Venezuela: Maduro Congratulates Military For ‘Defeating’ Coup Attempt; Guaido Calls For More Protests

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has congratulated the country’s military for “defeating” the plotters of a coup following a day of violence on Tuesday.

Addressing the nation following a sustained attempt by Juan Guaido and the opposition to oust him from power, the country’s elected leader has thanked the armed forces for defeating a “small group that tried to fill the country with violence”.

Confirming that his government has faced several “modalities” of a coup d’état, Maduro pinned Tuesday’s violence on the US, who the president believes masterminded the failed attempt to overthrow his government.

“The self-proclaimed, Juan Guaido, and Leopoldo López personally led the coup d’état,” Maduro said. 

The president also announced the appointment of “three special prosecutors” to examine “criminal” actions by the opposition, noting that “we have colonels wounded by bullets and in intensive care,” following the violence instigated by dissidents.

Those military officers who answered Guaido’s calls for regime change in the country, Maduro noted, were lured by the opposition “under false pretenses”, but once they came to their senses they “left the coup leaders alone” and surrendered.

In the televised address, Maduro also made public the appointment of Gustavo Gonzalez Lopez as the head of the Sebin intelligence agency.

He also revealed that five military personnel had received injuries during Tuesday’s protests.

The Venezuelan leader also refuted opposition claims that the military base of La Carlota, in the east of Caracas, was captured, stressing that the facility “was never taken.”

Maduro defended the use of force, saying the opposition planned to turn the country into a “civil war.” The president also vowed Venezuela would stay on course for a Bolivarian revolution and to fight the interventionist Monroe doctrine promulgated by the US.

Just before Maduro addressed the nation, Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido called on his followers to continue the coup attempt, which began on Tuesday morning. The US-backed politician also called on the military to “keep advancing” in its efforts to oust Maduro from office.

While the opposition leader claimed that more officers were ready to desert, Maduro stated that 80 percent of troops involved in the mutiny attempt had abandoned Guaido, with only a small group of about 20 officers “handing over their souls to the coup-mongering far right.”

“As of now, there is no indication of any military support outside of this very small detachment of troops,” reporter Lucas Koerner told RT America from Caracas, claiming that many officers had been deceived into believing that Tuesday’s events were a “drill led by the government.”

“None of them are ranking officers that command troops of any standing, therefore they are largely irrelevant,” Koerner added.