Venezuela hosts Russian 'war games' with joint trainings including Iran, China, Bolivia, Pakistan and Cuba

Venezuela opened its 2022 International Army Games, an annual Russian military sports event organized by its Ministry of Defense, in in Venezuela this year along with several other countries including China, Cuba and Iran.

Chavista Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, assured that the Army Games 2022 are intended to show military skills to unite cultures and peoples.

"We are going to be developing, in the next ten days, these competitions that have been called sniper frontier and that demand time, phases, preparation, and execution," said Padrino López in a statement shared on Twitter.

This year is the first time Venezuela will host the Games. They will be held at Fort Terepaima in Barquisimeto, Lara state, where the flags of the organizing country, Russia, and those of Myanmar, Belarus, Abkhazia, Uzbekistan, Bolivia, China, India, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Indonesia, and Cuba are being flown.

"From Fort Alabino, in the Russian Federation, we exalt the legacy of our Commander Chávez for continuing to lead the march of our military youth that with the will to win follows the Tank Biathlon team", reads a tweet form the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense.

🇻🇪 Desde el Fuerte Alabino, en la Federación de Rusia, exaltamos el legado de nuestro Comandante Chávez por continuar llevando la marcha de nuestra juventud militar que con voluntad de vencer sigue el equipo de Biatlón de Tanques. ¡Triunfar por Venezuela!#ArmyGamesVzla2022 pic.twitter.com/il9I7dPl0P

— Prensa FANB (@PrensaFANB) August 16, 2022

Since 2015, the Venezuelan military corps has participated in these Games that annually bring together more than 30 countries, mostly from Asia and Eastern Europe, among which are important allies of Venezuela, such as Iran or China.

"These games take place in different countries, different venues, Russia, of course, the main venue, but there is also the People's Republic of China, there is Vietnam, Belarus," recalled Padrino López when welcoming the delegations.

The participants will practice pistol range, sniper rifle, a hand grenade, and obstacle courses in a field of more than one kilometer.

According to Padrino López, a delegation of 200 local military personnel was sent to the competitions simultaneously in Russia.