Caracas – The Venezuelan regime on Monday decreed state of shock that grants special powers to the dictator Nicolás Maduro under the argument of an alleged “aggression” of the United States, which in recent days reinforced his military presence in the Caribbean with warships and troops.
The Chavista vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, reported in an act with the diplomatic corps accredited in Caracas that Maduro “subscribes the decree of external shock” to “act in defense and security.”
According to Rodríguez, the measure seeks to “defend Venezuela” in case Washington “dares to attack our homeland,” he said.
He also warned that in Venezuela, every person who “promotes and supports, who facilitates, to apologize for military aggression will be judged.”
“Regional tension”
The announcement occurs in a context of growing regional tension, marked by the military deployment ordered by President Donald Trump, who intensified operations in the Caribbean as part of the offensive against drug trafficking cartels and organizations classified as terrorists.
The southern command of the United States recently confirmed new naval operations aimed at cutting the drug trafficking routes that link criminal structures linked to senior officials of Chavismo.
Maduro’s decree does not respond to a real threat of invasion, but to the need to consolidate greater internal control amid the political and social crisis that the country is going through.
The military presence of the United States in the Caribbean sends a message of direct pressure towards the authoritarian regimes of the region, especially against Venezuela, whom Washington accuses of serving as a platform for drug trafficking and regional destabilization.
With this new state of exception, Maduro reserves the power to restrict rights, reinforce military control and apply extraordinary measures under the pretext of a national defense.
“Fight against narcoterrorism”
Recently, the US government summoned allied countries to join the fight undertaken against “terrorist” drug trafficking organizations in Latin America.
The State Department made public a message by Network X, which represents the beginning of a campaign with the slogan “join the fight against narcoterrorism” to invite governments to take actions for the security of the region.
“We call on our allies to join us in this fight,” said the State Department in his message in which he urged his allies to adopt measures against drug trafficking organizations, among which is the Suns Cartel linked to the Maduro regime, which the US appointed “global terrorist” last July.
Among the measures indicates financial sanctions, to increase security assistance to the countries identified as the main sources of cocaine for Europe and Asia, and strengthen collaboration with the private sector to combat money laundering.
It also raises the use of biometric technologies for control and border safety.
To Trump’s designation against drug cartels, to date Ecuador, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Paraguay and the Senate of Colombia have joined, to counteract their drug trafficking operations, internal risk and destabilization that cause in the region.
What faculties does a state of shock have?
“An external statement is an exceptional measure provided for in article 338 of the Constitution of Venezuela that allows the Executive to suspend constitutional guarantees When the country faces a severe external threat. It is decreed for up to 90 days (extendable) and gives the Executive extraordinary powers to act in defense of the Nation, including military mobilization, media control and restrictions on civil rights, ”the Américas Lawyer Carlos Sarmiento Sosa explained in contact with Diario Las Américas.
Sarmiento Sosa, warns that this shock state decree announced by the Maduro regime, could be “used to concentrate even more power on the Executive Power, at the expense of the already weakened separation of powers.”
And it emphasizes that the most delicate, is that “under the pretext of an external threat, the persecution of civil and military opponents considered uncomfortable could be increased, as some analysts have warned.
From the point of view of the effects for abroad, geopolitical tension could increase and justify preventive military actions of US military forces in the Caribbean, ”said the expert.
