Correspondent in Caracas
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The Ginterim government of Juan Guaidó and the National Assembly They legitimately urged Russia to abandon its threat of war and withdraw the military bases in Venezuela, in addition to not interfering in the internal affairs of the Bolivarian country in the face of its conflict with Ukraine.
Moscow has declared its intention to deploy military equipment in the Caribbean region, especially Venezuela and Cuba, considered its “security zone”, according to the Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Pescov. “In the context of the current situation, Russia is thinking about how to guarantee its own security,” he said at his press conference, commenting on the possibility suggested last week by the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who did not deny or confirm that Moscow values placing missiles in the two Caribbean countries.
The tension has risen in tone when Manuel Cristopher Figuera denounced the installation of two Russian military bases in Venezuela, which until now has been kept secret between Moscow and Caracas because there are no photographs or more information about it.
Figuera, former director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin), currently in exile in the US, denounced in a statement the operation of two Russian military bases in Venezuela. The first is installed in the 41st Armored Brigade in the city of Valencia, state of Carabobo. And in Manzanares, Miranda state, the Russian military base for Exploration of Communications and Intelligence operates, which, supposedly, protects Nicolás Maduro.
Message from Guaido
The legitimate National Assembly, whose president is also Guaidó, urged the Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, to withdraw the Russian bases, reminding him that the National Constitution in its article 13 says: «The Venezuelan geographical space is a zone of peace. No foreign military bases or installations having military purposes in any way may be established on it by any power or coalition of powers.”
Figuera accuses Minister Padrino of being the “greatest traitor” that Venezuela has ever had and of “doing shady deals with the upgraded military junk sold by Russia.”
For his part, Minister Padrino, in a display of cynicism and provocation, published on social networks the photographs of the 100 Russian soldiers landing in the country in 2019 with tons of war equipment to be installed in Venezuela.
“Maduro is a puppet of Putin, he is under his tutelage. His statements were grotesque and rude and of course we reject them, but we also took action in this regard together with our allies,” Guaidó said in a televised interview with Miguel Angel Rodríguez.
He warned that in view of the Russian accusations (deployment of the military to the country) and in the face of the publication of a photograph of “military cooperation” by Vladimir Padrino, “Russia is a threat to the region and we cannot underestimate it,” because, furthermore, they “made visible” how they would exercise it. «I hope that the FAN rejects the Russian-Cuban tutelage. Russia wants to get us involved in a conflict to annoy NATO and the United States,” he added.
Olivia Lozano, president of the Permanent Commission on Foreign Policy of Guaidó’s legitimate parliament, told ABC that “it is up to us to continue denouncing these Russian agreements with the Maduro dictatorship before the international community and continue to warn about the serious impact that these alliances have on hemispheric security.” To which he added that “Venezuelans, the international community, NATO and multilateral organizations are clear about it. The Russians have no interest in the welfare of Venezuelans.” In his opinion, “Russia’s interests are geopolitical interests and conflicts in which Russia intends to use the serious crisis we are experiencing to favor its geostrategic positions.”
Asked if they are going to protest before Moscow, Lozano pointed out that “we only have one request to make to Russia and that is to stop interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela, the alliances must be for the peace and freedom of our people.”
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism