Recently, we’ve published a lot of videos about Venezuela and the terrible political
situation that this country is facing.
We’ve told you how they got to this point; the basic characteristics of this narco-dictatorship
and how the revolution involved, the Bolivarian revolution, has condemned most Venezuelans
to poverty, even causing one of the greatest exoduses in history.
“Venezuelan refugees now number 3.4 million; humanitarian implications massive, UN warns”.
UN news)
However, while events are rushing at warp-speed with this man, Juan Guaido, leading a firm
opposition against the Maduro regime, we thought that we needed to make a general review of
a fundamental issue:
Who are Nicolás Maduro’s main allies?
Who are the players that continue, despite everything, to support this regime, and why?
What are their interests?
“Cuba is yours and belongs to everyone”)
, It may seem incredible given the current circumstances, but the Chavez regime continues
to have some very formidable allies.
Listen up because these are the four most influential partners, the four strongest allies
that the Venezuelan regime still has.
(4th - TODAY FOR YOU, TOMORROW FOR ME)
2010 saw the beginning of a beautiful friendship Or perhaps it would be more accurate to call
it a hateful fellowship – you decide.
That year Nicolás Maduro traveled to Turkey as Venezuela’s Chancellor.
There he met current Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan.
“These are two politicians who feel attacked by the West and the relationship is predominantly
emotionally-based [...] Erdogan doesn’t forget that Maduro was one of the first leaders
who supported him during the attempted coup of July 15th, 2016.
Now Turkey is returning the support they received”.
Mehmet Ozkan, Centre for Global Policy in Washington)
So we can understand this better, this relationship goes something like this:
Hey, look, it turns out that the rest of the world has has it in for us, they say we are
authoritarian, as if bringing about order were a bad thing, they say we don’t respect
freedom of the press.
So how about if you support me and I support you.
“These populist and authoritarian leaders are seeking to develop man-to-man relations,
rather than relying on institutions, bureaucracies or rules."
Mehmet Ozkan)
The fact is that since the Turkish coup d'état took place – or as is suspected, the auto-coup
d'état – trade between both countries has multiplied thirteenfold.
In 2018 alone, exports from Venezuela to Turkey surpassed one billion dollars.
And no, this wasn’t industrial or even agricultural products, not at all.
I’m talking about the last source of foreign currency with which the Venezuelan regime
has attempted to stay alive.
I'm talking about gold.
“1,480 tons of gold.
To speculate, me.”)
Turkey has become a satellite headquarters e for refining, certifying and distributing
Venezuelan gold.
It is the perfect laundry so to speak, allowing Nicolás Maduro’s government to continue
to obtain foreign currency.
This is becoming more and more complicated, however, especially after the collapse that
the oil “industry” has been experiencing.
Venezuela Oil Exports Slump to a 28-Year Low.
Bloomberg)
Apparently, the agreement that Venezuela and Turkey signed, would be allowing Caracas to
evade the United States’ sanctions.
Mysterious Turkish Firm Helped Maduro Move $900 Million in Gold.
Bloomberg)
In the last few months, sightings of private Russian and Turkish jets have been frequent
at Caracas airport; some of them, by the way, were owned by Ciner, a mining company that
is very close to President Erdogan.
Well, what is suspected is that these planes are arriving in Caracas to get gold from the
country in a rather shadyway.
I’m sure you can guess where a lot of this gold will end up.
“There are a lot of bandits out there, taking advantage of their post to rob the people.”)
But relationships go beyond that.
In December 2018, not long ago at all, Erdogan starred in the first visit of a Turkish head
of state to Venezuela.
During this trip, commercial agreements with a value of more than 5 billion dollars were
signed and the creation of joint ventures for the exploration and exploitation of coal,
gold and oil were announced.
For example, it’s highly significant that the Turkish food industry provides about 70%
of the food that the Venezuelan government distributes under the CLAP program, these
are food bags that are delivered to families monthly as a means to gain some popular support
“You can imagine how Venezuela would be without the CLAPs.”)
But, let's move on.
“Fellow President, the honour guard is ready.”)
(3rd: WHAT ABOUT MY THINGS?)
It is well known that throughout the Bolivarian Revolution, Cuba’s role has been extremely
significant.
Cuba first supplied Hugo Chávez and then Nicolás Maduro, with paramilitary forces,
protection, intelligence teams... practically everything that the Venezuelan bigwigs needed
to consolidate their power.
Venezuela is nine times larger than Cuba, has three times its population and its economy
is four times larger.
The country is home to the world's main oil reserves, however, some crucial functions
of the Venezuelan state have been delegated to Cuban officials, or are directly controlled
by Havana.
Moisés Naím)
It may be controversial to say so, but Cuba has basically become a supermarket of terror
for all dictators.
According to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro,
there are between 21,000 and 46,000 Cubans in Venezuela.
Rubio: Cuban agents direct repression in Ureña, Venezuela, El Nuevo Herald)
“Cuba is responsible for repression and torture in Venezuela” Luis Almagro, Secretary
General of the OAS)
Of course, none of this has come for free.
You see, in exchange for supplying doctors and paramilitary forces,, Cuba has received
a lot of oil in more than advantageous conditions from the Venezuelan government in recent years.
In fact, during the Bolivarian Revolution, the Cuban economy has been very dependent
on Venezuela, although not as much as with the Soviet Union.
However, as things continue to progress, and although they still seem to be playing a key
role in the repression today, the island simply doesn’t have enough economic resources to
keep the narco-Chavez regime on its feet.
What I mean is that in the future, Cuba’s biggest role may be only to give refuge to
Nicolás Maduro and his cronies, so long as the DEA doesn’t capture them first.
(2nd BUSINESS IS BUSINESS)
If you follow VisualPolitik regularly, you may know this well, we’ve focused a lot
on the Caracas-Beijing relationship.
And no, this isn’t an ideological issue... it was, is and probably will be, with or without
Maduro, a pure matter of business.
“Oil is the most fundamental reason why China and Venezuela joined forces.
China needed a lot of oil and Venezuela had it [...] The relationship flourished since
then and both built ties based on “oil financing agreements” Matt Ferchen, Carnegie-Tsinghua
Center for Global Policy.)
You see, the first oil loan agreements between China and Venezuela date back to 2007.
“Venezuela has established itself at this point as the country in which China has the
highest level of investment in Latin America.
We’re first in Chinese investments in Latin America.”)
For Hugo Chávez's Venezuela, these agreements meant fresh, constant and sound cash flow
for his revolution.
For China, on the other hand, gaining access to the Latin American country’s huge energy
resources was something that the Chinese economy needed at all costs.
Their oil consumption rates increased year after year and they needed to secure their
supply.
And we aren’t talking about small numbers:
According to data from the Centre for Inter-American Studies and Boston University, between 2007
and 2018, China lent the Latin American country almost 70 billion dollars.
Today, the debt seems to surpass 20 billion, and to be fair we must say that Maduro hasn’t
exactly been a good payer.
“And the financing schemes we have with China don’t generate debt, Venezuela must
know this.”)
Beijing trusted that the Venezuelan authorities would be able to do something productive with
all the money they had set on the table, at the very least invest enough to maintain oil
production levels.
Beijing never imagined that the Venezuelan government would be so disastrous.
And so for the Chinese all this is fundamentally a matter of business, leading to incidents
like this:
China sues Venezuela's oil company over unpaid bills.
CNN)
In spite of everything, Beijing suspects that their agreements could be endangered if there’s
a government change, which could mean not charging part of the debt that Venezuela has
to pay in oil or even losing the privileged access they are getting from Venezuela’s
huge reserves.
It is precisely for this reason that one of President Juan Guaido’s objectives seems
to be to assure the Chinese that whatever happens, the past agreements will be respected.
China Talks With Venezuela Opposition to Protect Investments.
The Wall Street Journal)
No matter how the situation evolves,” “China-Venezuela cooperation should not be undermined.”Foreign
Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang)
In any case,, if you want to know more about this relationship, don’t miss this video.
And finally, we get to the last ally and what may well be Nicolás Maduro’s last hope.
(1st : A SPEARHEAD AGAINST THE WEST)
Nowadays, Vladimir Putin's Russia is the biggest international supporter that Nicolás Maduro’s
regime has.
In the last two decades, Russian companies have secured important military contracts
and since 2015, many rights to some of the most significant oil and gas fields in Venezuela.
And they have achieved all this at bargain prices.
Want an example?
Well... take a look.
In exchange for a desperate 1.5 billion dollars rescue, the Venezuelan government has set
49.9% of its stake in Citgo, PDVSA’s crown jewel, an oil company that operates in the
United States, where it owns 3 refineries, a huge gas pipeline network and almost 6,000
service stations, as warranty.
If PDVSA doesn’t pay the 1.5 billion dollars they owe to Rosneft and Gazprom, Venezuela
could be forced to sell what is today its most valuable industrial asset at a very low
price.
All for just 1.5 billion dollars.
Just a second, 1.5 billion for half of Citgo, which is worth much more, are you joking?
Welcome to Maduro’s ‘Desperation Sale’.
The point is, folks, that Russia has become the Venezuelan government’s number one supplier
of weapons, military equipment and instruments of repression:
missiles, tanks, planes… in recent years, the Bolivarian government has spent a lot
of money on Russian equipment.
For Putin, Venezuela has meant a huge business for his military industry, which is so important
in Russia, but now he also sees it as an opportunity to continue poking the West’s eye while
he increases his control over some of the planet’s largest energy reserves.
Anyway, folks, these are the four most important allies on which Nicolás Maduro’s narco-dictatorship
still counts.
Also on the list would be countries like Bolivia, Nicaragua or Belarus, but these have a much
smaller influence globally.
As it stands, the Bolivarian government will do anything it can to secure Russia, China
and Turkey’s - they already have Cuba’s - full, expressed and firm support, even if
they have to sell what little remains in Venezuela.
However... the political weakness and chaos that the Chavez government has created is
so extreme that this may no longer have enough to bargain with.
Basically, with this video, we wanted to better explain who continues to support this train
wreck of a regime..
But now it’s your turn, please check out this question as it’s very important: Do
you think that Maduro will manage to stay in power, at least for what remains of 2019?
Leave your answer in the comments as well as in the survey.
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