Trump asked Russia to leave Venezuela and Moscow responded to him

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said yesterday that Russia "must leave" Venezuela, in reference to the Russian military arrived this weekend in this country.

"Russia must leave," Trump told the question of Russia's military presence in Venezuela during an unexpected meeting at the White House with Fabiana Rosales, the wife of Venezuelan parliament speaker Juan Guaidó.

On Sunday, two Russian military planes landed at the Maiquetía International Airport, Venezuela's main airport serving Caracas, and according to El Nacional newspaper, about 100 soldiers were on board.

The US State Department has warned that it will not remain "inactive as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela."

However, from Moscow, the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the presence of Russian military in Venezuela was legitimate and "in strict compliance" with the Venezuelan constitution, based a bilateral agreement on military cooperation He badured that the mission did not need the approval of the National Assembly of Venezuela, controlled by the opposition.

Mr. Zakharova did not specify how many Russian soldiers went to Venezuela, before the press reported that there were about 100 in two planes, with about 35 tons of cargo.

Zakharova protested against the US request, saying that Trump should first deliver on his own promise to pull all his forces out of Syria.

"Some compare the United States to an elephant in a porcelain store, but in reality, these animals move with delicacy and reason, while the United States act more like a cowboy at the Louvre Museum," said Zakharova .

Maduro

In Caracas, President Nicolás Maduro announced that Caracas and Moscow will sign twenty agreements at the high-level intergovernmental meeting to be held in the Russian capital in early April.

According to the Venezuelan president, who was introduced to a television interview, at this meeting will be signed "more than 20 cooperation agreements" in the areas of the economy, trade, culture, the "business", energy and education.

Maduro said that Moscow and Caracas were "making progress" in relations under the Hugo Chávez government, and said he also had good friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I have always said that he was a strong leader" who defends the dignity and independence of the world's peoples, he said.

He also described his Russian counterpart as a very "objective" and "sincere" person.

Regarding Russian aid, he pointed out that two weeks ago, a cargo of several tons of humanitarian cargo arrived in the country of Latin America and that another should soon be delivered with medication.

Cooperation between Russia and Venezuela is mutually beneficial and, over time, it will only go further, Maduro promised.

The Russian Ministry of Energy issued a statement on Tuesday in which it also confirmed its interest in strengthening energy cooperation with Venezuela.

According to preliminary data, the meeting of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Commission will be held in Moscow from 4 to 7 April.

Since the start of the crisis in Venezuela, Russia has fiercely defended its cooperation with Caracas and rejected "destructive interference" by other states in the internal affairs of the country of Latin America, the EFE news agency said. .

With rosales

"It is a great honor to have here the first lady of Venezuela, who has suffered a lot, for things that people do not want to live and would not have to go through," Trump told the Oval Office press. located next to the office. wife of the leader of the opposition appointed acting president by the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó.

Rosales is immersed in a regional tour that has already led to Chile and Peru. Yesterday, he was scheduled to meet Vice President Mike Pence at the White House, but he was finally able to see Trump, his daughter Ivanka and National Security Advisor John Bolton.

President Trump, questioned yesterday about what the United States can do to increase the pressure on Maduro, responded: "Currently, they are under a lot of pressure, they do not have money, they do not have to. They have no oil, they have nothing, they have a lot of pressure, that, we'll see. "

"Outside of the military, you can not exert more pressure than you already have," added the president, who repeated that he was maintaining "all open options," reported the press. EFE press agency.

Trump seemed to contradict his own statements last week, when he said his government had "always" not resorted to "very harsh penalties" against Maduro, and that he still had from this tool if he found it necessary to increase the pressure.

The president regretted that Maduro "does not accept humanitarian aid" that the United States has positioned at Venezuela's borders.

"He (Maduro) prefers his people to starve to receive help," he said.