Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday embarked on a four-nation Latin American tour seen as sending a defiant message to the US at the close of the George W. Bush presidency.
The tour, including talks with the outgoing US leader, naval exercises off Venezuela and a visit to arch US foe Cuba, has raised fears of renewed Cold War-style rivalry in Latin America, while also attracting skepticism.
“The current level of cooperation could be broader than in the Soviet era. Latin America has already ceased to be the United States’ backyard,” a Russian diplomat told the Russian daily Kommersant ahead of Medvedev’s arrival from Portugal.
“Now the region is following its own line, which gives Russia an opportunity to strengthen our position,” the official said.
Medvedev arrived in Peru early yesterday, meeting Bush at the APEC forum, where Russia’s anti-US stance and absence from the WTO contrasts with most APEC states.
Officials said Bush and Medvedev would discuss the global financial crisis, the August war in Georgia and the touchstone issue of US missile defense plans in eastern Europe.
Today, Medvedev was also to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), whose own Latin American tour this week underlined growing outside interest in the region.
Russian analysts say Moscow’s quest for influence in Latin America is intended to counter US influence in the former Soviet satellites of eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Tomorrow, the Russian leader heads to Brazil, a key trading partner.
On Wednesday, he goes to Venezuela for talks with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a vocal critic of Washington, as Russian warships prepare for joint exercises in the Caribbean Sea.
Russian media say officials will pursue arms and energy deals with Venezuela, whose Russian weapons purchases have prompted concern that arms stockpiles could fall into the hands of leftist rebels in neighboring Colombia.
Lima-based analyst Alejandro Deustua, of the country’s Diplomatic Academy, criticized Russia’s role in South America, saying it was time for Russia to “explain plainly to each South American country what their intentions are with these military exercises.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted Russian weapons sold in Latin America were defensive rather than offensive and that Russian moves were not aimed at “third countries” — a clear reference to the US, RIA Novosti reported.
Medvedev rounds off his tour in Cuba, the flagship ally of the Soviet Union in the Cold War and the US’ communist foe in the western hemisphere since the late 1950s.
Russian energy firms have been seeking projects in Latin America such as possible involvement in a planned South American gas pipeline.
A proposed Russian purchase of Spanish energy company Repsol — a major player in the region — could advance such goals.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS