Russia Pushes to Deepen Ties in Latin America

On what appears to be a hurriedly organized tour of Latin America, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is using growing relationships in the region to demonstrate that Russia has allies around the world, even as the West pressures Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine.  

 

At his first stop in Havana, Cuba, Lavrov decried the overthrow of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich as a Western-backed coup. He also promised to reinvest into Cuba the remaining 10 percent of Havana's debt to Russia that Moscow did not forgive in December 2013. In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega made statements in opposition to Western sanctions against Moscow — comments echoed by Peruvian officials in the lead-up to Lavrov's visit there. 

 

As Lavrov travels on from Nicaragua to Peru and Chile, he will push for concrete steps to build bilateral negotiations, including sales of military equipment. But for Moscow, Lavrov's trip to Latin America primarily serves as an opportunity to demonstrate positive ties with countries in the immediate U.S. sphere of influence at a time when Russia is under a great deal of international pressure.