President Maduro Calls to Defend Peace in Venezuela

On Wednesday, President Nicolas Maduro called for the defense of Venezuela's peace and reaffirmed that the Bolivarian government will not allow plans against peace to succeed.

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"What has been the greatest achievement of our nation over these years? I would say it has been social and political peace, the peace of the people and the republic," he said during a working meeting with governors, legislators, and high-ranking military officials. 

The Bolivarian leader urged the Venezuelan citizens to organize themselves to defend peace in all territorial spaces of the nation.

"We cannot allow plans of hatred and violence against the people's peace," he warned, announcing the activation of a new institution whose purpose is to guarantee peace across the Venezuelan territory.

This institution is the Special Council for Peace (CEPAZ), an organization that will build and oversee the People's Units for Peace (UPAZ), which will be integrated with the Bolivarian National Militia's comprehensive defense units.

"We have achieved peace because it has been constructed. No one gifted it to us. Nationally, we have managed to treat each other with love, tolerance, and solidarity," Maduro said to emphasize that peace has become a second constitutive element of the existing consensus among Venezuelans.

The first element of this national agreement has been the construction of a new growth model based on diversifying production, overcoming oil dependence, promoting exports, and meeting the needs of the people.

The unanimous condemnation of the "criminal, illegal, and immoral" sanctions imposed by the United States against Venezuela is a third element of the national consensus, as surveys show that between 84 and 88 percent of Venezuelans demand the lifting of these sanctions.

The Venezuelan President mentioned a fourth element of the national consensus: the recovery of the Welfare State, a goal that includes the restoration of social rights lost as a consequence of U.S. sanctions.

"In the years to come, perhaps the most challenging task will be to restore all the labor and social rights and rebuild the Welfare State through. The goal will be to construct the state of social equality and happiness that Commander Hugo Chavez founded," Maduro said.

The consensus' fifth element is the call for political and social unity to reclaim Venezuela's historical, legal, territorial, and maritime rights over the Essequibo.

Regarding this matter, Maduro denounced that Exxon Mobil announced the allocation of oil blocks in the undelimited sea of the Essequibo, which is a territory belonging to Venezuela.

He revealed that Exxon Mobil and the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) intend to violate Venezuelan rights over the Amacuro delta and the Essequibo sea.

During the high-level meeting held on Wednesday, the National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez also reaffirmed that Venezuelan claims over the Essequibo are part of the national interest and are independent of political positions.