Todd Bishop
Reuters reported that a Russian military aircraft flew to Venezuela on Monday (24th), at the time of the G20 summit in Osaka, the move by Russia may affect the “special event” on the Venezuelan issue at the summit. Going.
This is the same move that Russia has made again in three months. In March, Trump demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from Venezuela. However, Russia countered that the local Russian personnel were all experts in arms sales contracts and were not armed. Until yesterday, Russia once again dispatched a plane to Venezuela. On the eve of the G20 summit “Special Club”, what is Russia’s idea at this sensitive moment?
The current situation in Venezuela seems to be no longer glued. The opposition leader Juan Guaidó, which was supported by the United States, gradually lost the momentum of the day. The opposition hills in Venezuela also fell into disarray. The Washington Post reported a leaked recording at the beginning of this month. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned in the recording that everyone in the opposition is pursuing their own interests, even more than 40. Individuals also believe that they “have the ability to replace Maduro’s position.”
As a result, it can be seen this month that the opposition has become less and less, and Nicolás Maduro has regained power and the army is still firmly in its hands.
The White House was forced to “release” Maduro?
In fact, the support for the Venezuelan opposition in the United States has been much worse than in the past, and the White House is no longer seeking to replace the regime in the short term.
On the other hand, the United States has to take into account the multiple fronts in recent months. From the perspective of Trump and Bolton, the order of dealing with the Venezuelan issue has been pushed over. In addition to the long-awaited and costly Sino-US trade war, the Persian Gulf crisis, the North Korean nuclear issue, etc. are on the Trump case. Relatively speaking, the White House is innocent and unable to deal with the Venezuelan issue.
At present, the predicament of Venezuela can not be solved in a moment, so I also hope to seek a more practical and gradual approach to deal with the deadlock. Therefore, from the outside world, the White House seems to be “released” Maduro, but in fact it is forced by the situation.
Russian calculation
On the eve of the G20 summit, Russia sent military planes to Venezuela. It is inevitable that people hope to put the Venezuelan issue on the G20 countertop and expect to seek the best interests of Russia in Venezuela.
After all, Venezuela in South America is in the sphere of influence of the United States. Even though Putin is a solid ally of Maduro, it is almost impossible to directly confront the United States and lead the political situation as if it were involved in the Syrian issue. Since the United States has not been as radical as it was a few months ago, and insisted on overthrowing Maduro in the short term, the United States and Russia have the space to negotiate.
Putin took the opportunity to pose and put Venezuela on the table in front of the Trump meeting. It is also to remind the United States that he still has chips in his “back garden”.
