Venezuela has become a representative of Russian and Chinese interests in the Americas, similar to the role that Cuba played as the spearhead of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The statement was made by professor Vitelio Brustolin, from UFF (Universidade Federal Fluminense) and researcher at Harvard, in an interview with CNN 360°.
According to Brustolin, Nicolás Maduro’s regime was significantly strengthened militarily by its allies. “The Maduro regime was supplied with Russian weapons, 24 Sukhoi, those SU-30 jets, were purchased from Russia, 12 would be functional”, he explained. Furthermore, the S-300 air defense system was also supplied by the Russians, who even sent the Wagner mercenary group in 2019 to train the Venezuelan army.
China also plays a crucial role in this alliance, supplying weapons and maintaining strategic commercial relations with Venezuela. “China also supplied Venezuela with weapons, and 80% of Venezuela’s oil was sold to China until recently”, highlighted the professor. The other 20% is divided between Cuba (5%) and the United States (15%), the latter via Chevron, the only American company authorized by the US Treasury Department to maintain joint ventures with Venezuela.
Despite these strategic alliances, the professor emphasizes that neither Russia nor China managed to prevent US actions in the region. “Russia has shown itself to be quite weak with its partners,” said Brustolin, citing as examples the Israeli bombings against Iran and the defeat of Armenia, a Russian ally, in the war against Azerbaijan.
The role of international law
The professor also analyzed criticism from European countries, including France and the United Kingdom, of recent actions involving Venezuela. According to him, these nations “do not want international law to be torn up, the UN charter to be torn up”, as it is precisely the international agreements that still protect the world from being exposed to the will of militarily powerful countries such as the United States, Russia and China.
Brustolin warned of , which jumped from 350 to 600 nuclear warheads and has plans to reach 1,500 in the coming years, which represents an additional concern for the global geopolitical balance.
