Caracas – The US and Russia clashed publicly over Venezuela on Monday,raising geopolitical stakes over the oil-producing nation after Moscow sentdozens of soldiers to Caracas amid what it alleged was a budding “coup.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned his counterpart Sergei Lavrov overthe phone that “the United States and regional countries will not standidly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela.”
The tense conversation came after Russia sent two planes reportedlycarrying around 100 soldiers and 35 tons of military equipment toVenezuela’s main airport outside Caracas on Saturday.
One independent Venezuelan journalist, Javier Mayorca, reported that thedeployment also included General Vasily Tonkoshkurov, a top official whoheads the Mobilization Directorate of Russia’s armed forces.
Although Russian state news agency Sputnik described the troop arrival as amovement to “fulfill technical military contracts,” the developmentunsettled Washington, which has thrown its weight behind opposition leaderJuan Guaido as interim president against President Nicolas Maduro.
“The continued insertion of Russian military personnel to support theillegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela risks prolonging thesuffering of the Venezuelan people who overwhelmingly support interimPresident Juan Guaido,” Pompeo said, according to his office.
Lavrov said in a statement he had complained of “attempts by Washington toorganise a coup d’etat in Venezuela” during his conversation with Pompeo.
Such moves “constitute violations of the UN charter and undisguisedinterference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,” it said.
Russia and China are the main allies of Venezuela. Both have lent billionsof dollars to the oil-rich South American country, propping up Maduro’scash-strapped government.
Russia previously signaled its support for Maduro by sending two Tu-160bombers to Venezuela last December to take part in a military exercise.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has a record of ordering his military –or paramilitary — forces into several theaters to challenge US strategies,notably in Syria and Ukraine.
– ‘Assassination plot’ –
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US moves against Caracas have ratcheted up in recent weeks, with PresidentDonald Trump warning that “all options” — implicitly including US militaryintervention — were being considered.
Maduro on Saturday accused Washington of using frozen Venezuelan funds tobankroll a plot to assassinate him.
“We have dismantled a plan organized personally by the diabolical puppet tokill me,” Maduro told thousands of supporters in Caracas, referring toGuaido.
His government gave details of the alleged plot on state television, withInformation Minister Jorge Rodriguez saying “hitmen” from El Salvador,Guatemala and Honduras had been recruited “using big sums of money” andsent to Colombia ahead of missions into Venezuela to carry out “targetedassassinations” and “sabotage.”
Rodriguez accused Guaido’s chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, of receivingmoney from the United States and being a key organizer of the allegedoperation.
Marrero, a 49-year-old lawyer, was arrested on Thursday in his Caracashome, triggering an outcry and demands that he be immediately released bythe US, the European Union and major Latin American countries thatrecognize Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president.
Rodriguez played recordings he said were from WhatsApp conversationsbetween Marrero and Guaido in which he said they discussed using Venezuelanfunds blocked by US sanctions to finance armed groups with the support ofColombian President Ivan Duque.
The accusations were repeated shortly afterward by Maduro as he addressed acrowd of thousands of supporters in the capital.
According to his government, the United States has seized $30 billion isVenezuelan assets, including money in bank accounts. – APP/AFP
