"Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called on Russia and the Vatican to help fend off what he described as a U.S. "military threat," and said he will soon go to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin." Link
After Trump stated that the US would consider force to intervene against the Madura regime, he has called on Putin the "man of peace" to help protect the country from the US. I was curious about how much Venezuela already relies on Russia for its security needs and so I downloaded the SIPRI data for arms transfers from 2000-2016.
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| Source: SIPRI |
The short story is that Russia is already ensuring Venezuelan security through arms transfers. The other largest exporter (nearly $1 Billion in arms) is China. It's always interesting to see the way that material realities are reflected in rhetoric and vice-versa.
