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‘Traitor’: Military leaders slam air force general who defects

Published:Sunday | February 3, 2019 | 12:00 AM
President Nicolas Maduro (centre) and first lady Cilia Flores greet supporters as they arrive at a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, yesterday. Maduro called the rally to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the late President Hugo Chavez’s rise to power.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)

A Venezuelan air force general defected from the administration of President Nicolas Maduro yesterday and called on his compatriots to participate in protests against the socialist leader’s rule.

General Francisco Yanez is the first high-ranking officer to leave Maduro’s government since January 23, when National Assembly President Juan Guaido declared himself the country’s legitimate leader.

In a YouTube video, Yanez said: “The transition to democracy is imminent.” He described Maduro as a dictator and referred to Guaido as his president, but refused to say whether he is still in Venezuela or has left the country.

In the video, Yanez claimed that “90 per cent” of the country’s armed forces are against Maduro.

The military controls some of Venezuela’s key assets, including the state-run oil company, and until now, its top brass has helped Maduro to survive rounds of mass protests in 2014 and 2017 by jailing activists and repressing protesters.

Yesterday, Venezuela’s aerospace command of the armed forces shared a picture of Yanez on its Twitter account with the words ‘traitor’ above it.

“We reject the declarations made by General Yanez who betrayed his oath of loyalty to our nation and chose to follow foreign plans,” the command wrote.

Meanwhile, streams of marchers walked from middle-class and poor neighbourhoods to gather at points across the capital of Caracas for a demonstration to demand Maduro’s resignation and a transitional government that will hold new elections in the South American country.

Maduro has described the protests as part of a US-led coup attempt and called on his supporters to organise their own march in defence of his Bolivarian Revolution.

By noon, pro-government marchers could be seen gathering at street corners in the centre of the city. They were dressed in red, the colour of Venezuela’s ruling socialist party.

Zeleyka Muskus, a 53-year-old tax collector from Caracas, blamed the opposition for the country’s current economic woes, saying that they have staged years of protests that have got people injured and killed.