Above photo: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro greeting demonstrating supporters of his presidential victory last Sunday, Miraflores Palace, Caracas on Saturday, August 3, 2024. Alba Ciudad.
NOTE: Orinoco Tribune also reports:
The following institutions and public spaces suffered damages caused by gangs affiliated to the far right:
- 12 universities including the Central University of Venezuela,
- seven pre-schools,
- 21 primary schools,
- 34 high schools,
- six comprehensive diagnostic centers,
- one specialty health center,
- 30 outpatient clinics,
- one pharmacy,
- six CLAP food storage and distribution centers,
- one community radio station (Radio Venceremos based in Carora, Lara state),
- 11 stations of the Caracas Metro,
- one train set on fire in Valencia,
- 38 buses,
- 27 monuments and statues, including of Simón Bolívar, Hugo Chávez, Cacique Coromoto, and José Gregorio Hernández,
- 10 offices of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), some with people inside,
- On Monday, July 29, there were two attempts to storm the Miraflores Palace, seat of the Venezuelan presidency. When the violent mob was restricted by security forces in O’Leary square, armed men shot at the CNE headquarters in El Silencio, Caracas.
- 60 international observers, who were in the tent of international observers in Plaza Caracas, were attacked by a “bullet bath from thugs and delinquents.” The Bolivarian National Guard protected the observers, the CNE headquarters, launched a counter-offensive, and captured 20 members of the “comanditos.”
- Mayor’s offices in Carirubana, Quíbor and other municipalities were set on fire.
- El Valle public square and metro station in Caracas were vandalized.
- The Maracay zoo was attacked.
- At least 5,000 community and social leaders were threatened.
- There are reports of deceased bystanders: people who were going home, who were attacked and their vehicles were burned.
- Two soldiers of the Bolivarian National Armed Force were killed.
- A brigadier general, a lieutenant colonel, a first lieutenant, 21 soldiers, and 120 officers of the Bolivarian National Police were injured.
- An unprecedented cyberattack on the CNE transmission system which is still ongoing.
- Cyberattack on the Patria System that provides Venezuelans with bonuses.
- Cyberattacks on 25 domains of several State institutions.
The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro was welcomed at Miraflores Palace by the Great National March for the Defense of Peace, which brought together tens of thousands of his followers in the streets of Caracas and different cities across the Venezuelan territory.
On Saturday, August 3, President Maduro welcomed the attendees from Miraflores Palace and said: “Blessed are the majority of this country, because we won the elections thanks to the fact that a majority believed in the path of peace, because we are the only guarantee of peace.”
He also condemned the violence perpetrated by criminal groups and stated that the country will remain firm in defending the constitution and the rights of its citizens. The national leader disapproved of the fact that 80 percent of those arrested for vandalism and criminal acts were trained in the US, Peru and Chile. He said that “the Venezuelan extreme right is betting on hatred, violence, revenge and interventionism.”
He referred to the cyber attack by the extreme right on the National Electoral Council’s (CNE) voting transmission system, “They attacked the system to create the conditions and claim fraud, but fortunately the first bulletin was issued and the electoral coup attempt was brought down.”
The Venezuelan president announced that all of those involved in the violent events of July 29, known as Comanditos have confessed their modus operandi. Maduro said, “The oligarchs tried to sustain violence in the country, but in 48 hours, thanks to the civic-military-police union, we resolved the fascist outbreak, two thousand prisoners have already been captured. We have to do justice, this time there will be no forgiveness, they are going to Tocorón Prison, what they did to the Venezuelan people was very serious.”
He said that all the criminals who toppled the statues of Commander Chavez, Bolivar and Jose Gregorio Hernandez have been identified and captured, “they are already on trial and have all confessed how they were paid and why they did what they did. People from the United States are saying that peaceful protesters should be respected, then they should tell me where they are, because those who have been arrested are confessing to everything.”
President Maduro added that all Venezuelans must respect the law, and that the representatives of the extreme right like Edmundo González do not comply with the law or the call of the Supreme Court of Justice. “We must act with the Constitution, I went to the Supreme Court of Justice and filed a constitutional appeal before the highest electoral authority of the country, so that everything is reviewed, as the law mandates; and the fascist lady Machado told González not to go to the Court, they are a clear example that the puppets do not comply with the laws of Venezuela.”
The head of state said that the majority of the country chose the path of peace in the elections. “In this great march we see what the Venezuelan people want: peace, love and work, and that we continue towards a prosperous Venezuela.”