The Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, branded this Wednesday as “crime” and “madness” the battery of Western sanctions against Russia, after invading Ukraine a week ago.
“What they are doing against the Russian people is a crime, an economic war,” Maduro said, reiterating his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, an important ally, regarding the “conflict in Ukraine.”
“They took them out of the Swift system, they closed their airspace, they closed all commercial ties, they closed them and they prohibited the use of the dollar, what they are doing with Russia is crazy,” he insisted in an act broadcast on the television of the government.
Russia has been the target of economic sanctions by the United States, Europe and other allied countries in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine, which seek to punish the Russian currency, the banking sector, the airlines, among other targets.
“Economic wars must cease and must end in the world, the world’s problems must be resolved diplomatically, politically, preserving world peace,” Maduro said without criticizing Russian military actions in Ukraine.
In fact, the Venezuelan president, also the target of sanctions that unsuccessfully sought to remove him from power, spoke by phone with Putin on Tuesday to express “strong support” for his military campaign.
Moscow has been a key ally of Venezuela since the time of the late President Hugo Chávez and continued with Maduro who, shielded by this relationship, has been able to avoid punitive measures against him.
Chávez (1999-2013) backed Russia during the blitzkrieg with Georgia in August 2008 for control of South Ossetia. After the conflict, Moscow recognized the independence of this province and that of Abkhazia, another pro-Russian separatist Georgian region.
His government also bought hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Russian weapons and military equipment in the midst of an oil boom that ended in 2014.
