Socialist dictator of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday threatened opponents of his regime, warning they “would regret it” if they tried to remove him from power.
During an official event broadcast by VTV, the regime’s main state-owned channel, Maduro once again claimed that the Venezuelan opposition is plotting to take power by force and end his authoritarian socialist regime.
The socialist dictator, without presenting evidence to substantiate his claims, asserted that a “fascist, criminal, murderous” opposition faction wants to allegedly hand over the country to the “imperialist U.S. elite.”
The goal of the purported plot, the dictator claimed, is to cause a new Carmonazo, a term used by the socialist regime to refer to a coup d’état attempt against late socialist dictator Hugo Chávez in April 2002 that resulted in Chávez’s brief, roughly 36-hour-long ouster.
“To those who want a new Carmonazo and believe and feel drunk with power, with the support of the U.S. imperialist elite, I only say do not underestimate the Venezuelan people, do not underestimate that power has here in Venezuela and in this continent our popular, military, police fusion,” Maduro said.
“They will regret it if they mess with the most sacred thing that Venezuela has: its Constitution, peace and its people. I only tell you, they will regret it, I know what I am saying,” Maduro continued.
Maduro issued his latest threats roughly one day after the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden recognized Edmundo González as “president-elect” of Venezuela, four months after the Venezuelan socialist regime held a sham election in late July which Maduro insists he “won.”
The United States’ public recognition of González as “president-elect” came in a social media message posted by outgoing Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Tuesday that Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil condemned as “ridiculous.” Gil declared Blinken an “enemy of Venezuela.”
Much of the international community, including leftist leaders, have questioned Maduro’s alleged electoral win, particularly due to the socialist regime’s refusal to publish documentation that can corroborate the claimed results. The Venezuelan opposition, which heavily contested the results, published voter tallies obtained nationwide on the day of the election that it claims can demonstrate Maduro’s claims are false and that, in reality, González defeated Maduro in a landslide.
Maduro’s refusal to publish evidence of his “victory,” in addition to violating Venezuelan electoral law, has led to the Maduro regime straining its relationship with neighboring Colombia and Brazil, whose far-left Presidents Gustavo Petro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva maintained otherwise friendly relations with the Venezuelan socialists.
The fraudulent “results” published by the Venezuelan authorities and Maduro’s proclamation as the “winner” of the sham election prompted Venezuelans to protest against the socialist regime. Maduro responded with a brutal persecution campaign that left 27 dead and more than 2,400 detained, according to estimates from United Nations. U.N. experts accused the ruling socialists of once again commiting crimes against humanity during the dissident crackdown.
González, a 75-year-old former diplomat, fled to Spain in September after the Maduro regime issued an arrest warrant, accusing him of multiple election-related crimes such as “disobedience,” “conspiracy,” “usurpation of functions,” and “sabotage.” González claimed this week that he intends to return to Venezuela on January 10, 2025, for his inauguration. Both González and Maduro have stated that they will be “sworn in” as president of Venezuela for the next six-year term.
In the months following the election, The Maduro regime has repeatedly accused the United States of plotting to remove the socialist dictator from power. Some of the plots, according to Maduro regime officials, allegedly involve the joint efforts of the CIA and Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI).
Much like Maduro’s latest accusations on Wednesday, neither the dictator nor any other regime official has presented evidence that substantiates any of the past purported plot claims. Instead, the Maduro regime has arrested several individuals, including four American nationals in October who, according to the Venezuelan regime, were part of the CIA-CNI plots. The regime has also presented “seized” weapons that were allegedly going to be used to overthrow Maduro.
One of the imprisoned American nationals, identified by Venezuela as Gregory David Weber, stands accused of allegedly plotting to “hack” Venezuela’s state infrastructure, while another American citizen, identified as Jonathan Pagan González, was accused of plotting to “attack” Maduro and other high-ranking regime officials.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.