Threatening to throw 35-year-old Venezuelan National Assembly Leader Juan Guaido in jail, 56-year-old President Nicolas Maduro has tied his government to Moscow to intimidate the U.S. into backing down from 72-year-old President Donald Trump’s pledge to democratize the oil-rich South American nation. When Guaido declared himself interim president Jan. 23 under the Venezuelan Constitution, Maduro looked to the Kremlin to save himself from a popular uprising from his six years in office. Since taking the reins from the late Hugo Chavez April 19, 2013, Maduro has taken an oil-rich country and wrecked the economy. Venezuelans suffer from widespread poverty, faced with scarcities in basic commodities. Trump promised Feb. 18, 2019 at Florida International University in Miami he would not abandon the Venezuelan people, facing shortages of food-and-medicine.
Maduro used the military to block access to Venezuela, preventing thousands-of-tons of humanitarian relief supplies, now rotting at the Brazilian and Columbia borders. Guaido went to the border Feb. 23 with his pro-Democracy activists to open up the flow of U.S.-backed humanitarian relief, only to find the military blocking access to supplies. Guaido has run out of options to achieve his objective of opening up relief channels into Venezuela. Maduro has warned Guaido that if returns of Caracas, he’s subject to arrest for sedition. Trump warned Maduro that any attempt to arrest or crack down on Guaido would be met with a strong U.S. response. Maduro’s decision today to transfer Venezuelan’s State Oil Company PDVSA from Lisbon to Moscow tells the whole story of how Maduro plans to survive. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. to stay out of Venezuela.
Maduro’s decision to relocate PDVSA’s headquarters from Lisbon to Moscow shows the extent of the Kremlin’s involvement in Maduro’s survival. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said today that the change of headquarters from Lisbon to Moscow was designed to protect the country’s oil assets. Rodriquez didn’t say in what way Venezuela’s oil assets were in jeopardy. Speaking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Rodriquez complained about the Bank of England’s reluctance to hand over Venezuela’s gold supplies. “We are going to make industrial investments to produce everything we need in out country with the Russian Federation’s help,” Rodriguez said. Rodriquez knows that Russian doesn’t produce, cars, electronics or other consumer goods necessary for the Venezuelan people. If it has to do with arms or missile defense then that’s a different story.
With Russia’s population suffering the same problems as Venezuela, it’s clear that Rodriguez isn’t interested improving the lifestyle of ordinary citizens. Deprived of adequate food and medicine, Venezuelans express desperation over Maduro’s battered economy. Involving the Russian Federation in Venezuela’s state affairs speaks volumes about Maduro surviving the popular uprising led by Guaido that threatens his socialist government. Playing geopolitics as usual, Putin wants to test Trump’s resolve when it comes to enforcing the Truman Doctrine, keeping Russia out of the Western hemisphere. Guaido’s one step away from state arrest if he returns to Caracas. Hiding behind Moscow, Maduro hopes to buy himself more time before Guaido’s popular uprising chases him out Caracas. “We [Venezuela and Russia] are strategic partners,” said Rodriquez.
Venezuela’s shift to Moscow speaks volumes about Putin’s attempts to squelch a popular democratic movement in South America. With socialist regimes losing ground around the planet, the Kremlin has its prestige on the line, holding the line against democracy in Venezuela. With Trump walking out of talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, there’s no better contrast on the planet than North and South Korea. North Korea’s border sits only 35 miles from Seoul where South Korea oozes with American-style affluence, just 63 years from the end of the bloody Korean War. North Korea won its communist battle with China and Russia’s help but left the country in abject poverty and starvation. North Korean has a lower Gross Domestic Product [GDP] than most sub-Saharan countries. South Korea stands today as the world’s 11th-ranked economic power by nominal GDP.
Owed billions to Russia and China, Venezuela wants to make sure that Guaido’s democratic uprising fails. Russia and China want to keep Venezuela a communist state, no matter what the costs. When they see a popular democratic uprising, they must attack Venezuela’s fledgling democracy, doing everything possible to keep Venezuela under totalitarian rule. Moving PSVSA’s offices too Moscow isn’t about safeguarding Venezuela’s oil assets, it’s about intimidating Trump into not intervening in Venezuela’s pro-democracy uprising. Lavrov said that Russia sent Venezuela thousands of metric tons of humanitarian relief, including wheat. Maduro accepts Moscow’s overture for the one purpose: Stopping Guaido and the U.S. from seeking regime change in Caracas. With Maduro turning to Russia, Trump must pick his battles wisely, whatever happens to Guaido.
