Latin American Presidents to Take Part in Russia's WWII Memorial

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro arrived in the Russian capital of Moscow Friday, ready to take part in the country's special Victory Day celebrations scheduled for May 9. 

Cuban leader Raul Castro will also attend the celebrations, but arrived in Moscow earlier this week to hold meetings with Russian president Vladimir Putin and discuss further bilateral cooperation.

“We come on behalf of the great Bolivarian homeland, we come to deliver all our historical recognition of the great Russian nation … The victory belonged to the Red Army and the Soviet people,” said Maduro upon his arrival to the capital. 

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A series of celebrations have been planned in the capital to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, marking the end of World War II. 

The main celebration will be a military event involving 16,500 Russian troops, 190 tanks and armored vehicles as well as 140 aircraft, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. 

Presidents Maduro and Castro will be among the 27 foreign dignitaries and heads of state who will be attending the ceremonies. Among them will also be United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, as well as leaders from Egypt, Vietnam, India, South Africa and the Czech Republic.   

Despite the impressive guest list, several western leaders declined President Putin's invitation, such as the British prime minister David Cameron, United States president Barack Obama, Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite and Swedish prime minister Stefan Lofven. 

Some media have reported that their lack of attendance is a deliberate boycott of the Russian events because of tensions over the conflict in Ukraine. 

However, the declined invitations could also be because of conflicting events, such as major VE Day celebrations planned in Washington, the Latin American Economic Forum, and the UK national elections, whose results were only announced Friday.       

On May 8, 1945, the allied countries accepted Nazi Germany's surrender, bringing an end to the six year war that killed millions and left most of Europe in shambles. After the surrender, and a document was signed in Berlin late in the evening, the Soviet government announced the victory to its population in the early morning hours on May 9. 

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