The Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergei Ryabkov, denounced that the United States is responsible for the highly tense environment created by its military presence near Venezuela, and recognized the work that the government of President Nicolás Maduro has been carrying out in the fight against drug trafficking.
In this sense, Riabkov expressed his solidarity with Venezuela and classified as “unjustified” the increase in the US presence in the southern part of the Caribbean, while reiterating that “everything possible is being done from Venezuela to prevent drug trafficking in the region.”
To support his statements, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister referred to the specialized reports of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, emphasizing that “the State Department [de EEUU] “recognized in previous stages the fact that the so-called drug cartels, which are being talked about now, effectively do not exist in the context of Venezuela.”
It should be noted that in August the United States deployed warships, a submarine, fighter planes and troops off the coast of Venezuela, under the argument of fighting drug trafficking.
Since then, the US has executed several bombings against alleged boats with drugs in the Caribbean Sea and in the eastern Pacific, which have left dozens of dead.
The government of President Nicolás Maduro described this military deployment as an aggression and made known the true reason for the operations, a position that was ratified by the permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations, Vasili Nebenzia, who in a meeting of the Security Council made it clear that the US actions in the Caribbean are not ordinary military exercises, but a “blatant campaign of political, military and psychological pressure against the Government of an independent State.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, condemned the bombings perpetrated by the US on small boats, which have left more than 60 people murdered.
The bombings against small boats have also been criticized by the Governments of Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, as well as by United Nations experts, who have pointed out that they are “summary executions” contrary to what is enshrined in international law.
