On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, reiterated Russia’s ‘unconditional support for the Venezuelan government’ amid the US military build-up in the Caribbean Sea.
Zakharova said: ‘We are in permanent contact with our Venezuelan partners. We are ready to provide appropriate responses to their requests, taking into account existing and potential threats.
‘We reaffirm our support for the Venezuelan leadership in defending national sovereignty.
‘Russia continues to show its consistent solidarity with Venezuela and stands ready to appropriately respond to Caracas’ requests.’
Russia’s backing of the Bolivarian Revolution comes as the United States maintains four warships with at least 4,000 troops deployed near Venezuelan shores.
US President Donald Trump has justified the deployment as part of an operation to combat drug trafficking.
Although the Republican leader recently said he has no intention of invading Venezuela, US-based media have reported that his administration has drawn up several plans for military intervention and covert operations aimed at promoting a ‘regime change’ in the South American country.
Referring implicitly to those plans, Zakharova warned that any US military action against Venezuela would generate ‘regional problems that would be difficult to resolve’.
She added: ‘Any escalation only leads to even bigger problems.
‘There are different tactics and different ways of doing things, but it is obvious – as several US observers, experts, and figures in various institutions have said – that such direct aggression will worsen the situation rather than solve the underlying issues.’
The Russian diplomat recalled that whenever the US ruling class attempts to ‘resolve a conflict by force or fight against the manifestation of global evil, Washington ends up exacerbating pre-existing problems and creating new ones.
‘The consequences of this US foreign policy have recently been tragically evident in the Middle East and North Africa,’ said Zakharova.
Last Thursday, in response to continued US pressure, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reiterated that his nation is ready to face any external challenge posed by United States.
Maduro stated: ‘Let them do whatever they want. We remain unshakable, and no one will divert us from the path of producing and building true, direct democracy and our sacred and everlasting peace.’
During a visit to Miranda state last Thursday, Maduro reiterated his nation’s rejection of US military threats in the Caribbean.
He added: ‘It’s been 14 weeks of threats from them, with 15 ships, 2,600 missiles, 100 aircraft, and the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford.
‘We have an original military model, a Venezuelan concept of Comprehensive Defence, and a National Comprehensive Defence System, which we’ve been testing over the past weeks,’ he said.
President Maduro also reaffirmed the strength of the political, economic, social, and military model established by the Bolivarian Revolution, following the legacy of Commander Hugo Chavez who led the Venezuelan revolution.
He also emphasised that his administration continues to achieve its goals of improving collective well-being.
Rejecting what he described as the elitist attitude of US leaders towards Latin American peoples, he concluded: ‘Despite all the aggressions from the US empire, Venezuela will keep working to move forward toward the comprehensive development of all sectors of the population.
‘They think they’re superior to us – Colombians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Venezuelans, and all Latin Americans and Caribbeans.
‘Imperialism believes life is a bad, Rambo-style Hollywood movie where they, the supremacists, always win, and we’re always the villains.
‘They portray themselves as the good guys despite everything they do – bombing, killing, and despising others.
‘And we, the Latinos, are supposed to be the bad ones. Let them live in their bad movie!
‘We’ll keep being reborn here like a miracle.’
The United States has once again escalated tensions in the Caribbean with a ‘lethal missile strike’ on a vessel, carried out Thursday under the orders of President Donald Trump, according to US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth.
Three people lost their lives in the attack, which Hegseth claimed targeted a ‘vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organisation’ in international waters.
The Pentagon released a brief video showing the boat struck and exploding, but no evidence has been provided to substantiate claims of drug trafficking.
Hegseth claimed that the strike was part of a campaign against ‘narco-terrorists’, warning that US forces would continue lethal operations unless drug shipments ceased.
Since September, US strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed more than 60 people and hit at least 18 vessels, including boats and semi-submersibles.
Human rights observers, including United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk, have condemned the attacks as extrajudicial killings.
- Right-wing Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on Friday declared a new 60-day state of emergency in five coastal provinces and three municipalities in the central provinces of Cotopaxi and Bolivar, to quell ‘grave internal unrest’ sparked by extreme violence from organised crime.
The decree, signed last Tuesday and effective last Wednesday, allows security forces to enter and search homes without a warrant and suspends the right to private communication and correspondence in the provinces of Manabi, Guayas, Santa Elena, Los Rios and El Oro, all located in the coastal region.
The measure also extends to the municipalities of La Mana in Cotopaxi, and Las Naves and Echeandia in Bolivar in a bid to strengthen security and restore public order in areas hardest hit by violent crime.
These parts of the country were already under a state of emergency issued in August and renewed for 30 days on 6th October
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem arrived in Ecuador last Wednesday, where she was received by Noboa at the Eloy Alfaro Air Base in Manta.
During her visit, she toured two locations considered strategic for the possible installation of US bases, Ecuadorian government spokesperson Carolina Jaramillo confirmed last Thursday.
Noboa recently stated that the visit would strengthen bilateral cooperation on security – an approach that social organisations have criticised as a direct threat to Ecuador’s sovereignty.
The president initially suggested Baltra Island in the Galápagos as a possible site for a US base, but later backed away from that idea, instead pointing to Salinas and Manta as potential locations.
Political analysts and social movements have warned that allowing a foreign military presence – especially in the Galápagos – would carry serious geopolitical and constitutional implications for Ecuador.
On November 16, more than 13 million Ecuadorians will vote on whether to amend Article 5 of the Constitution to allow foreign military installations.
In response, CONAIE has called for a nationwide ‘Minga for the NO’ vote, ‘in defence of the country’s dignity and future, as the government attempts to roll back hard-won rights.’
‘In recent months, we have witnessed brutal repression against our brothers and sisters in several provinces of the country.
‘As a result, there are three dead, dozens injured, and entire communities living in fear and repression.
‘This government has shown that human rights violations do not limit its actions.
‘Faced with this reality, we have made a difficult but necessary decision: To end the strike, clear the roads, and retreat to our territories.’
A statement from CONAIE said: ‘More than 60 per cent of its population lives below the poverty line, 30 per cent in extreme poverty (INEC 2023), and access to basic services is limited in rural areas and among Afro-Ecuadorian communities.
‘CONAIE, along with CONFENIAE, the Shuar Arutam People (PSHA), the Shuar-Achuar Interfederation Committee, and the National Anti-Mining Front, expressed their firm opposition to the mining policies implemented by the government of Daniel Noboa which is taking our land and making us poorer.
‘We will continue our fight against these policies and do all that is necessary to win.’
