After his swearing-in ceremony at Venezuela's Supreme Court (TSJ), the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) pledged allegiance to Nicolas Maduro as president and commander-in-chief for the 2019-2025 term.
“With the heart I accept the sacred oath you’ve made with loyalty, discipline and subordination,” Maduro told over 4,000 members of the armed forces at the Military Bolivarian University of Venezuela (UMBV) at Tiuna Fort in Caracas Thursday.
"You have faced so many attacks from the Guarimbas (far-right rioters) and much more.”
The president was accompanied by international representatives and heads of state, such as Cuba’s Miguel Diaz-Canel and Bolivia’s Evo Morales, while the Military High Command recognized him as its commander-in-chief.
“The Supreme Commander Hugo Chavez carried out a military revolution in Venezuela, but that revolution can’t stop," Maduro said. "It’s time to deepen the military revolution of Venezuela.”
During the ceremony, Maduro pledged to increase the military capacity of the FANB over the next six years and update the arms system “to defend national sovereignty.”
"Simon Bolivar was a visionary, as well as Commander Hugo Chavez," Maduro continued.
"They saw the future. They didn't remain stagnant in the past, nor in the problems or difficult circumstances of the present."
@telesurenglish
President @NicolasMaduro: "Today is a special day for Venezuela because it ratifies the sovereignty of our people against the tutelage of the empire."
21:03 - 10 ene. 2019
Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez said the people of Venezuela “chose Nicolas Maduro as their president through the legitimate exercise of their sovereignty” and that the armed forces accepted “its orders without any doubt.”
“Always loyal, never traitors,” said Padrino Lopez while gifting Maduro a replica of the sword of Rafael Urdaneta, one of Venezuela’s independence heroes.
Maduro said the Venezuelan people were undertaking “an epic, heroic battle to tell the world that Venezuela must be respected, and that it’s ruled by Venezuelans without any foreign government intervention.”
