Russia has secretly installed nuke missiles in Venezuela, US Congressman claims in chilling echo of Cuban Missile Crisis.
Source: The Sun
Republican congressman Mario Diaz-Balart said he believes Vladimir Putin’s hidden nukes are now a direct threat to the “national security” of the United States.
He made his astonishing allegations hours after Venezuela was pushed to the brink of civil war when opposition leader Juan Guaido called for rival Nicolas Maduro to be ousted from office.
Diaz-Balart told Fox News if Maduro stays in power it could be “an open door for the Russians and for the Chinese and for others to increase their activity against our national security interest.”
Journalist Tucker Carlson then asked: “Are you suggesting they are going to invade?”
“The closest we ever came to nuclear war was because the Russians put missiles, right, nuclear missiles in Cuba,” replied Diaz-Balart.
“Are you saying the Russians will put nuclear missiles in Venezuela?” Carlson asked.
“What I am suggesting is that they are already there,” answered Diaz-Balart, without offering any evidence to back up his claim.
What’s happened in Venezuela:
- Opposition leader Juan Guaido called for an uprising to topple President Nicolas Maduro from the La Carlota airbase in Caracas
- Maduro’s forces fired tear gas before a heavy exchange of gunfire, with protesters caught in the middle
- Video footage showed a Venezuelan National Guard armoured vehicle ploughing into demonstrators
- Trump backed Guaido and his uprising while Putin backed Maduro in talks with top officials
- At least 50 were confirmed injured— about half from rubber bullets — and one was left dead
Putin’s very open support of President Maduro has long been compared to the 1962 crisis sparked by the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba.
Diaz-Balart’s claims also come after Russia landed two nuclear bombers in Venezuelain a show of defiance to Donald Trump.
The Tu-160 Russian bombers landed in Caracas in December as Putin publicly paraded his support of the socialist president.
Their arrival on Venezuelan soil came just a week after under-fire Maduro travelled to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart.
However, international observers are quick to point out the pair’s relationship is one based on finance rather than friendship.
The Kremlin has billions at stake after it sank a fortune into loans propping up Maduro – money it stands to lose if he is ever ousted from power.
Putin has already handed Venezuela more than £13bn in credit underwritten by its huge oil reserves – reportedly the largest in the world.
