CARACAS -Venezuela's Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino on Tuesday reaffirmed the military's "absolute loyalty" to President Nicolas Maduro, amid an on-going dispute over the country's contested presidential election results.

The comments came after opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and leader Maria Corina Machado urged members of the armed forces "to stand at the side of the people," in a letter published on Monday.

After the letter was published, attorney general Tarek Saab announced a criminal probe against Gonzalez and Machado for inciting members of the military and the police to break the law.

"Fear is not going to paralyze us, we are going to overcome it as we have done until now and we will not leave the streets," Machado said in an audio message posted on X on Tuesday.

The Venezuelan president's assertion that he won a third term in the July 28 vote triggered protests and accusations of fraud, with opposition leaders insisting Gonzalez won and that Maduro should stand down.

  - Reuters