Keys to understanding the landing of the Wagner Group in Venezuela

By: Beatrice E. Rangel - 06/08/2024

The Wagner Group founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin in 2014 has settled in Venezuela, thus announcing that Russia will provide information, logistical and military support to the illegitimate government of Nicolas Maduro. Its troops have participated in the repressive missions unleashed against peaceful protesters by the Venezuelan regime since its failed attempt at electoral fraud that occurred on July 28.

The fundamental objective of the group created as a “private” military body is to facilitate Russia's military intervention in countries and regions of its geopolitical interest without having to pledge its material resources and confront world repudiation or accusations of violation of international law.

This mercenary army served Russia to intervene in Syria without leaving traces of its presence and therefore not confront the world's sanctions when Wagner used chemical weapons banned by the United Nations against the civilian population.

Since its creation, the Wagner Group bore the imprint of Vladimir Putin. His geopolitical talent combined with knowledge of the espionage trade and repressive tactics led him to the conclusion that a mercenary band that enjoyed the support of the intelligence and espionage networks of the Russian armed forces could constitute the perfect complement to his plans. of geopolitical expansion. For him, it was necessary to recompose the penetration map of the Global South that prevailed during the existence of the Soviet Union. That map gave priority to two regions: Africa and the Middle East.

Africa represents a conduit to influence European policy since the raw materials with which companies in that region work are extracted from the black continent. The Middle East constitutes the best channel of exchange with international terrorism and through it multiple possibilities open up to pressure Europe and the Petro-states.

The participation of the Wagner Group in the invasion of Ukraine facilitated the Russian attack. Because thanks to the massive violations of international war codes and human rights that he incurred, he managed to terrorize the population. It also allowed the Russian government to maintain internal repression without having to divert resources from military deployment. And so Russia has managed to control its inhabitants while carrying out a macabre destruction of its neighbor's vital infrastructure.

According to the founders of the Wagner Group, their army would have destroyed Ukraine many months ago if it had not been for the clumsiness of the Russian army. This discontent led them to rise up against the Kremlin and embark on the seizure of Moscow. Without any explanation, the uprising was paralyzed by Prigozhin and Utkin before reaching Moscow. They both left for Bielo, Russia. Later they met with Putin and Kremlin officials before boarding the plane that would take them to their deaths.

Military affairs experts indicate that the Wagner Group's mission is to maintain the flow of raw materials from Africa to Russia. To this end, it serves as a military pillar for the cruelest despots who rule in Chad, the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali and Sudan. And the payment method is participation in the exploitation of natural resources.

When Prigozhin and Utkin died, the Russian government undertook the restructuring of the corps, calling it the Africa Corps. Well-informed sources assure that control of the defunct Wagner Group then passed to Russian General Andrey Averyanov, head of a secret service unit that specializes in planning assassinations of Russia's enemies, as was the case with the attempted poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, UK.

The landing in Venezuela is due to two Russian objectives. The first is to prevent a change of regime from depriving them of the juicy purchases of weapons that the Bolivarian army relies on. The second is to keep the Havana regime alive by ensuring its oil supply. Cuba is an important pawn in chess since it provides espionage services and the mobilization of pro-Russian assets in the United States. Some experts claim that these asset observation and training services had a lot to do with the preparation of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.

In Venezuela, the Africa Corps will be able to lead the exploitation of gold, coltan and other key minerals for the electronics industry. Therefore, he will have to face the ELN, the dissident FARC and other mafia groups. Which does not seem to present much of a problem for this private army of support for Russia.

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