Alwaght- Two Russian military airplanes carrying 99 Russian military members landed in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
Two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers, an An-124 military transport aircraft and Il-62 plane landed at Simon Bolivar International Airport. The Russian planes are expected to conduct joint flights with the Venezuelan Air Force.
A senior Venezuelan official has confirmed that two Russian planes have landed in the country after authorization by President Nicolas Maduro.
The vice president of the Socialist Party, Diosdado Cabello, said the planes were in Venezuela “because they were authorized by the only government that there is in Venezuela, and it’s called the government of [President] Nicolas Maduro.”
Cabello made the remarks in a speech broadcast on state television on Monday, without providing further details.
His emphasis on the legitimate government in Venezuela was because an opposition figure, Juan Guaido, has declared himself “interim president” of the country and has been attempting to shore up international support for a “government” of his own.
Sputnik had earlier quoted a diplomatic source in Caracas as telling the Russian new agency that a group of Russian military personnel had arrived in Venezuela for “bilateral consultations” related to “contracts... on military and technical cooperation.”
The Russian planes have landed in Venezuela amid a political crisis in the country after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself president.
He was recognized by the US as well as some of its Latin American and European allies, ignoring the outcome of last year’s election, in which President Maduro emerged victorious.
Guaido cried foul, describing the detention as a “vile, vulgar kidnapping."
“As they cannot arrest the interim president, they are looking to capture those closest to him.”
Guaido himself is accused in Venezuela of trying to foment a US-backed coup d’état against the Maduro government.
