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Military leaders around Venezuela are declaring their support for Nicolás Maduro

Nicolas Maduro venezuela
  • A day after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaid declared himself the nation's interim president, military leaders across the country are declaring their support for Nicols Maduro.
  • Guaid, who received the support and blessing of the US, among other countries, had asked Venezuelan military forces to back him in order to take Maduro off power.
  • On Wednesday, military leaders throughout the country said they rejected any foreign interference in their country.

Venezuelan military leaders across the country are rejecting Juan Guaid, the opposition leader who on Tuesday declared himself interim president, and will continue to back Nicols Maduro, the Venezuelan president who earlier this month was sworn in for a second term following an election widely considered fraudulent.

By the end of Tuesday, Guaid had already received the support of the US, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, among other countries. Maduro quickly hit back, saying the US was pushing for his ousting because it wants to exploit Venezuela's oil reserves.

On Wednesday, Venezuelan media reported that military leaders were doubling down on their support for Maduro and were rejecting any sort of foreign interference in their country.

"We ratify our respect and loyalty to the constitution," said military commander William Miguel Serantes in a televised address.

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On Tuesday, Guaid asked the Venezuelan military to abandon Maduro and join the opposition, in order to oust the man who rose to the presidency after Hugo Chavez died in 2013. But on Wednesday, Venezuelan defense minister, Vladimir Padrino Lpez, rejected Guaid.

"We love Venezuela profoundly and will die defending her," Padrino Lpez said. "We will never cease to be on the side of the Venezuela people."

The military's rejection of Guaid's position and the international backing it has received is heavily based on the country's rejection of foreign interference in its government. During his Tuesday address, Maduro doubled-down on his rejection of American policy, bringing up the US' checkered past of intervening in Latin American governments.

Guaid is the president of Venezuela's National Assembly which, though left largely powerless by the president, opposes Maduro. Through the assembly, Guaid had promised to create an amnesty policy for civil or military functionaries who were willing to reject Maduro and join the opposition.

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See Also:

SEE ALSO: Venezuelas uprising against Maduro may put Trump's musings about military intervention to the test

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