Politics
In a nod to Putin, Venezuelan dictatorship prepares to recognize separatist Ukrainian regions
Nicolas Maduro’s regime will likely announce the move by Wednesday at the latest, although “some details are still being finalized"
February 22, 2022 2:52pm
Updated: February 22, 2022 4:32pm
The Venezuelan dictatorship has announced that it is working on finalizing the official recognition of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, following the lead of Russian President Vladimir Putin as tensions between the Kremlin and the West reach a boiling point.
According to sources consulted by La Politica Online, Nicolas Maduro’s regime will likely announce the move by Wednesday at the latest, although “some details are still being finalized.”
Maduro’s primary concern appears to be the political implications of the recognition of the eastern Ukrainian territories, which he fears could create a diplomatic roadblock in the dispute with Guayana over the sovereignty of the Essequibo region – although a fear of increased sanctions from the United States and Europe is certainly also on his mind as the regime continues to grapple with soaring inflation and a lack of consumer products.
Presently, Venezuela is one of a handful of nations that recognizes Georgia's pro-Russia separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.
During a September 2009 visit to the Kremlin, then-dictator Hugo Chavez told former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that Venezuela would consider the two regions sovereign states "from today," Radio Free Europe reported at the time.
Earlier on Tuesday, Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega came out in support of the Kremlin’s latest incursion into Ukraine on Monday, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin was within his rights to recognize two Moscow-supported separatist regions as independent.
"I am sure that if they do a referendum like the one carried out in Crimea, people will vote to annex the territories to Russia," said Ortega during a speech in Managua, the Nicaraguan capital, adding that the prospect of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) posed a security threat to Russia.
“If Ukraine gets into NATO they will be saying to Russia let's go to war, and that explains why Russia is acting like this. Russia is simply defending itself,” he said.
