Venezuela yesterday celebrated the start of President Nicolas Maduro’s third consecutive term and the 28th election victory of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), despite every extreme measure undertaken by the opposition, at home and abroad, to mar or prevent the official ceremony.
On Tuesday (January 7), Home Affairs (National Security) Minister Diosdado Cabello revealed that Venezuela’s security forces had intercepted a major opposition plot: for a simultaneous rival inauguration of defeated official opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, also in Caracas.
He also reported the arrest of seven ‘foreign mercenaries’ (from Colombia, Ukraine and the USA) who were part of the overall secret plot, to create violence ahead of and during Maduro’s swearing-in for another six-year term.
President Maduro also indicated on Tuesday that between November and December 2024, “125 mercenaries of 25 different nationalities, who entered Venezuela with the intention of committing violent actions, had been captured.”
On Wednesday (January 8), the opposition’s propaganda hype took a new turn, when right-wing European, American and Latin American politicians (including ex-presidents of Latin American nations) falsely claimed the overall Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado had been ‘arrested’ and ‘detained’ in Venezuela.
With a poor response to her call for street protests ahead of Maduro’s inauguration, Corina Machado participated in a small march Wednesday, during which the opposition’s right-wing supporters abroad exposed their participation in the unveiled plot, with denunciations of Maduro and the PSUV over their loud claims she’d been arrested, detained — and even “shot at”.
According to the obviously-coordinated plan for a psychological warfare blitz against Maduro’s inauguration, Gonzalez-Urrutia — who’d just been welcomed in Washington with a warm embrace by outgoing US President Joe Biden after visiting Argentina and some other Latin American nations opposed to Maduro and the PSUV – personally started the false claims.
He posted on his X account: “As the elected president (of Venezuela) I demand the immediate release of Corina Machado” — and “to the security forces who kidnapped her, I say: don’t play with fire…”
Panamanian President Juan Raul Mulino posted on his social media platform: “Panama calls for and demands full freedom for Maria Corina Machado, as well as respect for her integrity.”
Argentina’s anti-Venezuela government expressed “extreme concern” over the “criminal attack”, while Spain’s foreign ministry condemned the alleged detention.
Vice President of Italy’s Council of Ministers, Antonio Tajani, posted: “We demand the immediate release of the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. We can’t tolerate the illegitimate and repressive actions of Maduro’s regime that lost the (July 28, 2024) elections.”
US Republican senator Rick Scott referred to what he called “an atrocious attack” and urged “immediate action from the international community, starting with the US.”
Juan Pappier, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch for The Americas, called on “the international community” to “demand her immediate release.”
As Security Minister Cabello indicated, a master plan had been hatched that was intercepted—and which he had shared publicly.
The plotted plan was said to have been shared too with those who spoke publicly on the issue, albeit about an event simply that didn’t happen.
Listed among the plotters were nine ex-Latin American ex-presidents: Jorge Quiroga of Bolivia, Andreas Pastrana of Colombia, Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica, Jamil Mahaud of Ecuador, Felipe Calderon and Vincente Fox of Mexico, Mario Abdo of Paraguay and Mireya Moscoso and Ernesto Perez of Panama.
The ex-presidents were to enter Venezuela with Gonzalez Urrutia and participate in an illegal swearing-in of him at an unidentified foreign embassy in Caracas.
But, immediately after uncovering the plot, Venezuela’s Attorney General issued an arrest for the failed opposition candidate – and declared the nine ex-leaders ‘persona non grata’.
However, all fell flat after – although confessing encountering police and security forces during Wednesday’s march – Corina Machado indicated she had not been arrested.
Instead, according to official reports, the vehicle she rode ran out of gas—and the police made some fuel available.
Indeed, Corina Machado herself put to rest all the claims of her arrest, issuing a video that went viral, in which she appeared hooded and said that although her “bag fell”, she was not arrested and was instead “safe and well…”
Cabello publicly exposed contents of the secret document he said was also shared with the nine former Latin American presidents.
Nonetheless, the opposition’s grand plan was for Gonzales Urrutia to have been ‘sworn in’ as Venezuela’s new president would have violated the nation’s constitution, which requires any new president to be sworn in at the National Assembly.
Outgoing and incoming President Maduro addressed the nation ahead of his third successive inauguration, indicating that the opposition and their foreign backers were unable and/or unwilling to accept that the PSUV has won 28 of the 30 national elections, referenda and consultations held in the 26 years since the first election of President Hugo Chavez in 1998.
Maduro also announced that during his next six-year term, he and the new PSUV administration will undertake “Seven Transformations for Change” that would include: Consolidation of Prosperity in Venezuela; Achieving Economic Diversification; Expanding ‘The Bolivarian Doctrine’; Achieving Peace, Security, Defence and Territorial Integrity; Recovery and Social Commitment; Democracy, Popular Power and Participation; and Combating the Climate Crisis.
Meanwhile, never mind the revelations by the security forces, Friday’s Maduro inauguration was due to be attended by several Latin American and Caribbean leaders (including from Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua), as well as from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
China and Russia were also to be represented, as well as members of the BRICS, ALBA and CELAC alliances, plus other governments and political entities in Africa, Asia and Europe.
As this article went to press yesterday, all indications were that the day would have started with a celebration of the beginning of Maduro’s third term – to officially end in 2031 — and the opposition politicians registering yet another failure to dislodge the PSUV through means other than national elections.