US officials travel to Caracas after three years of breaking diplomatic relations

As reported The New York TimesThis weekend several high-ranking officials are traveling to Venezuela to meet with the government of Nicolás Maduro, an action that aims to separate Russia from its allies in Latin America.

This is the visit of the highest ranking US officials since the United States severed diplomatic relations with Maduro and closed its embassy in Caracas in 2019, following accusing the leader of electoral fraud.

Maduro’s response to the sanctions was to seek help from Russia, as well as from China and Iran. In fact, the help of Russian energy companies and banks was key for Venezuela to continue exporting oil, the country’s largest source of foreign exchange.

It should be noted that in February 2022, at the meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with President Iván Duque, one of the critical issues addressed by the Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, was the support of China and Russia to the indicated Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro.

In that sense, not only was the growing tension between Russia and Ukraine on the table, but also the support that the neighboring country is receiving, a fact that is added to the military assistance that it is providing to Venezuela.

“We exchanged views on deepening cooperation between Russia and China, including their support for the repressive regime in Venezuela. We agreed that all parties should play a constructive role for regional peace and stability”, said the Secretary General of NATO at the end of the meeting with the Colombian president.

Russia’s military assistance to Venezuela has generated deep discomfort in Colombia. To such an extent that the chancellor and vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez summoned the ambassador of that country in Colombia, Nikolay Tavdumadze, to a meeting. The diplomat promised the government of Iván Duque that said military support would not be used to attack the country.

In the middle of the same month, Nicolás Maduro expressed his support for Russia, amid tensions between Moscow and Western powers over Ukraine.

“Russia has the full support of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the fight it is giving to dispel the threats from NATO and the Western world”, Maduro said following receiving Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas.

“President (Vladimir) Putin knows that he can count on the Bolivarian and revolutionary people of Venezuela and on us as a government,” he added.

Borisov, at that time, considered Venezuela “a strategic partner of Russia in Latin America and the world in general.”

“We highly value the character of allies, our coordination in the international community and the dialogue of trust at the political level in the situation of growing instability and cooperation between our countries is more important than ever,” he said.

Western countries have warned of the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, following the deployment of thousands of Russian soldiers on the border and various military maneuvers.

The Kremlin has partially withdrawn its troops from the area, in full negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.