Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited Turkey this week while the failed “Summit of the Americas” was ongoing in California. His presence and comments there indicate the shift going on globally, and the growing confidence in opposing Global NATO. In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Maduro had some sharp remarks about the hypocrisy of the West in regard to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the sanctions imposed upon Russia. Referencing the U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, he said “…the US empire has always been caught up in its own aggression. Look at what is happening right now with Russia. All the sanctions imposed – more than a thousand economic sanctions against the Russian economy, agriculture, oil and gas – have returned like a boomerang, and today they have returned against the European and American economies, which are creaking with galloping inflation, and they also affected the economies and economic rights of all the countries of the world.”
Maduro said more than 25 governments across the region have rejected the exclusion of Venezuela from the Summit of the Americas. Further, he stated, “This meeting of the Americas has been transformed into a meeting of the protest of the governments against exclusion and a lesson has been taught to the American empire that...the time of the imperial orders is over. And I would say that it was a huge mistake made by the country’s administration to try to exclude our country.”
“Unfortunately, that so-called Summit of the Americas gradually deteriorated from the political-diplomatic point of view. In these summits, no important issues are discussed, the priority issues of the peoples, the main problems we have.” Maduro added, “The US empire intends to reach these instances to give orders, believing that Latin America and the Caribbean are the backyard of the US empire. Those times have passed.”
Maduro’s visit to Turkey, on an invitation from Turkish President Erdogan, is part of a process of the two nations rapidly increasing trade and cooperation over the last few years – from $150 million in trade in 2019, to $858 million last year, and projected to rise to $1.5-3 billion in the next couple of years. The two presidents signed agreements on tourism, agriculture, and economic cooperation amidst discussions also including energy, mining, and technology. “We have never had such a close relationship with Turkey or with this region of the world as we have today. That is why I tell you the world is much more than the United States and the West,” Maduro said, adding that Turkey is part of “one of the most important regions.”
Erdogan said in a press conference after the meeting, that Turkey “has always supported Venezuela and will continue to do so in the future.” He said Turkey opposes unilateral sanctions against Venezuela, and that the country is one of our “most important partners” in Ibero America. “We have similar views on many global issues,” Erdogan said, and added that they both want to take their bilateral relations to “the next level.”
Maduro traveled to Algeria afterwards and met with Algeria’s Prime Minister on June 9, for what has been called a two-day “working and friendship visit.” From there he will travel to Iran for two days this weekend. Erdogan will possibly visit Venezuela in July.
