Venezuelan Defense Minister General Padrino Affirms Military Loyalty To President Nicolas Maduro

JAKARTA - Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino on Tuesday reiterated the military's "absolute solidarity" to the incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, amid ongoing clashes over the results of the country's disputed presidential election.

The comments came after opposition candidatetuno Gonzalez and leader Maria Corina Machado urged the armed forces "to stand by the side of the people," in a letter published on Monday.

"We ratify our absolute loyalty to Nicolas Maduro Moros," Padrino, an army general, broadcast on state television, flanked by top military and other police officers.

"This unreasonable and irrational excitement is trying to divide our unity and institutions, but it will never be achieved," added Padrino.

The opposition said Gonzalez won more than 6 million votes in the general election last July 28, compared to 2.7 million votes for Maduro, and has published a copy of ballots from 30,000 voting machines online.

Meanwhile, the government said it also had a copy of the ballot but had not yet published it, as did the state election authorities, whose websites have been closed since early July 29.

Earlier, election authorities, which the opposition said preferred to the ruling socialists, announced the incumbent Maduro was re-elected with about 51 percent of the vote, beating Gonzalez.

Separately, an official from the US State Department said Tuesday it was "almost impossible" for the opposition to falsify the vote count it had published.

"We have examined this evidence and have decided that it is almost impossible to falsify the vote count collected and uploaded quickly," Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Mark Wells told reporters.

However, Wells did not respond to questions about whether and when the new US sanctions would be imposed on Venezuela, saying Washington had not set a deadline for possible negotiations between the government in Caracas and the opposition.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a post on X, far-right groups were trying to "weaken" Venezuela's democracy and lift US dolls.

After Gonzalez and Machado issued their letter, Attorney General Tarek Saab announced a criminal investigation into the two of them for inciting members of the military and police to violate the law.

"The fear will not paralyze us, we will overcome it as we have done until now and we will not leave the way," Machado said in an audio message posted on X on Tuesday.

The Venezuelan President's statement he won a third term in last month's vote sparked protests and allegations of fraud, with opposition leaders insisting Gonzalez won and Maduro had to step down.