The Maduro regime has launched military exercises as a warning towards the United States, who meanwhile look with concern for the links between Venezuela and China
The tension in Latin America rises. Wednesday, Venezuela started military exercises which, called “Sovereign Caribbean 200”, include terrestrial, maritime and aerial maneuvers. According to CNN, Nicolas Maduro’s regime mobilized over 2,500 soldiers on the island of La Orchila. Twelve military ships and 22 planes have also been deployed. Not only that. The Caracas government has also exposed its Russian manufacturing hunting Sukhoi Su-30, which have Antinave missiles.
The chavist regime justified this move, presenting it as a response to the deployment of US war ships, recently lined up off the coast of the Venezuelan coast. An operation, the latter, which, according to Washington, is mainly aimed at affecting drug trafficking. Last Monday, Donald Trump had announced that the US forces had conducted “a second kinetic attack against the signs of drug trafficking and necotorrorists” in the “Southcom responsibility” area. “The attack took place while these Venezuelan Dentrors, confirmed, were found in international waters, transporting illegal narcotics (a deadly weapon that poisons the Americans!) Direct in the United States,” he continued.
According to the government of Maduro, the US military pressure would actually be aimed at causing a change of regime in Caracas. It is also in this sense that the Venezuelan government is probably showing off its Russian manufacturing planes: the goal is to understand that the regime is not isolated from an international point of view. And here we come to a fundamental knot in relations between Washington and Caracas. Beyond the drug question, the White House fears above all the close ties that Maduro entertains with Beijing. Just on Wednesday, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yvan Gil, met the Chinese ambassador to Caracas, Lan Hu: on the occasion, the latter reported that the Popular Republic is “solidarity” with the chavist regime against Washington.
Moreover, it is not a mystery that, since President returned, Trump has been trying to carry out a re -edition of Monroe doctrine, aimed at steming Beijing’s influence on Latin America. Recall that, a few months ago, Panama, following the pressures of Washington, decided to get out of the Belt and Road Initiative. To fully understand the current tensions between the United States and Venezuela, therefore, the ties that Maduro is strengthened with the dragon must be kept in mind.
