Lunch For Lukashenka
10- 17.07.2024, 9:32
- 8,288
Apparently, this is all that Venezuela can offer Belarus today.
This week, Raman Halavchenka flies around the countries of the "far arc". The visit to Venezuela has already taken place, Cuba and Nicaragua are next in line, Salidarnast writes.
Somewhat surprisingly, Aliaksandr Lukashenka did not fly to these countries of South and Central America for high-level negotiations personally. Perhaps health no longer allows him to make such long flights.
In Caracas, Halavchenka tried to radiate optimism: "Belarus and Venezuela will necessarily implement not only all the previous agreements, but will also reach new ones." But you do not have to believe in the implementation of these words.
After the death of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's cooperation with Belarus quickly came to naught. For ten years, representatives of the authorities of the two countries have been pouring from the empty into the void, talking about the restart of relations in the very near future.
For example, in 2017, Lukashenka said: "Belarus and Venezuela intend to significantly increase cooperation in the next two years." In 2023, he said that it was necessary to revise various areas of cooperation and develop a roadmap for the future.
But Halavchenka flew to Caracas and it turned out that this time the negotiations did not contain any specifics. There is also no confidence in the optimistic statements of the Prime Minister due to a number of depressing figures.
Let's start with mutual trade: in 2021, it amounted to an unfortunate two million dollars. The parties are generally silent about the current level of trade. As well as being silent about debts to each other.
For a long time, it was only known that since the time of Hugo Chavez, Caracas owed Minsk about $160 million – for tractors, trucks, construction of houses, etc. But last year it turned out that Belarus owed Venezuela about $1.5 billion for oil supplies.
And, of course, it must be borne in mind that the Venezuelan economy, due to the rule of Nicolás Maduro, has long been a pitiful sight.
A country rich in oil reserves lives in poverty. The minimum wage in Venezuela is less than $4 (no, this is not a typo) – with the payment of bonuses to public sector employees in the amount of $100.
The dictator Maduro remains in power due to the concentration of revenues from oil exports in his hands, which allows him to keep an army of officials and security forces. Beyond that, there is trouble. A few years ago, Venezuela set a world record in terms of external debt (as a percentage of GDP): now it exceeds $150 billion.
By the way, the visit of the Prime Minister of Belarus to Venezuela was not noticed against the background of preparations for the upcoming presidential elections on July 28 (Maduro is going to be "elected" for a third term).
Speaking with Halavchenka, the ruler of Venezuela said:
"Tell Lukashenka the following: I will wait for him here with a very good lunch, and everything he will try will be of local production."
Apparently, this lunch for Lukashenka is all that Venezuela has to offer Belarus today.
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