Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Nov. 5 criticized the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean as unjustified. “We stand in solidarity with Venezuela. We believe that the United States’ unjustified military buildup in the South Caribbean and beyond creates an environment of heightened tensions. And it’s the U.S. alone that’s to blame for this,” he said, TASS reported. “Venezuela is doing its utmost to end drug trafficking in the region.”
“In this case, we refer to the related reports by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Earlier, the U.S. Department of State admitted that basically, Venezuela has nothing to do with the so-called drug cartels that they are talking about at the moment,” he stressed. The same point has been made by Pino Arlacchi, the former head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), including in a recent [interview with EIR](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3bZ7-Z49-I, aired on Oct. 30.
Ryabkov was asked by a journalist if Venezuela had requested military assistance from Russia, the Deputy Foreign Minister replied that Moscow and Caracas were in close contact. “We have experts in various agencies who work on our cooperation,” he said, adding: “We keep all communication channels open.”
