The Minister of Defense of Venezuela, General in Chief (G/J) Vladimir Padrino López, urged the Venezuelan people on October 8 to continue preparing, insisting that, as a military leader, he must always assume “the worst hypothesis”, given the current geopolitical context.

The Venezuelan official said that the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean Sea represents a “real threat.” In this sense, he pointed out that “what they are doing is not a pamphleteering action; it is a millionaire deployment”.

“I just want to give you realism of the situation we are experiencing, the better prepared we have as a people, things will flow much better if we practice them, if we articulate them from times of peace,” he said.

From the Marine Corps of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), where he offered a balance of the special exercises of Operation Independence 200, deployed early Wednesday morning in the strategic states of La Guaira and Carabobo, Padrino López stressed that the actions of U.S. imperialism are “irrational,” in addition to cataloging them as “anti-political, anti-human, warmongering, rude and vulgar”.

In the same vein, Padrino López pointed out that from the United States “they invent things to point to Venezuela as a drug trafficking state.” “They know that they are lying, just as they have lied throughout history to start war in the world, to seek resources from other parts of the world, the same they want to do with Venezuela, for its riches,” he emphasized.

The General-in-Chief stated that the main objective behind the blockade, criminal sanctions, lies and the current deployment of ships and aircraft is to “force a change of government” in Venezuela, while stressing that the South American nation’s sovereignty project represents a “stone in the road” for imperialism.

The also sectoral vice president of Defense and Sovereignty recalled that U.S. aggression against the Bolivarian nation intensified after the decree of March 2015, which declared Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the security of the United States.

High cohesion and permanent offensive

Padrino López highlighted the “high cohesion” and “high awareness” of the Venezuelan people and the FANB in the face of the current aggressions. He mentioned that the country has responded with dignity under the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro, who has instructed a “permanent offensive.”

He also explained that the Operation Independence 200 exercises are not a one-day event, but seek to bring military and political leaders to “action.” The objective is to work under the hypothesis of a military aggression and perfect the strategy of “popular, military and police fusion”.

As part of the Independence 200 exercises, the General in Chief reported that 27 specific actions are ready in the territory, whose purpose is to strengthen the country’s operational capacity and prevent the “strategic paralysis” sought by the United States. These tasks include securing oil complexes, petrochemicals, oil pipelines, gas pipelines, service stations, power plants and substations, and maintaining order.

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