Since passage of Sen. [[John McCain]]'s [[Magnitsky Act]], also known as the Russia sanctions bill which was signed into law by [[Barack Obama]] in an attempt to cripple the Russian Federation, Russia has been driven back into competition with the [[military-industrial complex]] It has provided arms and materiel to various communist groups, including [[Angola]], and has voiced a desire to reconnect with Latin America shortly before the FSLN regained power in Nicaragua and has supported [[Nicaragua]] via foreign aid, shipping tanks, and even posting a GLONASS tracking station on the Caribbean coast, alongside similar arming of North Korea.<ref>https://westernfreepress.com/is-vladimir-putin-a-communist/</ref><ref>https://www.trevorloudon.com/2017/12/is-vladimir-putin-a-communist/</ref> Putin is a close ally of the [[Venezuela]]'s Marxist Dictator [[Nicolás Maduro]] which he defends internationally.<ref>https://www.dw.com/es/la-alianza-estrat%C3%A9gica-de-maduro-y-putin/a-46618225</ref><ref>https://www.infobae.com/america/venezuela/2019/06/06/vladimir-putin-volvio-a-respaldar-a-maduro-y-dijo-que-sus-asesores-militares-cumpliran-las-obligaciones-de-rusia-en-venezuela/</ref> He also indicated that he still keeps his KGB card while citing his contemporaries within the KGB had discarded theirs after the USSR's fall.<ref>https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/putin-his-communist-party-membership-card-i-still-keep-it-home</ref> | Since passage of Sen. [[John McCain]]'s [[Magnitsky Act]], also known as the Russia sanctions bill which was signed into law by [[Barack Obama]] in an attempt to cripple the Russian Federation, Russia has been driven back into competition with the [[military-industrial complex]] It has provided arms and materiel to various communist groups, including [[Angola]], and has voiced a desire to reconnect with Latin America shortly before the FSLN regained power in Nicaragua and has supported [[Nicaragua]] via foreign aid, shipping tanks, and even posting a GLONASS tracking station on the Caribbean coast, alongside similar arming of North Korea.<ref>https://westernfreepress.com/is-vladimir-putin-a-communist/</ref><ref>https://www.trevorloudon.com/2017/12/is-vladimir-putin-a-communist/</ref> Putin is a close ally of the [[Venezuela]]'s Marxist Dictator [[Nicolás Maduro]] which he defends internationally.<ref>https://www.dw.com/es/la-alianza-estrat%C3%A9gica-de-maduro-y-putin/a-46618225</ref><ref>https://www.infobae.com/america/venezuela/2019/06/06/vladimir-putin-volvio-a-respaldar-a-maduro-y-dijo-que-sus-asesores-militares-cumpliran-las-obligaciones-de-rusia-en-venezuela/</ref> He also indicated that he still keeps his KGB card while citing his contemporaries within the KGB had discarded theirs after the USSR's fall.<ref>https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/putin-his-communist-party-membership-card-i-still-keep-it-home</ref> |