‘Vile and cowardly attack’ – Venezuela’s DefMin Padrino accuses US of ‘criminal aggression’ after strikes on Caracas
VIORY
Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez accused the United States on Saturday of carrying out a ‘criminal military aggression’ after Washington confirmed it was behind seven large-scale airstrikes in Caracas and several surrounding states.
Speaking in a video address broadcast on state media, Padrino said Venezuelan military installations and residential areas in the capital and in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira had been hit in what he described as the ‘worst aggression’ the country had ever faced.
“The Venezuelan people have been subjected to the most criminal military aggression by the government of the United States,” Padrino said, adding that authorities were assessing damage and compiling information on casualties.
“We are already compiling information regarding the wounded and the dead in the face of this vile and cowardly attack that threatens peace and stability in the region,” he continued.
Padrino said that Venezuela will “lodge the most forceful complaint before the international community and all multilateral bodies so that the North American government is condemned for the blatant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law.”
He also confirmed that the armed forces were acting under orders from President Nicolas Maduro and would deploy ‘all capabilities’ to defend the country, following the declaration of a state of external emergency across the national territory.
Padrino accused Washington of seeking to impose regime change and of violating international law, including the United Nations Charter. He rejected any justification linked to counter-narcotics operations and said the alleged attack was driven by US interest in Venezuela’s natural resources.
The comments came after US President Donald Trump said the United States had captured Maduro and his wife and flown them out of Venezuela.
US authorities have previously charged Maduro with drug-related offences dating back to Trump’s first administration, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons possession conspiracy. Prosecutors have alleged that Maduro and several current and former officials ran a criminal enterprise for years, using state resources to facilitate international drug trafficking, including into the United States.
