Maduro: CIA, opposition, imperialism seek to manipulate 2024 elections

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 Feb 2024 10:28
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the Simón Bolívar Humanitarian Task Force of the National Civil Defense and Disaster Management Organization will head to Chile to assist with forest fires.

President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela speaks to supporters during an event marking the anniversary of the 1992 failed coup led by late President Hugo Chavez, at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, February 4, 2024. (AP)

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro asserted on Monday that imperialism, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the right-wing know that they will lose in the 2024 presidential elections in the country, so they seek to manipulate the results.

Maduro stated, in his weekly program With Maduro and More, that on February 4th, there was a popular mobilization that was concealed by international media. The mobilization called Caravan of Bolivarian Fury remembered the military rebellion led by Commander Hugo Chávez on February 4, 1992, and expressed support for the current government. On that note, the President emphasized that "the revolution is advancing, nothing will stop us, and nothing and no one can defeat the Venezuelan people."

Maduro then stressed, "We are determined to defend the right of the Venezuelan society to peace," pointing out that he and his team guarantee peace, recovery, and the gradual restoration of rights and the empowerment of the Venezuelan youth.

Regarding the relationship with the Republic of Chile, Maduro clarified that the Simón Bolívar Humanitarian Task Force of the National Civil Defense and Disaster Management Organization of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is ready to support extinguishing forest fires that have resulted in casualties, expressing solidarity with Chile.

Le digo al hermano pueblo de Chile, la fuerza de tarea humanitaria "Simón Bolívar" de Venezuela, irá de manera modesta e inmediata a prestar todo el apoyo a su pueblo ante las afectaciones difíciles causadas por los incendios forestales. Estamos listos y dispuestos, cuenten con… pic.twitter.com/Eem7pOVvbh
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) February 6, 2024

US broke int'l law spying on Venezuela officials via covert program

The Associated Press obtained a memo last week detailing a years-long covert operation by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration that sent undercover operatives into Venezuela to secretly record and build alleged drug-trafficking cases against the country's leadership; a plan the US acknowledged from the very beginning was potentially a violation of international law.

Operation Money Badger reportedly targeted dozens of people, including Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Wes Tabor, a former DEA official who served as the agency’s country attaché in Venezuela prior to the operation beginning, did not confirm or deny the operation but called the US the "world police" and justified the illegal means of the US in carrying out such an operation by unfoundedly accusing Venezuela of "flooding the US with dope."

Recently, Maduro accused the DEA and CIA of destabilizing the nation. In a TV interview, he expressed that he does not believe US President Joe Biden is directly involved but expressed that the "CIA and the DEA operate independently as imperialist criminal organizations.”

According to AP, the highly classified document was written during former President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Venezuela.

Within weeks of Maduro's election, senior DEA officers planned to use at least three undercover informants for the said operation.

However, because the plan appeared to violate Venezuelan and international law, it required approval from the Sensitive Activity Review Committee, or SARC, a secretive panel of senior State and Justice Department officials reserved for the most sensitive DEA cases involving complex ethical, legal, or foreign policy considerations.

The DEA, under the guise of exposing Colombian drug traffickers and "corrupt officials", enabled illegal wire transfers through US-based front firms and bank accounts.