The crisis in Venezuela: Trump does not exclude the introduction of troops, Russia sent mercenaries

US President Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela “could be an option.” Western countries are increasing pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, demanding his resignation. Russia, an ally of the current regime and the president, warns America against “destructive interference.”

Фото: Depositphotos

The United States, Canada, a number of Latin American countries and other countries (but not Russia) do not consider Maduro a legitimate head of state and support the leader of the opposition Venezuelan parliament - the National Assembly - Juan Guaido, who last week declared himself acting president, writes Air force.

On Sunday, in an interview with CBS, Trump said that US military intervention in Venezuela is seen as a “possible option” of action, adding that Maduro had asked to meet with the American leader several months ago, but he refused, reports Reuters.

“I refused because we were very far along in the process,” Trump said in an interview on “Face the Nation.” “I think the process is ending.”

Russian mercenaries are already in Venezuela

Against the backdrop of anti-government protests, fighters from the private military company (PMCs) of the “Wagner Group” arrived in Venezuela to enhance the security of President Nicolas Maduro.

This was reported by Reuters, citing two sources. The third interlocutor of the agency also confirmed to the agency that he had noticed Russian soldiers in Venezuela, but could not tell when they had arrived and what their role was, writes New Paper.

Another source close to the PMC Wagner, noted that for the first time Russian mercenaries arrived in Venezuela on the eve of the presidential elections in May 2018, and the new group arrived "recently." Agency interlocutors talk about small groups of mercenaries who are currently in Venezuela.

The head of the committee of the All-Russian Officers' Assembly, Yevgeny Shabaev, claims that the arrivals are "near 400". The task of the mercenaries, says Shabaev, is to protect Maduro from opposition attempts to detain him.

According to him, the fighters arrived in Venezuela in mid-January, a day or two before the start of opposition protests. Shabayev said that at first Russian mercenaries arrived on two charter airplanes in the Cuban capital Havana, and then on commercial flights arrived in Venezuela.

In recent weeks, several Russian government aircraft have landed in Venezuela, although there is no evidence that they are linked to Russian mercenaries. According to the data, the Russian IL-96 took off from Moscow to Havana on the evening of January 23. According to the agency, the aircraft belongs to a division of the Russian presidential administration.

The Russian Ministry of Defense and the Venezuelan Ministry of Information did not respond to Reuters requests for information on the arrival of mercenaries of PMCs. A spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said he did not have such information.

Opposition leader Juan Guaydo. Photo: screenshot from official Twitter

Venezuela, USA and the world

On January 23, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaydo, declared himself the interim president. His decision was supported by a number of countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia and others.

The Trump administration last week imposed crushing sanctions against Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA, a key source of income for a country whose people suffer from malnutrition and a shortage of drugs.

US President Donald Trump said he recognizes Guaydo as "transitional president." In response, Maduro said that the United States was committing a “serious mistake,” announced the severance of diplomatic relations, and accused the United States of trying to make a coup in Venezuela.

Maduro warned Trump that Venezuela will become the second Vietnam, and that the shed blood will be on his conscience.

Russia, Turkey and China expressed support for Maduro. The Russian authorities believe that the “destructive external intervention” of the USA in Venezuela’s policy is unacceptable because it is “a direct path to lawlessness and bloodshed.”

The last presidential election in Venezuela in May 2018 was not recognized by the Venezuelan opposition, a number of Western and Latin American countries.

Last week, Spain, Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Austria issued an ultimatum to Maduro - either he calls elections within eight days, or they officially recognize the opposition government.

Nicolas Maduro. Photo: screenshot from official Twitter

What did Maduro say

On Sunday, the ultimatum expired, and Maduro said in an interview with the Spanish TV channel La Sexta that he was not going to give in to pressure and would not announce early elections.

“We do not accept ultimatums from anyone. It’s the same as if I told the European Union: “I give you seven days to recognize the Republic of Catalonia, otherwise we will take action,” Maduro said. — No, international politics cannot be based on ultimatums. This is a thing of the past of colonies and empires.”

To the question of the correspondent, can the crisis in Venezuela grow into a civil war, Maduro replied: “No one today can answer this question with precision. It all depends on the level of madness and aggressiveness of the northern empire and its allies in the West. "

“We demand that no one interfere in our internal affairs... and we are ready to defend our country,” Maduro added.

Europe sided with the opposition

In addition to the countries indicated on the infographics, February 4 recognized recognition of Guaydo by Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and France, writes Lenta.ru.

“Nicolas Maduro did not schedule a new presidential election by the due date. Therefore the Great Britain along with the European allies recognizes Juan Guaydo the temporary constitutional president until elections are held, - wrote in Twitter British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. “We hope that this will lead to an early end to the humanitarian crisis.”

Earlier, 1 February, Italy refused to support Guaido. 2 February reported that the current president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, agreed to hold early elections to the National Assembly.

Recall that the Venezuelan economy is experiencing the sixth consecutive year of economic recession - with inflation above 1 million percent, Venezuela took place last year in history alongside the Weimar Republic 1920 and Zimbabwe 2000. Millions of Venezuelans have already left the country.

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