Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday denounced an attempted coup of a “fascist nature” in light of the questions raised about his re-election, which was announced by the electoral body on Sunday and rejected by the majority opposition and a large part of the international community.
“An attempt is being made to impose a coup d’état in Venezuela, once again, of a fascist and counterrevolutionary nature,” said Maduro during the proclamation ceremony as re-elected president, at the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Caracas.
Maduro says Venezuela is seeking to destabilize after the elections
Maduro said that this is “the same movie” and “with a similar script” to the one experienced – he said – in 2019, in which “the protagonists” are “the same”, on the one hand “the people who want peace” and on the other hand “elites filled with a counterrevolutionary, fascist project, tied to the American empire.”
He pointed out that “the first failed steps are being rehearsed to destabilize Venezuela” and to impose “once again” a “blanket of aggression and damage,” a “kind of movie (Juan) Guaidó 2.0,” in reference to the period in which the opposition leader proclaimed himself “president in charge” of the country, a “mandate” – recognized by fifty countries – that he was never able to exercise, due to the lack of institutions and real power.
“I tell the conspirators, those involved and those who support this operation against Venezuelan democracy that we already know the story and this time there will be no weakness. This time in Venezuela the Constitution will be respected, the law will be respected and neither hatred, nor fascism, nor lies nor manipulation will prevail,” he stressed.
According to the president, “the same extreme right, the same groups led by American imperialism, the same countries” are behind this coup plan.
Proclaimed president despite doubts
During his proclamation ceremony as re-elected president, Maduro celebrated the “feat” of having defeated fascism in Sunday’s elections, in which, according to data released by the National Electoral Council (CNE), he won – with 51.2% of the votes – a result questioned by several countries.
“Defeating fascism, the demons, the female demonesses, is a historic feat and our people have done it, our people have done it again,” said the Chavista leader after receiving the credential, which will allow him to govern the country until 2031, from the hands of the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso.
Maduro considered that the vote, in which there was a 59% turnout, represented a historic day that concluded with the ruling of the CNE, a result that, he said, he receives with humility and as an “ordinary man.”
“The final battle against fascism took place in this land and we won,” he insisted.
Even though opponents claim that some audits of the election results are still pending, the CNE formally declared Maduro president despite complaints from the largest anti-Chavez coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), which believes that its standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the election by a wide margin.
Source: Agencies
