Until the closing of this edition, the United States had not reacted officially to the declarations of the Minister of Defense of Colombia, diego molanoaccording to which Venezuela is amassing troops on the border with Colombia under the advice of Russia.
In fact, the US embassy in Bogota He told this newspaper that for the moment “he will not comment” and that any clarification should be sought with the government of President Iván Duque.
Despite this, the issue of Russia’s presence in the region has been moving in Washington.
During a hearing before the House Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday to explore US goals in the Western Hemisphere, lawmakers asked Deputy Secretary Brian Nichols for his views on a possible deployment of Russian weapons to countries. like Venezuela and Cuba.
The question was based on comments made last month by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov, who suggested that Moscow could deploy military infrastructure in the region in response to the position the United States has taken in Ukraine.
Washington has threatened to impose heavy sanctions on Russia if it invades the former Soviet republic and this week announced it was sending 3,000 troops to NATO member countries that border Russia.
Additionally, in recent days, the news circulated that Russia had planned an appointment with Havana and Caracas to discuss these issues.
Nichols began by saying that the US was not going to respond to every “bluff” Russia came up with. But he warned that he will work to “prevent” any action by Moscow that “destabilizes” or “carries the conflict” from Ukraine to Latin America, stressing that he will not accept “provocations.”
Let me make it clear that efforts to destabilize our hemisphere or bring the Ukraine conflict to the Western Hemisphere are unacceptable.
“Let me make it clear that efforts to destabilize our hemisphere or bring the Ukraine conflict to the Western Hemisphere are unacceptable. And we will work with our partners to prevent that,” she stressed.
The US official insisted that Russia had already “positioned military elements in the past” in those countries. “I will just underline that as a hemisphere we do not accept provocation,” Nichols said.
Although it is minor, it is an issue that is sensitive in the United States, especially for congressmen of Hispanic origin and those from Florida, where there is a large community of Cubans, Colombians and Venezuelans.
For the experts it is evident that Moscow wants to show Washington that it also has the capacity to respond in its so-called “zone of influence” through countries that are related to it.
Russia knows that just sending some military advisers can give Joe Biden a headache in the domestic arena. But they clarify, yes, that Russia has neither the interest nor the capacity to make the US uncomfortable on the other side of the ocean. Nor is it planning to send nuclear weapons or the like as it did in the 1960s during one of the worst moments of the Cold War.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
TIME
Washington
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