MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Maduro says far right's “terrorism” plans thwarted

The Chavista leader also criticized Türk and called for his removal from office

Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro said Monday during his weekly broadcast show that, with Colombia's help, his country had dismantled far-right terrorist plans. While highlighting the capture of international terrorists, he also announced the activation of a nationwide military, police, and civilian patrol system to ensure security.

“The Bolivarian Government has made great strides in the fight against far-right terrorism and imperialism, because imperialism works in the shadows to activate plans against Venezuela,” Maduro said. “Timely information to detect suspicious individuals has made it possible to dismantle violent attacks brought and financed by the extreme right,” he added.

Maduro also praised the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) for their professionalism, citing the destruction of a clandestine airstrip and aircraft seizures in Amazonas. “I receive daily reports so that our territory can be what it should be: a stable, peaceful, and safe territory. We have a FANB with high morale, highly professional, and deployed by air, land, sea, rivers, mountains, and cities, with a permanent plan and professional capacity that is beyond measure, which, together with the Bolivarian Militia and the organized people, enjoys permanent peace,” Maduro further noted.

A press conference by Interior Minister (also Vice President for Politics, Citizen Security, and Peace) Diosdado Cabello Rondón, scheduled for Tuesday, is expected to shed further light on these incidents.

The head of State also endorsed Attorney General Tarek William Saab, who sharply criticized UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, accusing him of bias and politicization. Maduro claimed Türk ignored global human rights violations, including the detention of 252 Venezuelans in El Salvador, 18 Venezuelan children in the United States, and violence in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, while following a US-dictated agenda.

Saab called Türk’s inaction on US immigration raids and other violations a “disgrace to humanity,” demanding his resignation. In Saab's view, Türk was acting as a “private law firm” for terrorists targeting Venezuela and ignoring the plight of detained Venezuelan migrants in El Salvador.

The Office of the High Commissioner “has been hijacked and politicized by Mr. Volker Türk,” Maduro argued. ”The attorney general is hitting the nail on the head. He is not only an administrator of justice according to Venezuelan law, but he is also doing justice to the rights of the Venezuelan people (...) for a high commissioner to take action on the matter and not turn a blind eye. That is why the worldwide campaign calling for the resignation of Volker Türk for being a politicized, biased high commissioner with an agenda contrary to human rights on planet Earth is very good,“ Maduro also explained.

Türk ”has ignored the kidnapping of 252 Venezuelans in El Salvador, of 18 Venezuelan children in the United States, and he also ignores the murder of innocent people in Palestine. Every day, he ignores the murder of children, men, and women in Palestine, the bombing of Lebanon and Syria, and the murder of innocent people around the world. For him, it doesn't exist. All that exists is the script dictated and written for him by the State Department in Washington,“ the Bolivarian leader claimed.

Saab dubbed Türk ”a disgrace to humanity, for which he must resign immediately,“ because ”the position of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is too big for“ him, given his ”inaction and cowardly silence in the face of systematic human rights violations.”