Maduro gives Simon Bolivar’s SWORD to Putin, hits Red Square, hails cooperation with Russia (VIDEOS)

After an ‘extraordinary workday’ with Russian President Vladimir Putin that saw him presenting a replica of Simon Bolivar’s saber to the Russian leader, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro took time to enjoy Moscow’s iconic Red Square.

A video posted on Maduro’s official Twitter account shows the Venezuelan president and his entourage braving the cold weather and taking a stroll in the heart of the Russian capital on Wednesday night.

In the video, Maduro sends greetings to Venezuelans and announces the ratification of a strategic cooperation map with Russia “to culminate [in a] victorious 2019 and ensure prosperity in future years.”

The updated cooperation framework was ironed out during a bilateral meeting at the Kremlin earlier in the day. This featured high-ranking Venezuelan and Russian officials, and Putin noted that he was “glad” to be able “to continue… direct personal contacts” with Maduro.

Despite the “difficult situation” facing the Venezuelan economy, which has been throttled by layers of crippling US economic sanctions, trade between Russia and Venezuela grew some 10 percent in recent months, Putin said, adding that the increase was due to mutual exports, including agricultural products.

In addition to farm products shipped from Russia to Venezuela, which are “essential” in a time of food shortages, Moscow also supplies medicine, having recently delivered 1.5 million doses of the influenza vaccine, Putin said.

The highlight of the meeting was the gift-giving ceremony, which saw Maduro presenting Putin with a replica of the saber used by Simon Bolivar, leader of the independence movement in the early 19th century that saw much of South America liberated from Spanish rule.

Maduro said that the saber was modeled on one that Bolivar used in the 1821 Battle of Carabobo, a key moment in the Venezuelan War of Independence, and was given to Putin “in gratitude for his support for Venezuela, and his respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples.”

It was the first meeting of the two leaders since the US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself “interim president” of Venezuela in January. Putin and Maduro had met the month before, in December 2018, when Caracas and Moscow signed some $5 billion worth of contracts related to oil production.

It has been reported that Russian companies have now agreed to invest up to $1 billion in mining projects in Venezuela. In total, Russia has invested about $4 billion in the Venezuelan economy, according to Putin.

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