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Disinfo: Venezuelan 'refugees' are being trained at a British military base in Guyana to infiltrate their country

Summary

Several dozen so-called “refugees” from Venezuela are being trained at a British military base in Guyana to integrate reconnaissance and sabotage teams against the government of Nicolás Maduro. The United Kingdom is completing the construction of that base on an island in the mouth of the Essequibo River under the pretext of thwarting arms and drugs smugglers.

Disproof

No evidence is provided to support the claim. No British base is being built in Guyana so far. On August 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guyana strongly denied the allegation and called on Russia to withdraw it. In late December 2018, Britain’s Secretary of State for Defence, Gavin Williamson, declared during an interview with the Sunday Telegraph that his Government was looking for two new permanent military bases in the Caribbean and South East Asia, as part of an effort to make the UK “a truly global player” after Brexit. The same newspaper speculated that the location for those bases could be either Singapore or Brunei in Asia, and either Guyana or Montserrat in the Caribbean. Almost immediately, the announcement was criticized by Russia’s Foreign Ministry. But there is nothing to signal that this project is already under construction, much less than Venezuelan refugees are being trained by British forces.

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Sputnik Spain (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 161
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 15/08/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Spanish, Castilian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Venezuela, UK
  • Keywords: Nicolas Maduro
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Aug 14, 2019
Disproof

Conspiracy theory based on recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about US-funded "colour revolutions" and US and its global role. Similar disinformation messages also appeared in cases of Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus and Venezuela. The protests in Moscow started in July after the election committee banned opposition candidates from running for the elections to the city council - the Moscow City Duma, disqualifying their ballots because of what officials claimed were irregularities in the 5,000 signatures each had to gather to run. The protesters also demanded the right to fair elections and the right to free assembly. The Russian state officials and the media, however, circulated the message that the protests were organised by the U.S. embassy in Moscow. The reason for this claim was a message (a demonstration alert) published on an official website of the Embassy on 2 August. This alert, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, amounted to U.S. interference in Russian affairs. The U.S. embassy's message, however, was addressed to U.S. citizens living in the Russian capital and warned of an unauthorised protest and a likely heavy police presence, suggesting that Americans avoid the area. Such alerts are a regular practice of U.S. and other embassies to inform their own citizens of different public protests and other mass events. The US is not a party to the European Convention of Human Rights, and thus has no relations or influence to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Recently Russia's voting rights in the Council of Europe were restored, which means its citizens can appeal to the EHCR if a state violates their rights. Russian officials have long been accusing the U.S. of organising protests in Russia, especially since the 2011-12 protests when thousands of Russian came on to the streets to protest against Putin's decision to return to the Presidency after being Prime Minister from 2008-2012.

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Aug 14, 2019
Disproof

Disinformation message, which involves recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about the Skripal poisoning.

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Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the INF Treaty. NATO stated that Russia bears sole responsibility for the demise of the INF Treaty because it has produced, tested and deployed the 9M729 missile, which violates the Treaty. The US has gathered detailed information on Russia’s flight-testing of the 9M792 missile to distances well over 500 kilometres and has spent almost six years in dialogues with Russia to try to resolve Russia’s non-compliance. However, Russia consistently refused to address US and NATO concerns. In July 2014, the then-US President Obama officially accused Russia of testing a missile in violation of the INF Treaty, which prohibits the US or Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of between 500 and 5500 kilometres. In March 2017, a senior US military official accused Russia of deploying the new missile, which posed a threat to NATO and facilities within the NATO area of responsibility. Russia’s violations were also acknowledged by the NATO Foreign Ministers in a meeting in Brussels on 4 December 2018. In a joint statement released after the meeting held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on 4 and 5 December 2018, NATO Foreign Ministers stated that “Allies have concluded that Russia has developed and fielded a missile system, the 9M729, which violates the INF Treaty and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security.”