Q24N (AFP) Venezuela and Russia signed 17 agreements on Thursday that, according to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, seal “the path of cooperation” towards 2030 and cover strategic areas such as “intelligence” against “espionage,” the military, as well as energy investments.
“17 agreements have been signed for shared development, mutual investments,” said Maduro during an event at the Miraflores presidential palace after the 18th meeting of the high-level intergovernmental commission (Cian) made up of delegates from both countries.
“Today, with these agreements that we have signed, with these contracts that we have signed, we seal and consolidate the path of union and cooperation between Russia and Venezuela for the rest of the years to come from here to 2030 and beyond,” concluded Maduro.
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Earlier, during the meeting headed by the Vice President and Minister of Oil, Delcy Rodríguez, and the Vice President of the Government of Russia, Dmitry Chernishenko, they signed a document for cooperation in the “use of drones” and “issues of intelligence and counterintelligence against espionage.”
Chernishenko stressed the willingness of his country to “fully” supply the “needs of the Venezuelan armed forces” with “more sophisticated examples of weapons and military machinery,” according to the translation of the state channel VTV.
Rodríguez, for his part, thanked the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin for “equipping” the Venezuelan Armed Forces and the exchange of cooperation for the “safeguarding” of the “territorial integrity and guarantee of our national sovereignty.”
The Caracas-Moscow relationship became closer during the government of the late former president Hugo Chávez (1999-2013). In 2004, the high-level commission between the two countries was established and more than 400 agreements have been signed since then.
Russia has been a supplier of military equipment to Venezuela, including Sukhoi aircraft and Kalashnikov rifles.
The parties also signed agreements for “training and technical advice” in the energy area and for the “provision of oil services and technology for the recovery of extra-heavy crude oil.”
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Russia has said that Venezuela is a “reliable partner” in Latin America and has expressed its full support for the government of President Nicolás Maduro, re-elected in July for a third term in a row after six years amid allegations of fraud.
The Russian government has also expressed its willingness to help Venezuela recover its economy and its battered oil industry, which is seeking to recover after years of crisis due to problems of corruption and disinvestment. It currently produces just over 900,000 barrels a day.
“The Russian side is ready to provide access to capital and skills for the development of key sectors of the Venezuelan economy, which primarily concerns the oil and gas sector, mining and the agrarian-industrial complex,” Chernishenko said.
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