The Minister of Defense of Venezuela, Vladimir Padrino Lópezassured this Tuesday that it is “practically impossible” to divide the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), despite the “threats” of the United States, which maintains a military deployment in the Caribbean under the argument of combating drug trafficking and which Caracas has denounced as a pretext to seek a change of Government.
“They will never rest on fracturing the Armed Forces, dividing the Armed Forces, that is a great objective. Because we are the thick column of the stability of the country. “They will not rest in trying to divide us, to fracture us, to cut us, to segment us and that is practically impossible,” the minister said in a tour of a military installation, broadcast on state channel VTV.
Padrino López maintained that the United States has tried to demoralize, intimidate and scare the FANB but, he noted, they have achieved the opposite.
“This year has been a tough year (…) We began with, well, guaranteeing the popular mandate expressed on July 28, 2024″ and “then this military threat that, well, we have also met“We have not bought imperialism for its provocative acts,” he stressed.
The minister also said he was “very satisfied” with the “degree of cohesion” of the Venezuelan Armed Forces and expressed his hope that next year will bring “a lot of strength in the heart, in conscience, in action.”
“A lot of unity, a lot of cohesion, a lot of discipline, we must never lose discipline,” he added.
Since last August, the United States has maintained an air-naval deployment in the Caribbean, near Venezuelan waters, which, it claims, is intended to combat drug trafficking, but which Caracas interprets as “threats” and an attempt to promote a regime change.
Tensions between Caracas and Washington escalated after the announcement by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, of a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers moving to and from the South American country, and the confiscation of two ships transporting Venezuelan crude oil in recent days.
Trump also announced on Friday an attack against a “large facility” on a dock as part of his campaign against drug trafficking that, according to him, leaves Venezuela, but he did not specify whether the attack occurred in Venezuelan territory.
As reported by the New York Times on Monday, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) carried out a drone attack against a port facility in Venezuela last week.
However, the Venezuelan Government has not yet commented.
