More than 380,000 troops of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) has been deployed throughout the country as part of the Republic Plan to ensure the security of the July 27 municipal elections. The FANB officials will guard 15,731 voting centers throughout Venezuela and will protect the equipment and the electoral material in addition to providing security to the more than 21 million Venezuelans registered to vote.The minister of defense, Major General Vladimir Padrino López, announced on Tuesday, July 22 that the FANB will also provide security to the third National Popular Consultation, to be held on the same day as the municipal elections, as well as to the electoral processes in Indigenous communities, which will elect their councilors in August.These municipal elections will constitute the 33rd election since the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution in 1999. In the upcoming elections, 2,806 positions, including 335 mayoralties and 2,471 councils, will be contested. Of these, 69 positions cover Indigenous representation in 596 constituencies.Venezuela: Opposition Coalition Calls for Mass Participation in Sunday’s Municipal ElectionsThe Simón Bolívar Great Patriotic Pole, composed of the governing PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) and allied parties, closed its campaign with massive events in several states. In Aragua state, Jorge Rodríguez, head of the coalition’s electoral command, said that July 27 will be a historic day.He also called upon all Venezuelans to broaden the fight against bureaucracy and corruption and to build a popular majority that guarantees governability and efficiency. Opposition parties such as COPEI, Alianza Lápiz, and Fuerza Vecinal also urged its supporters to vote, rejecting the far right’s calls for abstention.On Monday, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello reported on arrests of paramilitaries from Trinidad and Colombia, as well as arrests of members of local criminal gangs. This confirmed the existence of a destabilization plot. In one of the latest cases, four members of the gang Los Chevrolets, who had plotted to attack electoral centers in Aragua, were captured. (Telesur)Translation: Orinoco TribuneOT/SC/SL