“Nobody expected the war to start like it did, overnight,” Álvaro Casavilca tells BBC Mundo.
This 26-year-old Peruvian student was surprised by the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where he is pursuing a master’s degree in science governance.
But the outbreak of war has left him and other Latin American students in Russia in a precarious situation.
“Since the sanctions were imposed on Russia, my credit card has stopped working in many places. And since the ruble keeps devaluing, it is more difficult for those of us who work to send money to help our families.”
His is just one of the cases of Latin American students who have been caught by the situation resulting from the war in Russia.
According to official Russian figures, around 278,000 international students were enrolled in the country in 2017the last one for which there is public data.
And according to a report on the official page Study in Russia“the highest growth rate is in Latin America, which had an increase of 28% (4,404 people)”.
Most come from Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil.
an unexpected crisis
Álvaro lives with several of them at the Moscow Higher School of Economics, one of the most prestigious academic centers in the country.
The story of most is very similar. They chose to study in Russia because they were attracted to the country and accessed scholarships from the Russian government.
But now they’ve found at the center of a geopolitical turmoil of unpredictable outcome.
Paraguayan Marcelo Chelo is studying a master’s degree in Political Science at the same Moscow university.
When he arrived in the Russian capital last December, he did not imagine some of the scenes experienced in recent days.
“When the sanctions were announced, many Russians panicked and rushed to ATMs to withdraw all their money,” he says.
“The first day of sanctions I had to go to five different ATMs to withdraw money.”
Then came a trickle of added problems. “You can hardly pay anything with your phone anymore, and Apple Pay and other payment applications have stopped working,” says Casavilca, who like the other Latino students now has much more difficult to receive money from their families.
You have already realized the impact that sanctions have on citizens in general. “I had some job interviews, but they have all been cancelled.”
looking for alternatives
Guatemalan Mónica López, who is studying a master’s degree in International Management in Moscow, has developed her own strategy.
“I am afraid one day I will arrive at the ATM and not be able to withdraw money, so I keep a mattress in cash and I have the rest distributed in the banks that have not been sanctioned”, he told BBC Mundo.
According to his story, in many ATMs there are already restrictions on cash withdrawals. “But the main problem is the devaluation of the ruble; many companies are suffering here because of that.”
Also many students like them.
“Many decided to leave on the advice of their embassies, especially the Europeans, who were the first to leave,” says Casavilca, who sees with envy that students from other countries have the support of their governments.
“We have gone to the Peruvian Consulate in search of a solution or support, but so far we have not had any concrete response.”
The Peruvian government sent a military plane to evacuate its nationals in Ukraine, but there are no initiatives to support those in Russia.
It will have been the end of a most eventful academic experience.
The first course in many graduate programs is devoted entirely to learning the Russian language, but in 2020 the pandemic forced it to be taken entirely online.
After the pandemic, the war has come.
Caught up
If getting money has become difficult, It has also been difficult to leave the country.
“The closure of European airspace due to sanctions has left us with fewer routes and has made tickets more expensive,” laments Casavilca.
Mónica López, who plans to return to her country to complete some paperwork, has had to fit many pieces together to complete the journey: “I will fly from Moscow to Turkey, from there to the United States and finally to Guatemala”. There was no other way.
But perhaps the worst thing for them is worry.
“In the first week of the war I couldn’t go to university because I couldn’t concentrate,” says Marcelo Chelo.
And that concern reaches their relatives in their countries of origin.
Emilio Villaseñor, a Mexican student of International Relations, says: “I had to reassure them, because they saw some tabloid news and they think that the war is about to reach Moscow.”
In 2019, the Russian Embassy in Mexico invited him to participate in a literary meeting in Artet, on the disputed Crimean peninsula, and he liked the experience so much that he decided to apply for a scholarship to study in Russia, which he was finally granted.
Now he has many Russian friends. “I don’t know anyone who is in favor of war”bill.
“The Russians are afraid that this could escalate and a direct confrontation with Western powers,” he says.
Although everyone describes a situation of relative calm in the Russian capital, Monica now avoids leaving the university at night to avoid the spontaneous protests organized in different parts of the city.
Casavilca assures that “the young Russians are the ones who most oppose the intervention in Ukraine and the ones who are protesting the most”.
“The students are upset because they feel that there are doors that are closed to them with this war and the sanctions,” says Mónica López.
For Latin American students there are no advantages in the current situation either.
“We came here with a project in search of opportunities in a developed country and now we see that this project is cut short”Casavilca laments.
But, despite the fact that many others decided to leave, they have chosen to stay in Moscow.
“If the situation changes, then I would take action, but for now I feel safe here and I will continue to focus on my studies”, concludes Mónica López. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
