Such are the public ties between Maduro and Putin that last week, when crowds of protesters flooded the streets of the Venezuelan capital, debates erupted on the Russian social network Vkontakte about whether, if Maduro falls, Putin will be the next to go.
“America’s march of death, which ousts elected leaders, is a serious threat for Russia, where the fifth and sixth columns in the political elite are deliberately strangling Putin’s popularity to bring a pro-American leader to power,” Markov told The Daily Beast.
“Trump is Putin’s enemy in Venezuela, where we have been investing billions of dollars, trading weapons, exploring gas fields, training local military and buying oil,” said Markov, adding significantly, “Our experts working there are veterans of the war in Syria.”
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