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Mysterious rebel group claims Maduro ‘assassination’ attempt: statement
CARACAS, Aug 5, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A mysterious rebel group made up of
Venezuelan civilians and military on Saturday claimed responsibility for an
“assassination” attempt on President Nicolas Maduro, according to a statement
posted on social media.
The explosion, which the government said injured seven soldiers, took place
during a televised Caracas military parade. It was later claimed by a group
calling itself the “National Movement of Soldiers in Shirts.”
“It is contrary to military honor to keep in government those who not only
have forgotten the Constitution, but who have also made public office an
obscene way to get rich,” the group said in a statement, which was passed to
US-based opposition journalist Patricia Poleo, who read it on her YouTube
channel.
“If the purpose of a government is to achieve the greatest amount of
happiness possible, we cannot tolerate that the population is suffering from
hunger, that the sick do not have medicine, that the currency has no value,
or that the education system neither educates or teaches, only indoctrinating
communism,” added the statement.
“People of Venezuela, to successfully complete this emancipatory struggle,
we have to take to the streets, without going back.”
Maduro accused neighboring Colombia and unidentified “financiers” in the
United States of being behind the blast, while some of his officials blamed
Venezuela’s opposition. Colombia denied any involvement.
Maduro said some of those involved were arrested and an investigation was
under way.
Earlier on Twitter, the group said it was made up of “patriotic military
personnel and civilians loyal to the Venezuelan people who seek to rescue the
democracy of a nation under dictatorship.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/1137 hrs