On Wednesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov used the occasion of Moscow’s 75th anniversary V-Day parade commemorating the end of WWII to warn Washington against pushing regime change in Venezuela.
Among other foreign dignitaries, Caracas’ top diplomat Jorge Arreaza was in Moscow for the events. Lavrov issued public statements of solidarity expressing support to the socialist country, calling it “a mainstay for countering the attempts to draw the region back into the 19th century and to impose the Monroe Doctrine.”
“We strongly support your commitment to combating foreign diktat and any attempts at blatant interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state, opposing any attempts at a forced regime change,” Lavrov said, as reported in Newsweek.
Given that only within the last year-and-a-half of multiple failed coup attempts backed by Washington, which saw ‘opposition’ military officers attempt to stir popular revolt, and more recently the bizarre small ‘invasion’ attempt by a group of ex-Green Berets turned security contractors, two of which were attempting to enter the country on small boats, Lavrov’s reference to attempts at regime change aren’t mere inflated accusations.
Lavrov further underscored in his Wednesday comments that Maduro and Venezuela are a “reliable friend” of Russia, and praised that “bilateral relations are progressing in such spheres as energy, industry, agriculture, high technology, pharmaceutics and military-technical cooperation.”
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry responded by emphasizing “strengthened the ties of brotherhood and cooperation,” in a statement.
The Russian-Venezuelan expression of solidarity also appear aimed at the US heightened naval presence in the Caribbean, also following a series of Iranian fuel tanker deliveries to Maduro’s Venezuela.
This week the US has warships patrolling near Venezuela’s coast conducting what US Southern Command calls “freedom of navigation” operations.
“Today, while peacefully operating in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Nitze (DDG 94) conducted a freedom of navigation operation, contesting an excessive maritime claim by Venezuela,” the US military said Tuesday.
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