Her allegations come as she faces growing challenges from opposition leaders and constitutional experts, who argue that her interim mandate Friday 3 after it reached the Constitution’s 180-day limit, News.Az reports, citing UPI.
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Rodríguez used Sunday’s Independence Day commemoration to accuse opponents of trying to undermine Venezuela’s institutions.
“There can be no room for any kind of conspiracy, either internal or external,” Rodríguez told senior military officials during the graduation ceremony for more than 1,200 new officers at the Military Academy’s Patio de Honor.
“There will be no social uprising here. What exists here is the deep solidarity of our people,” she said during the ceremony broadcast on state television.
Drawing a historical parallel, Rodríguez compared the current crisis with Venezuela’s devastating 1812 earthquake, arguing that opponents of the government are attempting to blame state institutions for a natural disaster to overthrow the country’s constitutional order.
During a meeting with international media Friday, Rodríguez responded to criticism over what opponents described as her government’s delayed response during the first 72 hours after the disaster.
She said domestic and international opposition groups were using “media laboratories” to politicize the country’s grief and encourage social unrest after twin earthquakes that struck June 24.
Rodríguez also defended the controversial military deployment in the disaster zones, saying the armed forces were carrying out strictly humanitarian rescue operations.
While the government continues to frame the situation as a national emergency, opposition leaders and constitutional scholars, including former Supreme Tribunal of Justice Criminal Chamber President Blanca Rosa Mármol, argued the interim administration has entered a period of institutional illegality.
Rodríguez assumed the interim presidency Jan. 3 after the removal and capture of Nicolás Maduro during a U.S. military operation under the legal doctrine of a “forced absence,” a measure approved by the Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice.
Critics argue the Constitution’s 180-day limit for a temporary presidency expired automatically.
