Putin's Speech Reflects Latin America Is 'A Priority' for Russia: Experts

At the inauguration of the Russia-Latin America Parliamentary Conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured that the region will have a leading role in world politics and declared that Moscow will cooperate to make this happen. Sputnik spoke with members of the Mexican delegation to Russia and specialists about his speech and the state of the bilateral relationship.

On Friday, during the conference, Vladimir Putin emphasized the "friendly relations" between his country and Latin America, praising the region's aspirations for an independent and sovereign foreign policy, as well as its enormous economic potential and human resources.

"Even now Latin American countries are showing a pattern of success in the gradual formation of a multipolar system of international relations based on equality, justice, respect for international law and the legitimate interests of everyone," the Russian president said.

According to the politician Valeria Flores, leader of the Workers' Party and member of the Mexican delegation that traveled to Moscow for the event, Putin's message reflected Russia's commitment to the region, far from Washington's designs and with the goal of achieving the development of the people.

"President Putin referred to the shared visions and common challenges that Russia and Latin America have, both in economic issues, as well as in geopolitical and cultural issues, but emphasizing that joining forces will be the most effective way to achieve the welfare of citizens. This is something I consider very important, since Latin Americans and Russians are facing a giant that has historically conditioned and plundered us, which is of course the United States," said Flores in an interview with Sputnik.

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For his part, Antonio Attolini, activist of the National Regeneration Movement , who also participated in the meeting, highlighted the historicist character of Putin's speech, in which he recalled important Latin American figures who fought from politics for the sovereignty of their countries.

"President Putin recognized the ongoing struggle of Latin American countries to find their own path to development, in their unrestricted defense of sovereignty and the right to self-determination," he said.

"President Putin spoke about Salvador Allende, about Fidel Castro, he even recalled that in the many years in which President Putin was able to meet Fidel Castro, his impression was always that Castro was a big leader who reflected the best values of humanity. He also spoke of Simon Bolivar and this provoked effusive reactions of applause and recognition from many of the Latin American delegations present at the conference," said Attolini.

"It was a speech of the highest level, which made the audience understand the level of priority that the relationship with Latin America has for the Russian State and for its legislative branch," he added.

In his speech, the Russian president called on Latin American countries to join the BRICS, a group to which Brazil belongs and Argentina will join in 2024, along with the host country Russia, China, India and South Africa, in what he called a context in which a new polycentric architecture is being created, referring to the multipolar dynamic led by Moscow and Beijing.

"The voters' sentiment in all Latin American countries is such that they want freedom and independence. And this should be taken into account by all political parties in the Latin American region," Putin said.

According to international relations scholar Juan Daniel Garay, professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Russian president used the platform to point out a path in Latin America of closer cooperation with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union in all areas, as well as facilitating true geopolitical and economic autonomy for the region.

"President Putin's words are a call for the continent to continue to move away from Washington's hegemony and its impositions, as it has been doing since the beginning of the new century in the vast majority of countries, explaining that this rapprochement with Russia, but also with organizations such as the BRICS, will bear fruit and is the true path to achieving sovereignty," he explained.

According to the expert, this good harmony between Russia and Latin America was demonstrated, among other things, by the fact that Moscow sent tens of millions of Sputnik V vaccines to Latin American countries when Western nations were stockpiling their antigens exclusively for them in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, is perfectly logical.

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He added that Russia has always been an ally and unlike other powers, has never carried out harmful actions against population, much less participated in the colonization of lands; on the contrary, it has helped countries that the US has marginalized and sanctioned, such as Cuba or Venezuela.

"I believe that Latin America has recently shown that it does not follow the orders of the United States and Europe. Its relations with Russia have become stronger than ever, and proof of this is that the region did not pay attention to the West when it demanded to turn its back on Moscow because of the conflict [in Ukraine], showing absolute diplomatic independence. There are different ways to conduct foreign policy, not only the one indicated by Washington, and Latin America is showing it," Garay pointed out.

In this sense, Attolini points out that Latin America has set a great example, not only by refusing to align itself with policies that run counter to its interests, but also by showing that not all governments buy into Western media propaganda that portrays Russia in a negative light.

Therefore, he said, it is positive that Russian and Latin American lawmakers are having face-to-face dialogues away from the media noise, because "they will realize that there are more similarities than differences" between them.

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According to Flores, Putin's call for Latin American countries to join the BRICS, a group that at its last meeting at the end of August announced that in addition to Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates will join the bloc, should make Mexico, which continues to refuse to participate due to its free trade agreement with the US and Canada, known as T-MEC.

"I think Mexico should analyze more deeply the possibility of joining this group, because that is where the world is going, away from the United States and with exchanges and alliances that are not dictated from one place," the activist said.

She added that the country has "sacrificed a lot of blood and effort in its revolutions and independence struggles," so the rulers must take this into account and help the nation have more economic and commercial freedom.