Russia on military planes in Venezuela: Our specialists are there based on cooperation treaty

Russian specialists are in Venezuela as part of the 2001 military-technical cooperation deal with Caracas that doesn’t need further approval, Moscow said after reports of the arrival of two military planes with troops and cargo.

Russia develops its relations with Venezuela “in strict accordance with the Constitution of this country and in full respect of its legislation,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The existing deal was ratified by both Russia and Venezuela, and it “doesn’t require any additional approval from the National Assembly of Venezuela,” she pointed out.

Zakharova was responding to a media request for comment over the alleged Russian “meddling” into Venezuelan affairs.

Following reports that two Russian military planes carrying around 100 troops and cargo landed outside Caracas on Saturday, the Organization of American States labeled it “a harmful act to Venezuelan sovereignty,” while the US State Department insisted that it was “a reckless escalation of the situation” in the country.

US National Security Adviser and one of the strongest backers of regime change in Venezuela, John Bolton, was also outraged, writing on Twitter that: “the US will not tolerate hostile foreign military powers meddling with the Western Hemisphere’s shared goals of democracy, security, and the rule of law.”

Washington had recognized opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as the legitimate president of Venezuela and even mulled the so-called “humanitarian intervention” in order to remove the unwanted government of Nicolas Maduro from power.

Zakharova responded to Bolton by saying that his words prove that the US still considers “Latin America an area of its exclusive interests; its own ‘backyard’ and demands unquestionable obedience from it” just like it was in the Colonial times under the infamous Monroe Doctrine.

The Monroe Doctrine, named after US President James Monroe, was a policy of opposing European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere beginning in 1823, with Washington essentially claiming stewardship over the Americas. At the same time, the doctrine stated that the US would not interfere with the internal affairs of European countries.

If the Americans deny other countries access to the Western Hemisphere, it begs the question “what are they themselves doing in Eastern Hemisphere?” she wondered, referring to the heavy US military presence in Europe and its involvement in ‘color revolutions’ in former Soviet states and the Balkans.

“Perhaps, they believe that the people of this part of the world will be thankful when Washington willfully changes their leaders and kills the unwanted ones. Or the US still believes that people are waiting for the Americans to bring democracy to them on the wings of their bombers. Ask Iraqis, Libyans or Serbs about it,” the spokeswoman stated.

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