Putin on brink as furious Russians call for ‘regime change’ after Venezuela humiliation | World | News
Russian nationalists have furiously criticised the Kremlin for its failure to defend Venezuela, with one calling for Vladimir Putin’s execution. Donald Trump stunned the world over the weekend, after he ordered the abduction of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their home in Caracas.
Delta force troops stormed the presidential compound in the dead of night, capturing the former Venezuelan President in a seamless and daring military operation. Maduro and his wife were taken to New York and remanded in custody. The Venezuelan leader appeared in court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges. In a defiant appearance, he insisted that he was still the President of Venezuela.
Russia had close economic and political ties with the South American country, and had invested heavily in its oil industry. Those interests now appear to be under serious threat, with the Kremlin powerless to intervene in proceedings.
One Russian military blogger launched a scathing attack on Putin, calling him a “traitor” who should be killed.
“This is a total f***ing disaster,” they fumed. “And we’ll be left without internet, drowning in taxes, hugging our f***ing oil.
“The political leadership of our country needs to be killed. They are inherently insane. And they are traitors. They should be hanged. The Americans have just extended their existence for several more centuries, while ours will end in a month.”
The writer and political activist Maxim Kalashnikov was no less critical, saying the Venezuela debacle marked the “collapse of the Russian leadership’s long-standing PR-fuelled foreign policy.”
“For a long time, it resembled a fireworks display: much noise and hype, but no real benefit to the development and industrialisation of the Russian Federation, or to the reunification of the Russian people,” he said.
“Let’s just dump $20 billion into the ‘black hole’ of raw materials-fuelled pseudo-socialism in Venezuela, never to be recouped.
“Let’s bury a comparable amount of resources in Syria, which we absolutely do not need…
Venezuela has sought for over two decades to develop a network of anti-American allies, with Russia one of the most important partners.
However, despite pledging to support Maduro’s regime in December, the Kremlin was powerless to come to the rescue – largely due to its ongoing war in Ukraine.
Fyodor Lukyanov – a Kremlin foreign policy expert – said the situation was “deeply uncomfortable” for Putin.
“Venezuela is a close partner and ideological ally, and Maduro and Putin have longstanding ties, leaving Moscow with little choice but to express outrage at US actions.
“Yet providing any real assistance to a country so distant, and operating in a fundamentally different geopolitical reality, is simply not feasible – for technical and logistical reasons.”
