When Russia sent 100 troops to Venezuela last week, it sparked a lot of anger from the US, even if it wasn’t entirely clear what the 100 troops were doing there. Now, according to Elliott Abrams, the US believes that the troops are there to fix a broken Russian-made S-300 missile system.
The S-300s appear to be having some problems related to the recent power outage across Venezuela has harmed them a bit, and that they need Russian help to get the defense systems back online.
Just because there is a perfectly plausible, and legal, justification for Russian troops to be present in Venezuela doesn’t mean that the US isn’t still freaking out about it. Abrams went on to say that the US is considering imposing sanctions to punish them over this.
Abrams insists that the US will never allow Russia to have a “free hand” in Venezuela, even though if the US position is what they say it is, Russia would be doing the same sort of support and maintenance of sold weapons that the Trump Administration has repeatedly insisted that they are entitled to do in Saudi Arabia.
Abrams: Russian Troops in Venezuela to Fix Missiles, May Face Sanctions
Says US won't let Russia have a 'free hand' in Venezuela
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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