Hmmmm.
Ha! The real reason for the pullout? Russia is not getting paid, and, they can’t find any ‘advisers’ who want to work in a sh!thole country ... there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
Russians want out of the hellhole of Venezuela. While they wait, they need toilet paper.
Mr. Maduro’s regime no longer has the cash to continue to pay for other Rostec services
So after sucking them dry, and leading them down a path of failure they abandon him to his fate.
This should be a lesson for others when dealing with any outside power. Sometimes getting help is worse then doing it all on your own.
Are you saying capitalism is the solution? Surely you jest.
Do I detect Trump at work?
Russia simply does not need Venezuela’s problems.
Running out of other people’s money.
It’s an indication the Russians know the end is near.
exactly, if you don’t pay for the extended maintenance contract, it gets canceled
The Russians must be starting to view Venezuela as a sinking ship, and they want off this modern day version of the Titanic.
Me thinks President Trump has also dangled some goodies in front of the Russians. Possibly a future trade deal or the easing of sanctions.
Maduro’s and Venezuela”S credit line just went below zero.
President Trump knows how to use cash or lack of it as a great persuader.
More winning.
Yep. Cost-benefit analysis can be brutal. At this point the Venezuelans don't actually have any cash that the Russians didn't lend them, so that snake was eating its own tail anyway. Somebody in Moscow asked, "what is this costing us?" and then "what do we stand to gain?" and then, fatally, "when?"
I can see the attraction of Venezuela as a naval base at first look, simply because there is, or ought to be, fuel there. Without that, or an all-nuke Russian fleet, there really isn't much point. And there is the historically dire condition of the Russian navy, whose only aircraft carrier is currently sunk at Roslyakovo, sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time, time, time. They're thinking about scrapping her to put her out of her misery.
The other potential is the tremendous Venezuelan oil reserves, with which Venezuela's two remaining refineries can do nothing and its stolen extraction facilities can no longer produce anyway. Rosneft sank millions into attempting to recover the infrastructure and found it was peeing in the ocean. An internal Russian auditor was quoted as saying, "It will be like this for eternity." You might call that a dim forecast.
The damage done to the electrical infrastructure is well known and now may be the chief obstruction to rebuilding the oil industry. Venezuela really can't afford to take it down long enough to fix it even if funding were available and the industries that they've methodically plundered are crazy enough to take on the project. Neither of those conditions apply. So, yeah, the Russkies are pulling up stakes. Which brings us to the question, just how bad does it have to be when all the oil in the ground isn't enough?
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving dictator.
So Russia is apparently giving up their beachhead in South America...doesn’t sound like they’re very expansionist to me, although I’m sure the NeverTrumpers consider this article to be fake news.
We really should be watching China, and A LOT CLOSER.
Russia wants to partner...
China’s interested in trade talks...
North Korea’s freaking out they’re gonna be left behind.
Seems the world is coming to the conclusion Trump’s going to win in 2020...
Good news...
Manuro needs to go.
the other issue is that Venezuela’s decrepit petroleum production, processing and shipping infrastructure is going to require many, many billions of dollars of hard currency to revive, billions that Russia doesn’t have ...
Trump gave Russia a few weeks to let Russia pull out recover some gear that was put there in the Obama days and save face.