MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Caracas Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov believes it’s well within the realm of possibility that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was betrayed by the country’s political elites.
Commenting on global media speculations that Maduro and his wife were abducted because Venezuela’s political elites betrayed them, the Russian diplomat said that definitely could be the case. "As for betrayal, it was probably betrayal, it was probably indecisiveness, and, surely, sheer negligence of office duties," he told Russian state television.
"Otherwise, if this was not the case and everything had functioned as usual, the Venezuelans would have had every opportunity to at least inflict some damage on the enemy, both in terms of manpower and weaponry," he said. But this did not happen. "The Americans managed to leave safe and sound, with minor injuries and minor damage."
He also pointed to the fact that Venezuela’s air defense systems, which remained idle during Washington’s attack on Caracas, are human-operated. "They have not yet reached the point where artificial intelligence controls air defense, so the human factor is crucial," he argued.
"The equipment simply wasn't ready for full-scale use, and the enemy's overwhelming technological superiority made it virtually impossible to use," Melik-Bagdasarov emphasized. "As for air defense, that’s only part of the defense, and it would probably be short-sighted to rely solely on these forces. There are a number of other weapons that our Bolivarian friends possess. Why this was not done is rather a question to be addressed to the military."
