Venezuelan exiles in Miami denounce Russian moves in support of Maduro

Miami — An association of Venezuelan exiles in Miami on Wednesday denounced recent moves taken by Russia in support of leftist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro , including deploying troops to that South American country.

Politically Persecuted Venezuelans Abroad (Veppex) also said in a statement that Moscow has adopted a belligerent tone against countries that have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim head of state.

“Russia is testing its level of influence in the region” and “allowing it to carry out its plans would be a destabilizing factor for the entire hemisphere,” Veppex said.

Veppex said a recent statement by Russia’s senate, which warned that a military intervention in Venezuela would be interpreted as an “act of aggression,” represents a “direct threat to all nations” that do not recognize Maduro as that nation’s president.

That Venezuelan exile group therefore called for a “response” that is in keeping with the “danger posed by the Russian presence in this hemisphere.”

Veppex recalled that the United States’ government is keeping “all options on the table” and that this is the time to use “the toughest (measures) given the level of the threat this represents for US national security.”

That organization urged Venezuela’s opposition-led National Assembly, whose speaker is Guaido, to declare Russian military personnel on Venezuelan soil as “non grata” and called on the population to regard as Russian soldiers as “enemies of the Venezuelan people.”

Moscow said a few days after Russian air force planes carrying dozens of soldiers landed on March 24 at the airport serving Caracas that the presence of its military personnel is governed by a bilateral technical-military cooperation agreement that dates to May 2001.

The move, however, angered the US, with National Security Adviser John Bolton issuing a stern warning.

“We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations,” he said on March 29. “We will consider such provocative actions as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region.”

Separately, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said Wednesday in Beirut that the only country interfering in Venezuela is the US.

“There’s no Russian meddling in Venezuela. There’s years of military and technical cooperation. The only meddling we experience on a daily basis is that from the United States,” he told a group of reporters outside Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry.

On Tuesday, the National Constituent Assembly (ANC), a plenipotentiary body completely made up of Maduro allies whose creation in 2017 sidelined the opposition-led National Assembly, unanimously voted to strip away Guaido’s immunity from prosecution and pave the way for him to stand trial.

The ANC approved a request by Supreme Court Chief Justice Maikel Moreno, who had sought to strip Guaido of his parliamentary immunity after the opposition leader ignored a high-court-imposed travel ban and embarked on a tour of several South American countries before returning to Venezuela early last month.

The travel ban was among a series of judicial measures taken against Guaido, who says Maduro’s re-election victory last year was fraudulent, declared himself interim president on Jan. 23 and has repeatedly called on the Venezuelan military (thus far loyal to the government) to throw its weight behind the opposition.

Guaido also says Maduro’s leftist policies are responsible for years of recession and hyperinflation. Venezuela’s government says those economic problems are due to a long-standing international campaign of economic warfare.

The German government on Wednesday denounced the removal of Guaido’s parliamentary immunity and demanded assurances of his physical integrity. The US has repeatedly warned Maduro’s government against taking any action against Guaido.

The US, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Canada are among the dozens of countries that have recognized Guaido, who has called for Maduro to step down and for new elections to be held.

China, Russia and India are among the scores of nations that continue to recognize Maduro.