Posted on 02/05/2019 9:49:30 AM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
Russia is now "so deeply invested in the Maduro regime that the only realistic option is to double down."
Financial Times' Alexander Gabuev says that Rosneft owns two offshore gas fields in Venezuela and holds stakes in assets boasting more than 20 million tonnes of crude.
Caracas owes Rosneft USD 3 billion.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido last month declared himself interim president, winning the backing of the United States.
Russia, meanwhile, supported Venezuelas socialist leader Nicolás Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013.
The Kremlin is extending help to Maduro while the United States is imposing sanctions on his regime, leading to "a new sort of proxy conflict in Americas backyard."
According to Gabuev, who is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank, Sechins involvement in Venezuela suggests that Russias national security policymaking is increasingly driven by a combination of corporate interests and ambitions of powerful members of Putins inner circle.
Sechin met Maduro in Moscow in September and flew to Caracas in November.
He describes Sechin as arguably the most powerful man in Putins entourage and the man responsible for overseeing Russias energy sector.
A Venezuelan lawmaker last week accused Russia of attempting to whisk away 20 tonnes of gold from his country, according to a report.
Polands foreign ministry last month called for the respect of fundamental civic freedoms in Venezuela.
Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz was on Monday quoted as saying that Poland recognised Guaidó as Venezuelas interim president.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenews.pl ...
Didn't actually happen?
Seriously I don't know how you could screw up that country into it's present situation even through incompetence, unless a combination of socialism , greed, drugs and rank and file stupidity have all come together to do it. - Tom
Polands foreign ministry last month called for the respect of fundamental civic freedoms in Venezuela. Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz was on Monday quoted as saying that Poland recognised Guaidó as Venezuelas interim president.
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