President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is urging the United States to exercise restraint and to avoid war with Venezuela "under any circumstances" in a recent interview with U.S. news outlet, Newsmax.
"If you want all Venezuelans to rally around Maduro, then you will start a war against Venezuela", Lukashenko cautioned officials in Washington as the Pentagon continues to wage war, striking a flurry of drug vessels in the South Caribbean, killing more than 80 "narco-terrorists" since September.
The Latin American region has become anxious over the past several months as tensions between Washington and Caracas continue to escalate.
On Wednesday, December 10, U.S. special operators seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, which had been surveilled by U.S. intelligence agencies for being linked to an international illicit transport network distributing sanctioned oil to Cuba and Iran.
The Maduro government in Caracas responded to the news by accusing the United States of driving for war in Venezuela in a bid to usurp the nation's natural resources, like oil and gold.
Officials in Washington, however, claim that members of the Maduro regime and high-ranking officers of the Venezuelan Armed Forces are heading a criminal drug trafficking enterprise called the 'Cartel de Los Soles'–or Cartel of the Suns–which the Trump administration alleges is responsible for the transportation of illicit narcotics into the United States.
Tensions in the South Caribbean have also gained the attention of autocratic governments in Eastern Europe, with Putin recently throwing his support behind the isolated Maduro in Venezuela, agreeing to further "strategic cooperation" with the South American nation in the face of growing U.S. threats.
Lukashenko, in an interview with Greta Van Susteren of Newsmax, also offered Maduro a welcoming hand, stating, "If Maduro wishes to come [to Belarus], the doors are open" should Maduro decide to step down from power.
Lukashenko did, however, note that no discussions on the matter have taken place.
Lukashenko also warned the Trump administration of risking another "Vietnam" in Venezuela, saying, "It would be a second Vietnam. So there is no need to start a war there. It is possible to reach an agreement... This is not what the U.S. wants. This is not what Trump wants either."
Lukashenko and the Belarusian Republic have long maintained friendly relations with the Venezuelan government since the era of Hugo Chávez.
Lukashenko, during his interview with Newsmax, predicts that "Maduro is not the person who will leave everything and go, He will not resign and leave or flee, he is a strong man, he is a Chavista, he is like Chávez, he is strong."
