Two Russian planes with nearly a hundred soldiers landed in Venezuela

Two Russian planes with 99 soldiers led by the Minister of National Defense, General Vasilly Tonkoshkurov, and 35 tons of unspecified equipment landed at Venezuela's main international airport, local press reported.

The plane, the first with the staff and the second with the cargo, arrived in the afternoon yesterday at the airport of Maiquetía, near Caracas, according to the newspaper Caracas El Nacional.

The Russian minister was received on the presidential ramp of Maiquetía by the director of international affairs and the integration of the Chavan government, Vice Admiral Marianny Mata.

Until this afternoon, the administration of President Nicolás Maduro had not informed of the arrival of Russian resources.

Social Democratic MP Williams Dávila, confirmed via Twitter the arrival of the Russian army and equipment and claimed that it violated the Constitution because he did not have the permission of the Russian Federation. National Assembly (AN, parliament), which has a comfortable anti-Chavez majority.

"So do not protest if they come from other countries, because this coming Russian mission violates the Constitution," Dávila warned.

Last December, a squadron of Russian military planes – including two bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons – participated in military exercises in Venezuela.

On this occasion, the Maduro governments and President Vladimir Putin announced that they would conduct joint military operations to increase Venezuela's defense capacity, the EFE news agency reported.

Russia is one of Maduro's main allies in the unprecedented power struggle that Venezuela has experienced since January 23, when the leader of the AN, Juan Guaidó, was sworn in as Acting Speaker of Parliament, appointed by Parliament.

The NA, like more than 50 countries, including the United States and most Latin American countries, did not take notice of the mandate initiated by Maduro on the 10th January for having emerged from elections whose validity is uncertain.

Source: Los Andes