Russia reaffirmed its alliance with Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela and assured that these countries need Moscow’s help against external threats

Russia reiterated its support for its allies in Latin America, mainly Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, in the face of what have been termed “external threats”. This is what Russian Defense Minister General of the Army said on Wednesday. Sergueï Choïgou, who affirmed that although the relations with these countries are “historic”, the various forms of pressure which they currently undergo make that they need more than ever the assistance of Moscow.

Although the minister did not specify whether these countries have made a formal request for assistance, in a speech at an international security conference held in Moscow, he referred to “threats“Suffered by them, which include the possibility of”manifest use of military force“Against these nations.

“It is the threat of terrorism, very linked to the production of illegal drugs and the ongoing attempts to spark various revolutions in these countries“Shoigu said, according to the agency TASS new.

The declarations come at a particularly sensitive time in Nicaragua, internationally isolated because of the actions of the government of Daniel Ortega, which launched a persecution against opposition candidates that included a wave of arrests as well as intimidation, threats and raids.

However, the alliance with Moscow is not new. In 2014, the president Vladimir Putin paid a surprise visit to the Central American country, and before that, Ortega had expressed his support for Russia in various regional conflicts, including that of Ukraine, and facing Western sanctions.

According to the newspaper The country, Putin funded military training centers in Nicaragua, in addition to “strengthening and modernization“From the army and the expedition of the military arsenal.

Regarding the link between Russia and Venezuela, Moscow this week pledged to strengthen military cooperation with the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.

The Moscow compromise, one of the main allies of the Chavista regime, took place within the framework of the meeting held on Tuesday by the foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov Yes Jorge Arreaza, in the Russian capital.

The United States has long been monitoring Russian presence in Venezuela. In August of last year, the admiral Craig faller, commander of the southern command of the armed forces – whose orbit of influence includes the Caribbean country – said that “Russian influence is the main force that keeps Nicolás Maduro in power.”

“I see with concern what Russia is doing with Venezuela in terms of personnel deployed and in the dissemination of disinformation, ”he added during a conference on Latin America from the thinking group Atlantic Council.

Russia has become one of the greatest political and commercial allies of the regime of Hugo Chávez first, then Maduro. Moscow is also Venezuela’s second-largest creditor, after China, with some $ 7.5 billion, according to an estimate by local consulting firm Ecoanalítica. Last march the Kremlin has stepped up its support for the Venezuelan dictator with the signing of around ten cooperation agreements on the subject food, financial, energy, military, scientific, technological and mining.

(With information from EFE and Europa Press)

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