Venezuelans packed the streets of Caracas on Monday to oppose US threats of military intervention in support of the putschist opposition.
The Anti-Imperialist March against US President Donald Trump’s mooting of a “military option” on Friday wound its way through the capital.
Video footage from RT’s Spanish service and other sites showed the precession apparently stretching for over a mile.
A large contingent of the volunteer Bolivarian National Guard marched in a bloc.
National Guard officer Nelson Rafael Pineda said: “We will defend our country if at any moment the American empire wants to tread on the sacred soil of Bolivar and Chavez” — referring to Venezuela’s 18th-century national liberation hero and Mr Maduro’s late predecessor.
“We are here, ready to fight, ready to defend it with the blood of our patriots if necessary.”
The marched ended in a rally at the Miraflores presidential palace, where President Nicolas Maduro struck a typically defiant note.
“I have given the order to the armed forces’ joint chiefs of staff to start preparations for a national civil-military exercise for the integrated armed defense of the Venezuelan nation,” he said.
"Venezuela, a nation of mestizos, will defend itself against US military threats!"
Mr Maduro also called the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition “traitors” for their failure to fully condemn Mr Trump’s comments — as regional governments and blocs have done.
In its belated statement on Sunday, the MUD said it “holds the Maduro dictatorship responsible for turning the country into a regional threat.”
While rejecting military threats “from whatever foreign power,” it accused Cuba of intervention in Venezuela — where it has sent medical brigades to work in slums and helped eradicate illiteracy.
The MUD statement echoed the words of hawkish US Vice-President Mike Pence in neighbouring Colombia the same day.
He said Washington "will not stand by while Venezuela collapses into dictatorship."
"A failed state in Venezuela threatens the security and prosperity of our entire hemisphere and the people of the United States of America."
On Tuesday Venezuelan Vice-President Tarek el-Aissami hit back at Mr Pence’s “impudence” in light of Washington’s failed “Plan Colombia” war on drugs.
“What use are the seven gringo military bases in Colombia?” he asked. “Now even more drugs are produced on Colombian territory.”
Mr Trump's threat was in response to the July 30 election to the new 545-seat National Constituent Assembly (ANC). More than eight million people voted in that election despite a MUD boycott.
On Saturday the ANC voted to bring forward the December 10 state gubernatorial and mayoral elections by two months.
The MUD parties are divided on whether to stand in those elections now that four months of regime-change riots and bosses' lockouts have melted away.
The Anti-Imperialist March against US President Donald Trump’s mooting of a “military option” on Friday wound its way through the capital.
Video footage from RT’s Spanish service and other sites showed the precession apparently stretching for over a mile.
A large contingent of the volunteer Bolivarian National Guard marched in a bloc.
National Guard officer Nelson Rafael Pineda said: “We will defend our country if at any moment the American empire wants to tread on the sacred soil of Bolivar and Chavez” — referring to Venezuela’s 18th-century national liberation hero and Mr Maduro’s late predecessor.
“We are here, ready to fight, ready to defend it with the blood of our patriots if necessary.”
The marched ended in a rally at the Miraflores presidential palace, where President Nicolas Maduro struck a typically defiant note.
“I have given the order to the armed forces’ joint chiefs of staff to start preparations for a national civil-military exercise for the integrated armed defense of the Venezuelan nation,” he said.
"Venezuela, a nation of mestizos, will defend itself against US military threats!"
Mr Maduro also called the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition “traitors” for their failure to fully condemn Mr Trump’s comments — as regional governments and blocs have done.
In its belated statement on Sunday, the MUD said it “holds the Maduro dictatorship responsible for turning the country into a regional threat.”
While rejecting military threats “from whatever foreign power,” it accused Cuba of intervention in Venezuela — where it has sent medical brigades to work in slums and helped eradicate illiteracy.
The MUD statement echoed the words of hawkish US Vice-President Mike Pence in neighbouring Colombia the same day.
He said Washington "will not stand by while Venezuela collapses into dictatorship."
"A failed state in Venezuela threatens the security and prosperity of our entire hemisphere and the people of the United States of America."
On Tuesday Venezuelan Vice-President Tarek el-Aissami hit back at Mr Pence’s “impudence” in light of Washington’s failed “Plan Colombia” war on drugs.
“What use are the seven gringo military bases in Colombia?” he asked. “Now even more drugs are produced on Colombian territory.”
Mr Trump's threat was in response to the July 30 election to the new 545-seat National Constituent Assembly (ANC). More than eight million people voted in that election despite a MUD boycott.
On Saturday the ANC voted to bring forward the December 10 state gubernatorial and mayoral elections by two months.
The MUD parties are divided on whether to stand in those elections now that four months of regime-change riots and bosses' lockouts have melted away.