LatinNews Daily Report - 27 February 2012

Venezuela | FANB pledges allegiance to Chávez. On 25 February the Venezuelan military (officially, the National Bolivarian Armed Forces [FANB]) pledged its allegiance to President Hugo Chávez, who is in Cuba seeking further treatment for a possible recurrence of his cancer ahead of his bid for re-election in October. “With you, everything; without you, nothing,” Navy Admiral Aníbal Brito declared during a ceremony in the port of La Guaira to inaugurate a naval training vessel named after the independence leader Simón Bolívar. The newly promoted defence minister and chief operational commander of the FANB, General Henry Rangel Silva, was also on hand at the ceremony. “Today our commander in chief is here with us…. His spirit as a revolutionary soldier is here," Rangel told the assembled cadets. There is some expectation that the military could step in to take up a key role in government if the president’s health deteriorates.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 318 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options

• Subscribe
• Sign up for a one-time, 14-day trial