Head of State handed replica of Liberator saber to officials attacked by the US

The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, awarded the (replica of) saber of Liberator Simón Bolívar to public officials who have been attacked with unilateral sanctions issued by the United States’s State Department.

“I have decided to make a meaningful act, a special act of recognition, as an act of moral support, to those who today have been attacked by the Government of the United States, to award them with the saber that the Liberator gave to General Rafael Urdaneta with love, with affection”, said the Head of State.

The awards were made during a meeting with the candidates to the National Constituent Assembly by the sector of people with some disability.

The public officials who were victims of the sanctions of the United States Department of State were: Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council and president of the Electoral Power; Elias Jaua, Minister of Education and president of the ANC presidential commission; Tareck William Saab, Ombudsman and President of the Citizen Power; Iris Valera, candidate for the ANC; the Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, Nestor Luís Reverol; Carlos Malpica, Treasurer of the Nation; Carlos Pérez Ampueda, Director of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB); Sergio Rivero, General Commander of the National Bolivarian Police (PNB); Jesus Suarez, Commander of the National Bolivarian Police (PNB); Franklin García, former director of the PNB; Rocco Albissini, president of the Center for Foreign Trade; Alejandro Fleming, Vice-Chancellor for Europe; Simón Zerpa, Financial Vice President of the state-owned PDVSA oil company.