defense minister.

The opposition claimed Gonzalez won more than 6 million votes, compared to 2.7 million votes cast for Maduro, by publishing online copies of ballots cast in 30,000 voting machines, Reuters noted.

The Venezuelan government, in turn, announced that it also has copies of the ballots but has not yet published them, as has the country's National Electoral Council (NIS), whose website has been down since the early hours of Monday, 29 July, the agency indicates.

"Fear will not paralyze us, we will overcome it, as we have done so far, and we will not leave the streets," Machado said in a voice message published on the social network "X". yesterday.

After Gonzalez and Machado circulated their appeal letter, Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek Saab announced that he was prosecuting the two for inciting military and police officers to break the law.

Venezuelan President Maduro's claim to have won a third term in the July 28 presidential election sparked mass protests and accusations of vote manipulation, with opposition leaders in turn declaring victory for Gonzalez and calling for the current head of state to step down.

Representatives of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico are in constant contact with President Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, the Associated Press reported.

In a joint statement last week, the three countries called on Venezuela's electoral commission to release tens of thousands of election records that could serve as irrefutable evidence of the election's outcome.

At the same time, Panamanian President Jose Raul Molino said last night that he wants to host a summit of the heads of state of 17 Latin American countries to discuss the political situation in Venezuela and protect democracy in the country, Reuters reported.

He made the statement on the social platform "X". Mulino has instructed his foreign minister to send out invitations to such a summit. The president of Panama asked Washington to support the forum in a meeting with the head of the US Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, and the US ambassador to Panama, Marie Carmen Aponte, his office announced.

The purpose of the forum will be to come up with a common declaration regarding the situation in Venezuela and to "find a peaceful solution to the conflict," Mulino's office explained.