Presidential inauguration: Maduro invited Putin to his inauguration

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to the inauguration ceremony of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, which will take place on January 10. The decision on who exactly will go to the event has not yet been made. Nevertheless, the Russian Federation will be represented at it at a decent level. Alexander Shchetinin, Director of the Latin American Department of the Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia. The diplomat also noted the importance of contacts between Moscow and Caracas in trade and economic, cultural, humanitarian and other spheres. What to expect from the inauguration day and what is the importance of Russian-Venezuelan cooperation - in the exclusive material of "Izvestia".

Russia received an invitation to the inauguration of Maduro

The Russian President was invited to the inauguration ceremony of Nicolas Maduro, which will be held on January 10. This was told to "Izvestia" by the director of the Latin American Department of the Foreign Ministry, Alexander Shchetinin.

- January 10 in Caracas will be an important event - the inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for a new term. The Russian side has been invited to the inauguration ceremony and will be represented at it at a worthy level," Alexander Shchetinin told Izvestia.

Recall that in accordance with established practice, invitations to the inauguration are sent on behalf of the president to his colleagues - that is, heads of state. The final decision on who exactly will represent Russia at the ceremony has not yet been made.

Given the frequency of contacts at different levels and the closeness in the positions of Russia and Venezuela, there is a possibility that Russia will be the first country for Nicolas Maduro's state visit after taking office. Earlier, the Russian embassy in Caracas confirmed to Izvestia that the dates of the visit are being worked out through diplomatic channels.

As for the inauguration day itself, the expert community sees a high risk of protests on January 10. The fact is that the opposition in the Latin American country is not in the mood to accept the result of the vote. The main claim of the opponents of the government is the refusal of the CEC to publish protocols for all polling stations, as well as to present data after the counting of 100% of ballots. Maduro's inauguration was scheduled after only 80% of them had been processed.

The opposition calls Edmundo Gonzalez its winner - it was he, according to their calculations, who beat Maduro in the presidential election. His victory was also recognized by some Western countries, including the United States. After summarizing the results of the vote, Gonzalez decided to leave for Spain, where he was granted political asylum. Now he says he intends to return to Caracas by January 10 and assume the rights of the president, before that he is going to visit Argentina and Chile. In addition, according to media reports, the U.S. has begun recruiting Venezuelans living in Ecuador to prepare sabotage attacks on January 10.

- I believe that the U.S. will do everything to organize unrest in Venezuela at the time of Nicolas Maduro's inauguration. I think they have learned a lesson from the failed coup attempt of 2019 and will try to act tougher this time. The real reason for future unrest will be another attempt by the US to get hold of the largest proven oil reserves in the world. The bet will be made on radical groups preparing in Ecuador and Colombia, various kinds of provocations," says Egor Lidovskoy, director of the Hugo Chavez Latin American Center.

Nevertheless, even with the help of such methods, the government is unlikely to be ousted. Maduro is backed by the army, which remains loyal to him, and the majority of the Venezuelan population, which supports him, the expert believes.

Relations between Russia and Venezuela

In October, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited Russia for the first time since 2019 and met personally with Vladimir Putin during the BRICS summit in Kazan. The Russian leader then noted the growth of bilateral trade, joint projects in energy, pharmaceuticals, transportation, peaceful space and new technologies. Vladimir Putin then also emphasized the need to establish interconnections in the financial and banking spheres with reliance on settlements in national currencies.

During the BRICS summit it was expected that Venezuela would join the association as a partner country, but it did not happen. According to Nicolas Maduro himself, the reason for this was Brazil's veto. Speaking on the air of a local TV channel, the Venezuelan leader noted that the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, allegedly linked to the U.S. since the 1960s, "has always been plotting against Venezuela" and almost all employees of this department "maintains ties with the U.S. State Department". By the way, Vladimir Putin emphasized at the end of the summit that the positions of Russia and Brazil regarding Venezuela's membership in BRICS do not coincide.

- The October meeting of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Maduro on the margins of the BRICS summit in Kazan confirmed the strength of friendly relations between our countries, the proximity of approaches to the whole range of issues on the global agenda, common views on how to build multidisciplinary mutually beneficial cooperation in the long term. We are confident that the upcoming contacts will allow us to consolidate the agreements reached and outline substantive steps to expand ties in trade and economic, cultural, humanitarian and other spheres," Alexander Shchetinin told Izvestia.

It is important to note that in November 2024 Russia and Venezuela signed a roadmap for cooperation in geology and subsoil use of hydrocarbons for the period of 2024-2026.

Venezuelan state oil and gas company PDVSA signed several memorandums of understanding with Russian companies: with Roszarubezhneft - on training and technical advice in the field of integrated security in the energy sector, with TNG-Group - on providing services and technologies to enhance oil recovery at extra-heavy oil fields, with RT-Project Technologies - on industrial safety in the oil industry, as well as with Kazan Federal University - on training in the field of industrial safety in the oil industry.

- Cooperation in this area is important for both Russia and Venezuela. Russia gets access to the largest proven oil reserves in the world, and Venezuela gets investments in the oil and gas industry, which is currently suffering from the economic sanctions of the Western world. This mutually beneficial partnership will allow both Russia and Venezuela to continue strengthening their sovereignty," Egor Lidovskoy believes.

Venezuela is among the leading countries in terms of oil reserves. As of 2018, the republic had 302.3 billion barrels of fuel. In October this year, Venezuela produced about 989 thousand barrels per day, which is even higher than the September figures of 943 thousand.

At the same time, the country is under U.S. sanctions, effectively banning U.S. companies from entering into contracts with PDVSA, and the situation could worsen further with the official coming to power of Donald Trump. Earlier, the Republican said that the states do not need Venezuelan energy resources because Washington has "50 times more than she does."

Cooperation between Russia and Venezuela in the military-technical sphere is no less important. Moscow is ready to fully meet the needs of the republic's Armed Forces in Russian-made weapons to ensure its security. In addition, in August 2024, the training ship of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy "Smolny" called at the Venezuelan port of La Guaira as part of the practice for more than 300 cadets of naval educational institutions of the Russian Defense Ministry.

And perhaps the most important thing in the current geopolitical conditions: the republic shares Russia's position on the Ukrainian crisis. Earlier, Nicolas Maduro condemned the US decision to allow Kiev to use long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. The Venezuelan leader said at the time that the United States had entered a "phase of madness and revenge".