Maduro accelerates military maneuvers in full tension to get help

He seeks to show his energy against "external threats" and to discipline the army after some defections; more food and medicines arrive in Colombia

CARACAS.- The revolutionary government of Nicolás Maduro yesterday gave the starting signal to the civil-military bicentennial operation of the Congress of Angostura, maneuvers with which it intends not only to show power, but also to tighten the ranks against the "traitors". Russia and China, whose presence has been confirmed by Admiral Remigio Ceballos, in charge of the operation, will be special guests this year.

"The United States wants to demolish the Bolivarian national armed forces [FANB]but they will not be able to because of the feeling of nationalism that is developing within the Venezuelan military component. There will never be a break in the FANB, "said Ceballos, adding that" all the Bolivarian troops are responding to Maduro ".

Until now, the abandonment of official ranks occurs in droppers. The last to announce his support for the Parliament is Colonel Rubén Alberto Paz, a doctor who also called his colleagues to authorize the entry of the humanitarian aid collected in Cúcuta.

These are the "most important military exercises in our history," said Maduro. Its aim is "to combine all operational, organizational, military and trade union civil-military capabilities for the defense of the homeland." With a particular determination to "fight against external threats," Ceballos said.

Despite its supposed messages of peace, the revolution has set up a "wall" on the Venezuelan side of the Puente de la Unidad, on the border with Colombia. Three metal shields and nearly a hundred national guards remain on the site. On the other frontier, that of Brazil, the first obstacles placed by the army were removed under the pressure of the Pemón Indians, an ethnic group living in Gran Sabana.

On the Colombian side, several tons of medicines, foodstuffs and products are waiting in the warehouses set up in Cúcuta by the Colombian government. Opposition MPs and civil society organizations are preparing the first shipment to 250,000 critically ill patients, pending orders announced by President Juan Guaidó in the coming hours.

The National Assembly has already called for a national march for tomorrow, which will coincide with Youth Day. That day, at the border, there will be a human chain.

The "wall" raised by the revolution is not just military. Maduro ordered the delivery of a new economic bonus, called Bicentennial of Angostura, with 18,000 Bolivars, a minimum wage. A gift reserved for "patriots" who have the Patria's Notebook, the main tool of social control set up by Chavismo, with Chinese technology. And another is underway, called "February Rebel".

Despite the magnitude of the premium, which corresponds to a minimum wage, hyperinflation that sprays the pockets of Venezuelans allows to eat only one egg a day and a coffee a week with 18,000 sovereign Bolivars.

In the war of nerves, everything is allowed chavismo face the challenge launched by the Venezuelan Parliament. Diosdado Cabello, number two of the revolution, even threatened to shoot down planes coming in with humanitarian aid. "Any plane that will rape our homeland will have the proper response from our army," said Cabello.

In the unprecedented impulse that has already been going on for more than a month, Guaidó claims the opposite: "Prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into his crime against humanity".

"The United States disguise the war against Venezuela with help, it is neither aid nor humanitarian aid," said the radical leader in defense of supporters present at a rally in Barcelona in the east of the country. Cabello chairs the Constituent Assembly, which has already announced that it will dissolve Parliament when it suits the revolution best. The same fate awaits Guaidó, "the worst of the country's children," who, he said, will be put in jail when pressure falls again. "You have to put the hooks [esposas]but all in his time.

The government's goal

• Could: In order to demonstrate that he still has the support of the armed forces, the Venezuelan government yesterday launched the Angostura Congress bicentennial military exercises.
• Exits: So far, defections in the military ranks occur in dropper