Venezuela’s Authoritarian Allies: - THE TIES THAT BIND? - Cynthia J. Arnson, Editor

Third is the Russian view (among an important segment of Russian political elites) that the severity of the current crisis in Venezuela stems from US-backed efforts of sabotage and not as much from the disastrous economic policies of the Bolivarian government, combined with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. [...] Venezuela and Russia: The Origins of the Relationship The best way to understand the strengthening of Russian–Venezuelan relations since the end of the Cold War is to place them within Moscow’s broader foreign policy frame- work toward Latin America and the Caribbean after Vladimir Putin’s rise to the presiden- cy in 2000. [...] Many of Russia’s powerful political elites are part of Putin’s Security Council.50 In recent years, the importance of the Security Council in designing and implementing the country’s foreign policy agenda has been growing.51 For the members of the council, the crisis in Venezuela constitutes a case of “hybrid conflict” that tests Russia’s ability to resist and counterattack the adversary’s action. [...] Needless to say, Gerofarm is known not only as one of the leaders of the pharmaceutical industry in Russia, but also as one of the sponsors of the 2019 election campaign of Alexander Beglov, the current governor of Saint Petersburg and member of the Supreme Council of the ruling political party 40 VENEZUELA’S AUTHORITARIAN ALLIES Latin American Program United Russia. [...] As it turned out, the buyer was the Roszarubezhneft, wholly owned by the Russian govern- ment, which paid for the assets with government-owned shares of Rosneft (valued at $4 billion), thus diminishing the participation of the government in the ownership of the company.