The armies of Nicaragua and Venezuela will conduct military exercises aimed at training their air and naval forces, reported on Thursday official sources in Managua.

The military exercises will take place in Nicaragua from May 1 to June 30, with the presence of about 30 Venezuelan soldiers and an unspecified number of ships and planes of the Venezuelan Air Force, DPA reported.

The participation of Venezuelan troops was authorized on Wednesday by the Nicaraguan parliament as required under the Constitution, said Sandinista deputy René Núñez, who is the speaker of the Chamber.

Nicaragua and Venezuela strengthened their diplomatic and trade relations in 2007, after the return of Daniel Ortega to the government and the accession of the Central American country to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).

Source: El Universal