In what some commentators are calling an in-your-face gesture at the United States, Russian-sponsored war games are being held in Venezuela.
Although Russia has held international war games annually since its 2015 annexation of Crimea, this is the first time they have been held in Latin America, according to the Miami Herald.
China, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Burma, Belarus, Abkhazia, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan and Indonesia are among the nations taking part in the event, which is scheduled to last until Aug. 27 and involves snipers competing against each other.
Past events have involved tanks and other military hardware.
Retired Venezuelan National Guard Col. Isidro Pérez Villalobos said there is a message in the location.
“By holding these games in Venezuela, Russia is telling the United States: ‘I can also come to your backyard. You want to get into the Baltic countries, in Ukraine, and in the geo-historical spaces of Russia? Well, I also get into your spaces,’” Villalobos said.
The presence of the games in Venezuela should be a warning, he said.
The games are a means to an end, said Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society.
“In a sense, this seeks to normalize (and pave the way for) a larger military presence in Latin America,” he said, suggesting that “larger military operations and games in the future” could involve Russia, China and Iran.
Russia holding war games in Venezuela, sending alarming signals throughout Latin America
Maria Delgado
Snipers from Russia and other countries hostile to the United States are competing in war games being held this week in Venezuela in events described as Olympic games for soldiers that were organized not only to show that Moscow still has friends but also that some of them are in Latin America.
The international war games have been held yearly since 2015, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and Venezuela has participated from its beginning, but this year’s games are the first held in Latin America, and include participants from Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
Forces from Burma, Belarus, Abkhazia, Uzbekistan, China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia, among others, also participate in the competitions. These are nations that “daily condemn imperialist aggression against the peoples,” Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López declared as he inaugurated the games on Monday.
The games are held at a time when Russia is being harshly criticized for its military incursion into Ukraine, an invasion that triggered severe economic sanctions against Moscow by Europe and the United States and a chorus of condemnations around the world.
This year’s games seek to remind the world that Russia still has friends, but observers believe that the fact that they are being held in Venezuela could have a longer-lasting effect.
“In a sense, this seeks to normalize (and pave the way for) a larger military presence in Latin America,” said Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society, a Washington-based think tank. These games could open the door “to larger military operations and games in the future” involving not only Russia, but also China and Iran.
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