América Writing (EFE).- One year after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the president of that country, Volodímir Zelenski, seeks alliances throughout the world to corner Russia further in the international sphere, but in Latin America the be cautious about what it could imply, in the long run, for its stability.
The Ukrainian president has the support of the West well tied, but he needs to go further and in the region he can find historical “friends” of Moscow who, although they have condemned the invasion, have not gone from words to action. And the task is not easy.
Chile condemns Russia’s action
Perhaps the country that is most firm in its condemnation and in its diplomatic willingness has been Chile. Its president, Gabriel Boric, has harshly condemned Russia’s “aggression” and has personally conveyed to Zelenski “all of Chile’s support on humanitarian issues.”
On the first anniversary of the invasion on February 24, Boric sent his “solidarity” to the Ukrainian people and published on his social networks: “Peace must be based on respect for international law and human rights.”
Octavio González, an academic from the Department of Politics and Government of the Alberto Hurtado University in Chile, told EFE that Boric has always been “consistent” and “forceful” in his condemnations of Russia.
“Both the United States and Europe would like the Latin American countries not only to be friends, but above all allies, to impose economic sanctions on Russia and send weapons to Ukraine, which has not happened and I don’t think it will happen,” he said. .
Argentina and his change of mind
At the beginning of the invasion, Argentina had good bilateral relations with Russia, but as the conflict progressed, the government of Alberto Fernández ended up condemning the Russian invasion of that country in various forums and denouncing the enormous economic costs it has caused, especially in Latin America. .
Without going any further, last week Argentina made an “urgent call for a cessation of hostilities” and to resume the negotiating table.
“These types of climbs do not build anything. A ceasefire is needed. The main thing is that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stops,” Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said a few days ago, using more emphatic terms than other governments on the continent.
Latin America: warmth and fear
For his part, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has condemned the invasion of Ukraine, but at the same time has clashed with the Zelenski government for its rejection of sending arms to Kiev and issuing sanctions against Moscow.
Both the president and the people around him “are very ambiguous about Russia, and López Obrador questions the shipment of weapons by the West to Ukraine,” William Jensen, an associate of the Mexican Council for International Affairs (Comexi), told EFE.
“Mexico has a clear position against the war started by Russia in multilateral organizations, especially in the United Nations, but a much more ambiguous position at the bilateral level or specific actions by Mexico, sanctions against Russia,” he said.
Ukraine accuses AMLO
Myjailo Podolyak, Zelenski’s senior adviser, accused López Obrador in September of preparing “a Russian plan” for his proposal to the UN to create a war mediation committee led by Pope Francis, but the Mexican insisted on it last week. past: “Everyone talks, even the staunch enemies,” he defended in his morning press conference.
For Enrique Serrano, historian and principal professor at the Faculty of International Political and Urban Studies at the Universidad del Rosario (Feipu) in Colombia, “what will be seen in Latin America is a stage of uncertainty regarding what would be the effective support to the Ukrainian cause,” he told EFE.
This, above all, due to the business that some Latin American countries have directly with Russia, which could be affected.
Brazil, the diplomatic position of Latin America
This is the case of Brazil, which has maintained good diplomatic and commercial relations with Russia both during the administration of Jair Bolsonaro and that of its current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Despite the ideological differences between the two, neither of them joined the economic sanctions against Moscow.
In addition, Brazil is a large importer of Russian fertilizers, necessary to maintain high productivity in Brazilian agriculture, and is also a partner of the Kremlin in the BRICS forum.
The South American giant then clings to the traditional diplomatic position, which gives priority to negotiation and dialogue for the resolution of conflicts, from a declared position of neutrality.
Within this framework, Lula has avoided any type of condemnation of Russia, although he has gone further and suggested that Ukraine also has some “responsibility” in the conflict.
Latin America and the condemnation of the war
At the UN, Brazilian diplomacy has condemned the invasion and last week supported the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly that demands the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops, however, the Brazilian government rejected the possibility of sending Ukraine ammunition for Leopard tanks, as requested by Germany in January.
Lula has urged the international community to work for peace and criticized the fact that, up to now, there are almost no initiatives to promote dialogue between the two nations in conflict.
The Brazilian president proposed the creation of a group of countries, among which he pointed out China, India and Brazil itself, who together with the United States, Germany and France would work towards that objective, but the initiative has not been successful.
The academic Octavio González also pointed out that “the progressive governments of Latin America seek to separate from both Europe and the United States. It is about the resurgence of Latin American autonomism in which more independent opinions can be seen and that seek their own space in the international concert ”, he concluded.
Petro’s distance
Colombia, for its part, has maintained, since Gustavo Petro took office, a prudent distance from the war and the president has called for negotiations to resolve the conflict through dialogue, but without interfering too much.
In one of the few public pronouncements, at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) in January, Petro reiterated that he will not support the war and will not send weapons.
“In past years, Colombia bought Russian war material, helicopters, for its own purposes inside the country,” he said, and confessed that the US requested that they deliver these materials, which Colombia does not use, to send them to Ukraine.
But Petro claimed, for the sake of peace, that this material was going to remain “as scrap” and that they would not hand over “Russian weapons to continue a war in Ukraine.”
