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Did Russian mercenaries reach Venezuela? Moscow's denial
Summary
A retrospective on the Kremlin's rejection of reports that Russian contractors were guarding Nicolás Maduro.
Were Russian mercenaries guarding the Venezuelan president? On 29 January 2019, that question was still being argued, a day after the Kremlin gave its answer.
On 28 January 2019, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov denied that Russian mercenaries were present in Venezuela. His denial came despite earlier reports that up to 100 of them might have been deployed to protect President Nicolás Maduro.
The exchange was listed among events of the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis. It also appeared under the headings of United States–Venezuela relations, the wider crisis in Venezuela and the Second Cold War.
A label for wider tensions
The term Second Cold War, like New Cold War, has been used by scholars and journalists to describe heightened geopolitical tensions in the 21st century. These are usually between the United States and NATO on one side and Russia or China on the other. Some commentators have used the terms as a comparison with the original Cold War, while others have discouraged applying them to ongoing tensions.
The Peskov denial gave a single, specific point in that debate: a public rejection by Moscow of reports about Russian personnel protecting Maduro. The reports of a deployment of up to 100 people predated his statement, and his denial did not carry any further detail.
