Russian Military Gets Premium Spot in Venezuela Independence Day Parade

Supporters carry an image depicting President Nicolas Maduro during the Independence Day m
AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez
Christian K. Caruzo

The socialist regime in Venezuela featured Russian Navy sailors marching in its Independence Day celebration this weekend.

Venezuela became the first country in the region to declare independence from Spanish colonial rule on July 5, 1811. As part of the official celebrations, the Venezuelan Armed Forces — who also celebrate their founding day on that day — hold a military parade every July 5 on the Paseo Los Próceres, a monument located in the capital city of Caracas built in the 1950s that features a promenade and other structures to commemorate Venezuela’s war for independence and its heroes.

Friday’s military parade, which commemorated the 213th anniversary of Venezuela’s independence, saw the presence of Russian Navy officials from the Russian Northern Fleet. The Russian sailors were greeted by socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, who presided over the official event.

The Russian sailors who participated in the July 5 parade were reportedly part of the crew of the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and the Akadémik Pashin oil tanker — two Russian vessels that accompanied the Kazan nuclear submarine during its recent five-day stopover in Havana, Cuba, as part of a series of military exercises carried out by Russia in the Caribbean Sea in June.

The two Russian vessels arrived at the Venezuelan port of La Guaira on July 2, leaving on July 6. At the time of their departure, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López described the purpose of the vessels’ visit as deepening the military-technical cooperation between Russia and Venezuela and to “strengthen the friendship between our nations that are united in the construction of a fairer multipolar world.”

Maduro availed himself of the yearly July 5 speech to boast of the support that his rogue socialist regime receives from China, Iran, and Russia against what he described as “any imperial threat from the North,” meaning the United States.

“There we have the heavy weapons, the aviation, the anti-aircraft defense, the medium and long range rocket missiles. We have our secret weapon, the people in arms, the Bolivarian national militia and its four million fighters,” Maduro said. “But we also show something of the first generation of combat drones that have been created with national engineering.”

“Thanks to our officers, our scientists, our technology. And fortunately we have the support of countries with cutting-edge technology in drone and anti-drone combat,” he continued. “Our sister Russia, our sister China, our sister Iran. So no one should be mistaken with Venezuela.”

Maduro, while holding a ceremonial baton of command of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, claimed that the baton will remain “in good hands” in the years to come and that it will “never” fall into the hands of an “oligarch.”

“I have never trembled at any imperial threat from the north, nor from anyone, nor from oligarchs, nor from fascists,” he declared, raising the baton of command as a symbol of his commitment to the homeland. “Never will this baton fall into the hands of an oligarch, of a puppet, of the traitor. I swear it.”

Maduro is seeking to be “reelected” for a new six-year term in the upcoming July 28 sham presidential election.

An unnamed senior Venezuelan military official told the Argentine outlet Infobae on Sunday that the message sent by the presence of Russian officials in Venezuela’s independence day parade is “wrong.”

“For many reasons, among them, because Russia is a country that started a war, without any justification and has killed innocent civilian population. It is not the best example to be compared as a friendly country,” the official said.

“In Venezuela, in which many soldiers have been trained, the July 5 parade is unique, for our troops and units and eventually has shown representation of the Bolivarian countries, but not of foreign powers, which in itself is contrary to the anti-imperialist slogan,” the official continued.

The official explained that, in his opinion, Maduro is wrong “to use a national date to show his strength through Russia and naming China, especially on the eve of an electoral event, which the opposition, the government and the population in general have understood that it is a matter of the Venezuelans.”

Venezuela’s July 5 Military parade, which historically maintained a solemn nature prior to the arrival of the ruling socialist regime, has seen itself be the center of outrageous occurrences in recent years. In 2022, Maduro chose not to be physically present in the parade, opting to deliver that year’s corresponding speech through a remote broadcast. Instead, the socialist dictator had his superhero cartoon alter ego Súper Bigote (“Super Mustache”) represent him at the parade.

In 2019, the Maduro regime had members of the socialist-controlled Bolivarian Militias parade while holding CLAP boxes. CLAP is the socialist regime’s subsidized food distribution program that often features low quality or outright rotten items.

While the Maduro regime has denied the existence of Russian bases in Venezuela in the past, a former intelligence member of the Maduro regime revealed that at least two Russian military bases already exist in Venezuela as of January 2022.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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