Maduro supporters march in Caracas on anniversary

Ruling  party supporters marched in Caracas to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the fall of the Marcos Perez Jimenez dictatorship and to show their backing for recently reinaugurated president Nicolas Maduro.

Waving Venezuelan flags and holding banners showing rejection of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, hundreds marched from the west of the capital to the Miraflores palace to meet with Maduro.

In his speech, the president assured that Venezuela “had made itself respected before the world” and decreed “times of peace” for the country.

The demonstrations comed as Venezuela's National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) conducted a second day of military and police exercises dubbed Bolivarian Shield.

The drills and the pro-government demonstration came less than two weeks after the controversial inauguration of Nicolas Maduro's third term, at a critical moment for the Venezuelan president to show strength and authority.

Venezuela's National Bolivarian Armed Forces conducted military and police exercises, deploying more than 150,000 officers nationwide.

In Carabobo, central Venezuela, National Guard soldiers and members of the militia patrolled the main road to connect this region and Caracas with rifles and military trucks.

According to the integral defense operational zone commander, Hector Jose Cadenas Daal, the drills prevent "the advance of any enemy force" toward Caracas, Venezuela's capital and central government headquarters.

Regular army and militia personnel will participate in 290 exercises, and they will use 159 naval assets, 50 air assets, and 250 heavy military vehicles, including tanks and artillery, according to local officials.

The exercises, dubbed 'Bolivarian Shield,' came less than two weeks after the controversial inauguration of Nicolas Maduro's third term, at a critical moment for the Venezuelan president to show strength and authority.