Russia and Venezuela Support Each Other’s Efforts Towards Preserving National Sovereignty
Jose Nino
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On September 9, 2022, Russia and Venezuela reiterated their mutual support for defending national sovereignty and basic interests. According to TASS, the Russian foreign ministry confirmed this following a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Venezuelan Ambassador to Russia Jesus Rafael Salazar Velasquez.
The ambassador sent several copies of his credentials to Ryabkov. “The sides reiterated their commitment to the relations of strategic partnership between Russia and Venezuela and expressed solidarity and firm mutual support on issues of the defense of state sovereignty and basic interests of the two countries,” the ministry declared. “The two diplomats discussed current issues of the comprehensive Russian-Venezuelan cooperation, agreed upcoming political contacts, outlined steps toward closer mutually beneficial cooperation in the trade-and-economic, investment, scientific-and-technical, cultural and humanitarian spheres that would be resistant to external pressure.”
Russia and Venezuela forged strong relations during the regime of the late Hugo Chávez. These warm relations have continued under Chávez’s successor, Nicolás Maduro. From 2009 to 2019, arms sales from Russia to Venezuela were roughly $9 billion. These relations will only strengthen as the US and its allies in the Collective West continue saber-rattling and waging economic warfare against both Russia and Venezuela. Other countries in Latin America such as Bolivia, Cuba, and Nicaragua will also draw closer to Russia. In a more multipolar geopolitical environment, the US will encounter fiercer forms of blowback.
One way or the other, the US will need to exercise restraint lest it want to sleepwalk into a geopolitical disaster.
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