In a rapidly escalating geopolitical development that threatens to heighten international tensions, Russia issued an urgent and strongly worded appeal to the United States, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. This came after their arrest by US special forces in Caracas on Saturday, a move Moscow described as a blatant violation of international sovereignty.
The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed in an official statement that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held an emergency telephone conversation with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, during which he reiterated Moscow's unwavering support for Caracas, which Russia considers its most important strategic ally in South America. The statement emphasized the need to respect the electoral legitimacy of President Maduro, asserting that Washington's justifications for the military operation lack internationally accepted legal grounds.
The context of the conflict and the charges of “terrorism and drugs”
This event cannot be separated from the context of the long-standing tension between Washington and Caracas. For years, the United States has imposed crippling economic sanctions on Venezuela, accusing the Maduro regime of corruption and human rights abuses. The roots of direct US pursuit date back to 2020, when the US Department of Justice formally indicted Maduro and several of his top aides on charges of “terrorism and drug trafficking,” offering a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Observers believe that carrying out the arrest on Venezuelan soil sets a dangerous precedent, reminiscent of the 1989 invasion of Panama and the capture of Manuel Noriega.
The Russian-Venezuelan alliance and the dimensions of the confrontation
Venezuela is a cornerstone of Russian influence in the Western Hemisphere. Moscow has invested billions of dollars in Venezuela’s energy sector through Rosneft, in addition to close military cooperation that has included sending Russian strategic bombers to Caracas on previous occasions. Russia views the US move as an attempt to undermine a multipolar world order and to impose American hegemony by military force, a sentiment echoed by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which described the operation as the product of “ideological hostility that has triumphed over pragmatism.”.
Expected regional and international repercussions
This event is expected to cast a dark shadow over the stability of Latin America and the Caribbean, as the resulting power vacuum or retaliatory actions could trigger a new wave of unrest. Economically, global oil markets may be affected, given that Venezuela possesses the world's largest proven oil reserves. Internationally, this arrest puts US-Russian relations on a knife's edge, potentially complicating other outstanding issues between the two superpowers and pushing toward a new international alignment between the Western camp and countries opposed to US intervention.
