Organization of American States accuses Russia of military incursion in Venezuela
The Organization of American States (OAS) has accused Russia of making a military incursion in Venezuela.
“The General Secretariat of the OAS rejects the recent Russian military incursion into Venezuelan territory, which was not authorized by the National Assembly, as required by the Venezuelan Constitution, and which was done in support of a government that has been declared illegitimate,” the organization stated in a press release.
The OAS openly supports the self-declared interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaido.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the OAS’s statement “politically charged”.
She said that the presence of Russian military specialists in Venezuela is regulated by an intergovernmental agreement on military and technical collaboration that was signed in May 2001 went through all the necessary ratification procedures in both countries.
“Additional approval by the National Assembly of Venezuela of steps to develop the bilateral military and technical collaboration that are taken within the provisions of the said agreement are not required,” Zakharova said in a statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.
On 23 March, two Russian military aircraft landed at the airport in Caracas, bringing around 100 Russian military personnel and 35 tons of cargo into the country.