By Deutsche Welle
Aug 22, 2024, 11:20 PM EDT
The Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) of Venezuela said on Thursday that “absolutely accepts” the confirmation of the official results of the presidential elections of July 28 – which grant victory to President Nicolás Maduro – by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), controlled by judges close to Chavez.
“Once again, the Venezuelan State, through its legitimate institutions, guarantees respect for the political will of the sovereign, the preservation of peace and the stability of the nation, which was attempted to be altered by far-right fascist groups that sought to carry out a coup d’état,” reads a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense.
According to the text, the nation “It is not only strengthened in its participatory and leading democracy, but also in its sovereignty and independence from insolent imperial interventionism.”
“We ratify absolute loyalty to citizen Nicolás Maduro, (…) reelected (…) for the next presidential term 2025-2031,” added the FANB, despite the fact that the Constitution, in its article 328, states that it is an “essentially professional institution, without political militancy,” and that it is “at the exclusive service of the nation and in no case at the service of any person or political party.”
TSJ assumed validation at Maduro’s request
This Thursday, The Supreme Court – presided over by Chavista Caryslia Rodríguez – confirmed the results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which declared Maduro the winner for a third consecutive six-year term in power, which was described as fraud by the majority opposition, which insists on the “victory” of its standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia.
The leader of the main opposition coalition – the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – rejected the TSJ ruling, and said that “sovereignty resides, untransferably, in the people.”
The opposition bloc claims that its candidate won by a wide margin, and published “83.5% of the minutes” to reinforce its claim, which has been supported by several countries and national and international organizations.
The TSJ assumed the “validation” of the results at the request of Nicolás Maduro, who filed an appeal that was never known and for which the 10 former candidates were summoned, although González Urrutia declined to attend, considering that the verification is not the responsibility of the Supreme Court, but of the CNE, which after 25 days of the elections, has still not published the disaggregated data, despite the fact that it is contemplated in the schedule.
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