20.02.2019, Caracas.
The Venezuelan armed forces are not mercenaries, and they will not obey orders given by foreign states or an authority that was not elected by the people, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces said in an official statement that the Venezuelan Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino López read out on the air of the country’s state television.
“They will fail, they will not be able to do it! Over our dead bodies only…” the Venezuelan Minister of Defense stressed.
“The National Bolivarian Armed Forces will never fulfill orders given by foreign powers or authorities that were not elected by a sovereign decision of the people,” the statement says. The President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro is recognized as the only Supreme Commander in the country.
“Threats, intimidation, coercion will not take away our honor and moral strength. We are not mercenaries going under the hammer for a better price,” the text says.
López characterized US President Donald Trump’s call as an act of disrespect towards the Venezuelan army, and an unprecedented lack of responsibility. He believes that Trump failed to take into account “the Bolivarian and anti-imperialistic nature” of the Venezuelan armed forces.
On February 19, speaking before immigrants from Venezuela, the President of the USA Donald Trump demanded that the Venezuelan army must defect to the opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself as an interim president of the country. Trump promised that the army will “lose everything they have” if they do not obey. Trump also added that the removal of Maduro would help “promote democracy in Nicaragua and Cuba.”
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
