Putin is also moving to Latin America to respond to NATO’s eastward advance
Not only Ukraine. Russia is moving with increasing determination in different theaters. From the Middle East to Southeast Asia, from Africa to South America, Moscow moves its pawns in an ambitious way and challenges the United States and the West at different latitudes. The Russian perspective is clear: with the United States and NATO coming to disturb us at our doorstep, we are going to disturb them at their doorstep.
Recently, Russia has made diplomatic proposals to countries like Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil and Argentina. Last month, a senior Russian diplomat, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, said that he would not have ruled out the sending of military resources to Cuba or Venezuela. A comment that the US State Department dismissed as a braggart in reaction to what is happening on the Eastern front of Europe but that the Kremlin seems to take very seriously.
On the other hand, Ryabkov compared the current tensions over Ukraine with the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when the Soviet Union distributed missiles to Cuba and the United States imposed a naval blockade around the island. But there is no need to go back to the Cuban missile crisis to outline the Russian presence in Latin America and in particular on the Caribbean island. Shortly after his first election in 2000, Vladimir Putin closed a Soviet-origin military surveillance facility in Cuba and has intensified contacts with Cuba in recent years.
Russia’s ties extend beyond Cuba and Venezuela
And not just with Cuba. In December 2018, he briefly sent a pair of his Tu-160 nuclear-capable bombers in Venezuela in a show of support for President Nicolas Maduro. Just as it has strong roots in Nicaragua, another country certainly not an example of democracy. But also elsewhere, in the more democratic countries of the area, Russia is very present. On the other hand, the United States has decreased its presence in Latin America, and it seems that Latin America is no longer important to the United States. So when some Latin American leaders like Brazilian President Bolsonaro or Argentine President Fernandez, they often visit Putin. A message also addressed to Washington and a request for attention.
Putin’s barrage of personal diplomacy directed at Latin America is based on ties that date back to the Cold War and sheds light on the global nature of his ambitions: to exert influence even on distant regions. He is stepping up his commitment and building links with an expanding swath of the Western Hemisphere, including countries like Brazil and Argentina traditionally close to Washington. During the pandemic, as wealthy nations stocked up on Covid-19 vaccines, the Kremlin seized another opportunity by exporting its serum to the region, just as it did from China. In at least five Latin American countries – Argentina, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Paraguay – the Russian Sputnik V vaccine was the first to arrive.
But Russia was also instrumental in arming its closest allies in Latin America. Russia has sold weapons and tanks to Cuba and Nicaragua, aircraft and anti-missile systems to Venezuela. It has also held bilateral military exercises with Venezuela. While China focuses on investment, Russia’s specialty in the region has been political support for countries that are becoming isolated on the global stage. Putin has been a diplomatic lifeline for the authoritarian leaders of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. But also for Bolsonaro.
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