Venezuela promises to facilitate Abkhazia's ties with Latin America

SUKHUMI, February 18. /TASS/. Venezuela is ready to support Abkhazia in developing ties with other Latin American and Caribbean countries, the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, citing the South American nation's foreign minister, Delcy Rodriguez. Rodriguez made the following statement in Caracas during a conversation with Abkhaz Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Arshba, currently on a visit to Venezuela. Abkhazia highly appreciates "the courageous step taken by Venezuela’s leadership in the person of Hugo Chavez, who decided to recognise Abkhazia in September 2009", Arshba said, expressing hope that other Latin American nations would follow suit. Rodriguez noted that Venezuela wanted to develop friendly relations with the Republic of Abkhazia, initiated by Hugo Chavez and continued by President Nicolas Maduro. Abkhazia broke away from Georgia in a bloody conflict in the early 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. So far, only six United Nations member states recognised it as a sovereign state. These include Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Nauru. Read more