Serguei Lavrov’s Latin American tour continued on Tuesday with a mandatory stop in Caracas, his main military ally in the United States’ backyard and one of his “most reliable” partners. For the occasion, the Russian foreign minister changed his “casual” outfit on Monday in Brazil, his first destination in the Americas, for the suit of Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister, thus giving solemnity to the meeting with the leaders of the oil country, with who have signed more than 300 strategic agreements in these years of alliance.
Nicolás Maduro, who had previously reiterated that he has a “good, beautiful and deep friendship” with Vladimir Putin’s envoy, received Lavrov at the Miraflores Palace, after holding various meetings with Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and the Bolivarian Foreign Minister, Yván Gil.
“With our Venezuelan friends we advocate for the right of each nation to develop its own future without blackmail from outside,” Lavrov stressed in clear contradiction with the invasion of Russian troops in Ukrainian territory. The head of Russian diplomacy assured that they will do everything possible for Venezuela to free itself from “US pressure and sanctions.”
“Russia and Venezuela have gone through many tests due to the unacceptable colonial policy of the United States, which seeks to frustrate the development of our countries and prevent the formation of a multipolar world order,” said Lavrov, who in the next few hours will fly to Cuba and Nicaragua. the other two dictatorships in the region, with which it maintains historical ties.
In this way, Lavrov took advantage of his visit to Caracas to join the group of Maduro’s allies who are calling for the lifting of sanctions against the Bolivarian regime, whose next chapter will take place next week at the conference of countries organized by President Gustavo Petro in Bogota. “It is necessary to join forces to counter the attempts of blackmail and illegal unilateral pressure from the West,” shot Lavrov, who assured that he will continue to transfer his experience to Maduro to avoid sanctions.
“In 24 hours two allies of Maduro, first Gustavo Petro and then Lavrov on behalf of Putin, came out to speak out against the sanctions. Clear demonstration that this is the only thing that interests those who occupy de facto power,” sentenced the political scientist Walter Molina.
Russia became a transcendental ally for Nicolás Maduro when in 2019 the democratic opposition and a large part of the international community launched an ordeal after electoral fraud and the recognition of the presidency in charge of Juan Guaidó. Moscow helped evade sanctions and distribute both the oil and gold extracted from the Venezuelan Mining Arc.
If the trip to Brazil raised doubts due to Lula da Silva’s ambiguous position, which he had to rectify hours later, in the rest of the countries Lavrov will only find praise and hugs. The support, above all, of Chavismo and Castroism, whom he has added to his disinformation machinery, has made it possible for Moscow’s theories to find an echo on the continent.
“Lula’s statements in recent days about the war in Ukraine remove the possibility that he will play a preponderant role in eventual discussions to end the war. The question remains who could eventually mediate, also given the mistrust with China,” he concluded. internationalist Mariano de Alba, senior adviser to the Crisis Group.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
