CARACAS, Nov 8, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Venezuela and its most powerful ally Russia
signed agreements Thursday on intelligence-gathering and counter-espionage as
well as energy cooperation during a visit by a senior Kremlin official to
Caracas.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko told Venezuelan Vice
President Delcy Rodriguez that his country stood ready to support Venezuela's
armed forces with "the most sophisticated weapons and military equipment,"
according to remarks translated by Venezuelan state TV.

The two countries agreed to cooperate on areas including "intelligence and
counter-espionage issues," the use of drones and petroleum exploration
technology, the moderator of the talks said.

Russia is one of the few countries to have recognized socialist strongman
Nicolas Maduro's claim to have won a third consecutive term in the July 28
election.

The United States and several Latin American countries have backed opposition
candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the rightful winner, based on detailed
election results published by the opposition.

Venezuelan election authorities aligned with Maduro have yet to release a
breakdown of the vote.

Caracas drew closer to Moscow under iconic socialist leader Hugo Chavez, who
led the country on a hard-left, anti-US platform from 1999 until his death
from cancer in 2013.

Those ties have endured under Chavez's hand-picked successor Maduro, who has
defended Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Venezuela has the world's largest proven reserves of oil and once produced
more than three million barrels a day of oil -- long its only notable earner
of foreign currency.

Following years of mismanagement and crushing sanctions, output has dropped
to around one million barrels.