Major General Antonio Jose Benavides Torres, Commander of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), says that since the arrival of the Bolivarian Revolution, this institution has undergone a radical change in its procedures and performance, adapting to international standards, based on Respect for Human Rights.
During an interview with journalist José Vicente Rangel, the senior military official recalled that in the time of the «Caracazo» (riots and uprising of February 27, 28 and 29, 1989) the National Armed Forces came out to repress, and did not protected the people, following instructions of those who directed it back then.
Benavides Torres said that such repressive actions: «Are a thing of the past, we are writing our own doctrine» implemented by Commander Chavez, which states not to repress the people.
He detailed that during the last 70 days there have been 3,000 demonstrations throughout the country, of which 2,692 protests have been peaceful, while 1,093 have been violent. In these have participated a total of 600,000 people, in protests against the government, which represents a total of a 1.87% of the Venezuelan population.
The commander of the GNB, M / G Benavides Torres said that this body has 75,000 members, of which 12,500 have participated in public order work during the various protests.
Finally, he said that, as a product of the attacks of violent opposition groups, one GNB official resulted dead, 45 have been injured by firearms, and 252 have been injured and burned with blunt objects and molotov fire bombs.
