"The invasion scenario is being worked out": how will the recall of American diplomats affect the situation in Venezuela

Venezuelan authorities gave US diplomats three days to leave the Bolivarian Republic. This statement was made by the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Jorge Arreas.

"The American diplomatic staff must leave the territory of Venezuela within 72 hours," the minister wrote on his Twitter page.

Comunicado Oficial Sobre la Decisión del Gobierno Bolivariano de Venezuela de Dar Porto terminadas Las Conaciones con EUU para el establecimiento de Oficinas de intereses El personal diplomático estadounidense debe abandonarbandorio venezolano en las próximas 72 horas: pic.twitter.com/B6cnpHhSyE

Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that during the week the United States would withdraw diplomats remaining in Venezuela. He also added that the presence of United States diplomats in the country is a “deterrent” for Washington’s policies.

The withdrawal of all diplomats from Venezuela can say that the American side is preparing for an indirect or direct armed invasion of the Bolivarian Republic, experts say.

According to political analyst Alexander Asafov, the United States is demonstrating its readiness to use direct force against the Maduro regime to put pressure on the Venezuelan president, but Washington also has plans for an armed invasion of the country.

“Washington is purchasing weapons in Eastern European countries, apparently for transfer to supporters of Guaido or other forces that will carry out military operations in Venezuela. The American side has a scenario of an armed invasion of the Bolivarian Republic and it is being worked out, ”the expert noted in an interview with RT.

American political scientist Sergei Mikheev also does not exclude such a possibility, but believes that the process will be carried out "by someone else's hands."

“We should not expect a direct invasion by the US Army. Most likely, there will be an invasion of some forces that the Americans will stimulate. Now the US is gathering troops in Colombia. Military actions are quite likely, ”Mikheyev said in a conversation with RT.

Russian factor

On Monday, during his speech at the State Department before journalists, Michael Pompeo said that the Russian side ignores the will of the Venezuelan people, continuing to speak out in support of the President of the Bolivarian Republic, Nicolas Maduro, and also “distracts” attention from the RT television channel and Sputnik agency .

The politician did not fail to note that Moscow and Havana "undermine" the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people and their welfare.

“The Kremlin stands with its Venezuelan pals, rejecting the will of the people of a sovereign country in order to protect the Moscow-friendly regime,” the Tass quoted the words of the head of the United States foreign affairs agency.

• Mike Pompeo
• Reuters
• © Kacper Pempel

According to the US secretary of state, “the crisis (in Venezuela. - RT ) was also created by Russia”, putting pressure on other countries to ignore the “democratic legitimacy” of the self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido.

Recall the political crisis in Venezuela escalated after the Guaido declared itself the "leader" of the Bolivarian Republic. A number of Western countries, primarily the United States, recognized him as the legitimate leader of the country, but the Venezuelan Supreme Court assessed the actions of the opposition as illegal.

In an interview with RT, the Chief Researcher at the Institute for the USA and Canada, Vladimir Batyuk, said that the situation in Venezuela is not developing as the United States would like, therefore the US Secretary of State is now trying to save the day.

“The revolution is successful when it has progressive dynamics, and in Venezuela there is complete stagnation, the blackout did not shake the country, as Washington wanted. Now Pompeo is trying to rectify the situation with his statements, ”said Batiuk.

This opinion is shared by the dean of the faculty of economic and social sciences of the RANEPA Alexander Chichin.

“Pompeo needs to bring evidence of its loyalty to the US president, who was embarrassed by betting on Guayido. Trump failed to win a single victory in the situation with Venezuela, and Pompeo needed a political result, ”said the expert.

Mirror principle

Explaining the causes of the Venezuelan crisis, Pompeo separately focused on the role of the RT channel and Sputnik agency in the allegedly biased coverage of events in the country.

"Russia also involved such state-sponsored disinformation bodies as Russia Today and Sputnik to divert attention from the humanitarian catastrophe to which the activities of the Maduro regime led," the State Department press service quoted the US Secretary of State.

• © RT

Anton Morozov, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said in an interview with RT that it was the United States that provoked a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, while RT and Sputnik talk about what is actually happening in the country.

“The most important thing is that they inform that outside interference in the affairs of a sovereign state is unacceptable and even more so an attempt to appoint the head of state by the United States, bypassing the democratic election procedure provided for by Venezuelan legislation. Rather, the US is affecting the humanitarian crisis. Unfortunately, they provoke him. We believe that the channel allows you to hear the voice of common sense in this whole story, ”said the parliamentarian.

According to political analyst Alexander Asafov, such charges against Pompeo against Russia once again prove that the United States very often works on a mirror basis - they accuse their opponents of what they themselves are responsible for.

“Since the US version of the informational agenda should always be the one that benefits Washington, all other points of view and objective information provided by RT and Sputnik are declared biased or an instrument of political influence,” the expert said in an interview with RT.

Asafov also believes that Pompeo's accusations against RT and Sputnik speak of US concerns about their illegal actions in Venezuela being publicized.

“Therefore, the United States is making these absurd accusations. Washington is directly related to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Bolivarian Republic, but this does not prevent the American side from blaming Russia for this, ”said Asafov.

Economic pressure

Pompeo also spoke about the allegedly “huge” expenditures of the Russian side to support the Maduro regime. According to him, the Venezuelan president cashes a gold reserve of Venezuela at the expense of support of Russian companies.

“To maintain close ties with the regime, Moscow has invested huge amounts of money in Venezuela. The total amount of loans and investments received by Venezuela from the Russian Federation exceeds $ 17 billion. Russian companies are still trying to help the Maduro regime to cash out the country's gold reserves, ”the State Department press service quotes the foreign minister.

Pompeo also added that the US is trying to prevent the transfer of Venezuela’s assets to Russia, where, according to him, “they will be hidden”.

Recall, on January 28, the United States imposed sanctions against Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA, and later froze the accounts of a number of Caracas officials, including the assets of the country's president. Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro said that by his actions, Washington is trying to usurp the wealth of the country.

According to Alexander Chichin, the Bolivarian Republic in an accelerated mode is trying to negotiate new deals around the world, but the United States, which imposes sanctions restrictions, “stand behind” every buyer.

“Venezuela has oil and gold, so they will sell these resources to get out of the economic crisis. America does not give a respite, it wants to strangle the Venezuelan economy now and immediately, ”the expert emphasized.

The United States Secretary of State accused the Russian oil and gas company Rosneft of continuing to buy raw materials from the Venezuelan PDVSA bypassing US sanctions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded to the words of Pompeo, noting that "the manner of the United States dictating everything and everyone to everything will not bring to the good."

“This is how is international law combined? Yes, nothing. We have to compete honestly, because we see a flagrant violation of all ethical and legal norms, when the US requires, in fact, any country in the world not to buy raw materials and energy resources from Russia, but to buy them in the US, ”said Lavrov.

• © Vladimir Astapkovich / RIA News

The statements of the American side responded to Rosneft. The organization’s activities in Venezuela are carried out within the framework of international law and existing market contracts, which were concluded long before the United States imposed unilateral sanctions, the company’s press service noted.

In a conversation with RT, American political scientist Sergei Mikheyev called Pompeo’s statement that Russian loans and investments in Venezuela exceed $ 17 billion in “great exaggeration”.

“Pompeo calls the total investment figure. Russia invested money in Venezuela over a long period of time. With the same success it could be said that China is spending money to support Venezuela. Before the crisis, China and the United States actively invested money in the Bolivarian Republic. Russia takes only the third place in investment, ”the expert noted.

According to Vladimir Batiuk, there is no relationship between the cooperation of Russia and Venezuela in the economic sphere and what is happening in the internal politics of the Bolivarian Republic.

“Russia is investing in the country's economy, in the oil industry, and not in politics and the political regime. Regimes come and go, but trade economic ties will remain, ”said Batiuk.

Destabilizing the situation in Venezuela, the United States pursues its own interests, in particular, they want to oust Russia from the Venezuelan oil and gas market, but Washington is unlikely to seriously influence the fate of Russian assets in the Bolivarian Republic, Alexander Chichin believes.

“Russia in Venezuela has assets in various oil companies, but Moscow will not lose much. Americans would like to take all the money themselves, but this is not so easy, ”said the expert.

"The situation is critical"

The next round of exacerbation of the situation in Venezuela began on March 7, when the entire territory of the country, with the exception of one of the states, was left without electricity due to failures in the country's largest hydroelectric power station, Guri.

According to local authorities, the cause of the incident could be sabotage at hydropower plants.

Venezuelan Minister of Communications and Information, Jorge Rodriguez, called the incident “the most brutal aggression” against the Bolivarian Republic in the last two centuries.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that Donald Trump is responsible for the attack on the power grid in the country.

“The main responsible for the cybernetic attack on the power system of Venezuela is Donald Trump. He said that all options (actions against the republic. - RT ) are possible, this is repeated by his puppets and clowns in Venezuela itself, ”RIA Novosti reports.

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The self-proclaimed interim president of the Bolivarian Republic, Juan Guaido, took advantage of the problems with electricity, who accused the Maduro administration of an energy collapse.

“We all know that the reasons for the poor state of the country's energy system are due to corruption in this area ... This is a real evil. To defeat him, you need to carry out a change of power, "- said Guaido at a rally in Caracas, calling on supporters for a new protest.

On Tuesday, a state of emergency was declared in Venezuela due to power outages. The decision was made by the National Assembly of the country at the request of Guaiido, which is the leader of the opposition parliament.

However, in the evening of the same day, the Minister of Communications and Information of Venezuela, Jorge Rodriguez, on Telesur TV channel, said that electricity supply was restored almost throughout the country. Later it was reported that the Venezuelan prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into Juan Guaido, who is suspected of possible complicity in sabotaging the country's electric power system.

Sergey Mikheev called the current situation in the Bolivarian Republic critical and predicted the aggravation of the situation.

“The situation in Venezuela is now critical, but it can worsen even more. The position of the country depends on the actions of the army - if it continues to support Maduro, the situation in the country can improve, ”the expert said.

Vladimir Batyuk believes that it is the United States that is responsible for destabilizing the situation in the Bolivarian Republic.

“Washington’s regime change in Venezuela does not lead to stability and prosperity, but to chaos and extremism,” said Batiuk.