MIAMI – Despite the United States opposition to Russia's military involvement in Venezuela, a Russian corporation recently set up a military helicopter training center in partnership with the Venezuelan government.
Russia's Rosoboronexport, a state-owned intermediary agency, and the Venezuelan Company of Military Industries, or CAVIM, the state-owned firearms manufacturer, according to Rostec, the Russian state-owned corporation for the export of advanced technology.
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Rostec reported on Facebook that the center will allow Venezuelan pilots to train to fly Mi-17V-5, Mi-35M and Mi-26T helicopters with simulator control center.
"The center makes the training of pilots safer, more efficient and reduces the cost significantly," the statement says.
Russian military personnel is working with Venezuelan military pilots despite U.S. warnings against offering military support to embattled President Nicolas Maduro's administration. President Donald Trumps' national security adviser John Bolton has said he views the support as a threat.
"We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations," Bolton said Friday. "We will consider such provocative actions as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region."
