MOSCOW

THE NUCLEAR-POWERED battle cruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great), the anti-submarine-warfare ship Admiral Chabanenko and their supply ships arrived last week in La Guaira, Venezuela, after leaving Severomorsk, the main base of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet, a month ago. The visit came during Russian President Dmitri Medvedev’s Latin American tour.

The Russian naval squadron conducted exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean en route to Venezuela.

Russian warships, which have never been to Venezuela before, sailed the Caribbean Sea for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

The current Russian show of flag is a simple and effective method of using naval units in peacetime. By being able to dispatch their warships to any specific region, naval powers show that they have strategic interests in that part of the world and display a readiness to defend those interests while forcing rivals to monitor a new potential threat.

This is also the best way to remind the world about the existence of naval powers and to raise their popularity in countries being visited by warships.

The best and most powerful warships always take part in such visits. Recall the number of voyages involving British battleships over the ages.

The arrival of the Russian squadron in La Guaira also illustrated this concept. Moscow’s friendly relations with Caracas are a highly important element of that part of Russian foreign policy meant to enhance the Kremlin’s influence in Latin America.

A recent Russian-Venezuelan exercise involving two Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers and the latest visit have served to improve Moscow’s reputation in Latin America.

Russia and Venezuela conducted a joint naval exercise involving maneuvers, high-seas rescue operations, ship inspections and in-motion refueling and materiel transfers. Naturally, the visit did not threaten U.S. domination of the Caribbean in any way.

Russian warships remained in Venezuela until Monday and then set off for the Indian Ocean around the Cape of Good Hope.

After reaching its new destination, the squadron will conduct exercises with Pacific Fleet warships, namely, the guided-missile cruiser Varyag and the ships Admiral Tributs and Marshal Shaposhnikov.

Instead of merely showing its flag, Russia wants to resume a regular naval presence in the Indian Ocean region, probably the most difficult high-seas theater of war in the world.

It would be pointless to try to use the Pyotr Veliky and the Varyag to fight Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, because this would be a classic case of cracking a nut with a sledgehammer.

Apart from showing the Russian flag and maintaining regular naval presence in key areas of the oceans, this and other voyages make it possible to train ship crews and to enhance combat readiness.

Ilya Kramnik is a military commentator for the Russian News and Information Agency Novosti ( novosti@comcast.net). The opinions are those of the author and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.