On early Sunday morning, a military base in Venezuela was attacked by armed forces. This is another step in the escalation in Venezuela, after President Nicolás Maduro announced a change in constitution, and the installment of a new assembly in parliament. This possible coup attempt happened one day after the new assembly ANC began to work. The constitutional change can be seen as an indicator, that Venezuela will become a dictatorship.

The attack happened on Sunday in Valencia, 170 kilometers west to the capital Caracas, when about twenty armed mercenary soldiers stormed the military base Paramacay, which is the location of heavy armament, it is especially known for the tanks. Local population supported the attackers, but they were hold back by state forces with the use of teargas. A video that was spread on the internet on social media possibly shows a group of the attackers, with their leader Juan Caguaripano speaking. In the video he announced, that the attack was “not a coup d’etat”, but rather a “civic and military action to re-establish constitutional order”. The group, which has given itself the name Operación David, also demands “the immediate formation of a transition government”, which was also written on pamphlets that were distributed around the military base. According to the Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), some of the attackers were arrested, two even killed. But the Juan Caguaripano and some other rebels could escape with stolen weapons, and are now looked for in the whole country. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on TV, that it was “a terrorist attack against our armed forces” and the US and Columbia supported this coup.

It is unknown what will happen, but when the situation in Venezuela is compared to the military coup in Turkey last year, there are many parallels. This is not a positive sign for the future of the South American country, even more when Attorney General Luisa Ortega was fired last week. She was an enemy and critic of Maduro, and without her, the separation of powers is mostly over.

 

 

© Riproduzione riservata