Venezuelan Military Vows Absolute Loyalty to Maduro Amid Ongoing Political Turmoil

The Venezuelan opposition figures Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez have called on the security forces to support the people and their families, but prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation against them, accusing them of usurpation of functions. Meanwhile, the military has expressed absolute loyalty to President Nicolas Maduro and rejected the opposition's claims of electoral fraud, with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez stating that the military strongly rejects the opposition's "desperate and seditious approaches". The opposition, however, insists that Gonzalez Urrutia was the rightful winner of the July 28 presidential election.