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All for a stop: The UN is trying to stop the escalation between the United States and Venezuela
The international community is trying to stop the escalation of the conflict between the United States and Venezuela. On October 10, the escalation in the Caribbean Sea was discussed at a meeting of the UN Security Council. According to media reports, Qatar has already offered its mediation efforts. Meanwhile, Washington continues to pull soldiers and equipment towards the Latin American state under the pretext of combating drug trafficking from the Bolivarian Republic. The United States is considering various options for military operations, from drone strikes to port seizures, according to the experts interviewed. How likely a full—scale US intervention in Venezuela is is in the Izvestia article.
The UN discussed the situation in Venezuela
The escalation of the conflict between the United States and Venezuela became the topic for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on October 10. Caracas had previously requested a meeting, and Russia and China supported the request. Moscow has repeatedly defended the sovereignty of the friendly Latin American state.
The meeting was opened by Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, and Moscow holds the presidency of the Security Council this month. Venezuela has reason to believe that the United States is ready to "get down to business" from threats, Nebenzia said.
"Since August of this year, Washington has begun the concentration of large military forces in the southern Caribbean. <...> What is it? Are they preparing for an invasion or are they just regular deployments and military exercises? One might believe in the latter if it were not for an independent state, in which representatives of the United States have repeatedly openly identified regime change as one of their policy goals. Therefore, Venezuela has every reason to believe that their northern neighbor is ready to move on from threats with the use of its navy," he said.
Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations (UN) Vasily Nebenzya
The representative of China supported the position of the Russian Federation. The actions of the United States violate the sovereignty, security and legitimate rights and interests of other countries, as well as international law, threaten regional peace and security, said China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Fu Cong.
Venezuela is a peaceful state and is proud of the fact that it has never participated in any wars, but if the United States decides to attack the Bolivarian Republic, its citizens will have to defend themselves, Permanent Representative Samuel Moncada expressed his country's position. He called on the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that would oblige all its members, including the United States, to respect the sovereignty and independence of Venezuela, as well as recognize the threat to peace and security in connection with the actions of the United States in the Caribbean.
"This is an attempt to carry out an operation that has already failed, namely to overthrow the legitimate and constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Moros, in order to establish a puppet regime and turn our country into a colony," he stressed.
Tension in the Caribbean has been growing since August, as the United States continues to deploy its warships, equipment and soldiers to the region. According to US media reports, 10 F-35B Lightning II fighters, six AV-8B Harrier fighters, 12 MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor planes, three MQ-9 Reaper attack drones and 13 helicopters are already stationed at the American base in Puerto Rico. Anti-submarine patrol planes, transport planes and air tankers were also stationed there.
A group of cruisers, four destroyers and a coastal warship cruises north of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea, each capable of carrying up to 32 Tomahawk cruise missiles, and a nuclear attack submarine equipped with 12 Tomahawk missiles. The region also hosts a group of three large amphibious assault ships with 3,000 Marines on board, a special operations forces floating base and coast guard boats. This week, the United States appealed to the authorities of Grenada with a request to allow the deployment of radar and technical personnel on the territory of the island state, before that, Trinidad and Tobago expressed a desire to support Washington's actions in the region.
The official reason for the escalation is the fight against drug trafficking, but the Latin American state is convinced that the true goal is to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro. Moreover, on October 7, Donald Trump ordered to stop all attempts to achieve a diplomatic settlement of tensions with Caracas.
President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro
Washington is promoting a change of government in Venezuela, and this topic is important for Trump, since he failed to overthrow Nicolas Maduro during his first term, Tatiana Rusakova, a senior researcher at the Center for Political Studies of the ILA RAS, told Izvestia. Now, in her opinion, the US president has decided to take this region seriously, as can be seen from relations with Mexico and Venezuela.
— Direct military intervention is still unlikely, but the political pressure on Caracas is getting stronger. It is important that the US administration is characterized by strong impulsiveness, so it is impossible to predict the course of events," the expert noted.
She stressed that the internal situation in Venezuela as a whole remains stable after the difficult presidential elections in 2024. Despite the suspicion of fraud, the protests did not escalate into large-scale demonstrations against Nicolas Maduro. The actions of the opposition led by Maria Corina Machado did not lead to a change of government.
By the way, it is Machado (she is considered the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, despite the fact that she was unable to participate in the presidential elections last year) who insists that the United States strike at her country in order to oust Maduro from office. On October 10, it became known that the politician received the Nobel Prize. It is reported that, among others, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio supported her.
What is the U.S. plan for Venezuela?
American media reports that the United States is currently considering various options for a military operation, including drone strikes against figures from the so-called Cartel of the Suns (the United States considers Maduro himself to be its leader) and clandestine drug labs.
The main initiator of the pressure on Caracas is Marco Rubio, who has a very negative attitude towards socialism. The US Secretary of State is setting Trump up to try to achieve a quick victory, says Egor Lidovskaya, director general of the Hugo Chavez Latin American Cultural Center.
— This plan involves the seizure of airports and other key points, the physical elimination of the top leadership of Venezuela. I think that the Venezuelan army will not allow this to be done in a short time. Of course, I have no illusions that the Venezuelan army is stronger than the US army," the expert says.
If Washington decides to intervene directly, but does not succeed in overthrowing Maduro quickly, then Venezuela, according to him, will become the new Vietnam for the United States. However, the United States has no real grounds for military action.
— A large anti-drug campaign has taken place in Venezuela, according to the UN certification, this country is absolutely free of drugs, there is no production there. The only thing there is is a small transit, but the main supplies go through Colombia," Lidovsky summed up.
At the same time, the Venezuelan authorities attempted to negotiate with the American administration, The New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources. In particular, it was about opening up access to all existing and future oil and gold mining projects for American companies, as well as providing preferences to American businesses and redirecting oil trade from China to the United States. According to the newspaper, the Venezuelan negotiators were able to make progress on economic concessions, but failed to reach a compromise on political issues, so the American administration eventually rejected the proposal.
At the same time, the United States does not need to start a conflict with Venezuela for the sake of that country's resources, Alexander Frolov, Deputy Director General of the Institute of National Energy and editor-in-chief of Infotech, told Izvestia. In 2019, sanctions against Venezuela began to work, and the country, which previously ranked third in terms of oil supplies to the United States, stopped trading with them. Two years ago, the regime was partially weakened, and American companies resumed cooperation with Venezuela, the expert noted.
— The country does not refuse to cooperate with companies from the United States that are engaged in mining. The companies themselves do not object and, on the contrary, show quite confident optimism. In order for Venezuela to supply oil, you just need to lift the sanctions," the expert noted.
Against the background of the growing escalation, Qatar has already offered its mediation services to resolve the conflict, according to American press sources. However, according to media reports, the United States is not particularly interested in the efforts of the Middle Eastern country.
— Although Qatar is convenient as a negotiating platform for both sides, since Doha is developing a mediation brand and has actively participated in resolving a number of previous major crises (Gaza, Afghanistan). In addition, Qatar is not in conflict with the Venezuelan side. At the same time, due to Qatar's proximity to the United States (including the presence of the largest Middle Eastern base on its territory), some Venezuelan elites consider such a proposal to be a trap, orientalist Leonid Tsukanov is sure.
According to him, Maduro is more likely to choose more neutral countries where the influence of the United States is lower as a negotiating platform. From Venezuela's point of view, India, for example, could be an intermediary — the two countries have strong trade relations and an active political dialogue, Tsukanov believes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
