The reaction of Latin American leaders to the Russian invasion in Ukraine

By Xavier Rodríguez Franco / Latin America21

Tensions on Ukraine’s eastern border led to Russia’s massive invasion on February 24, the latest of 28 military incursions outside its borders since 1991. During the first 48 hours of hostilities, the reactions of the governments of the world were immediate, especially through the social media. The Latin American governments, for the most part, categorically rejected the use of force in the resolution of the conflict, however, as expected, the authoritarianisms of the region closed ranks in support of Russia.

Latin American voices in the Security Council

Within the predominant diplomatic position of condemning the invasion, Mexico and Brazil stand out. These are non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and since the early hours of Thursday the 24th they have been holding emergency sessions in order to generate a resolution that allows, above all, a ceasefire. So far this has not been achieved, since Russia has exercised the right of veto despite being the only vote against the resolution.

In these deliberations, both the spokesperson for the representative of Brazil, Ronaldo Costa Filho, and the Mexican ambassador, Alicia Buenrostro, agreed -despite the ideological differences between the two governments- in rejecting what they called a “blatant violation of international law ”. Both stressed the importance of returning to negotiations, to compliance with the Minsk agreements, and warned of the human cost that this armed incursion will cause. Even the Mexican diplomat directly questioned the Russian representative Vasili Alekseyevich Nebenzia for having assured several times that Russia would not invade Ukraine.

In addition to these pronouncements, governments such as Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru They have coordinated efforts since Friday, February 25, to collaborate in the logistical work of evacuating their nationals in Ukraine or in Eastern European nations.

In Latin America, meanwhile, the movements of the opposing powers have been glimpsed. The same day that the aerial bombardment began, the newly appointed Minister of Defense of Honduras, José Zelaya, received in Tegucigalpa the general commander of the Southern Command of the United States, Laura Richardson, who offered military aid to the new government. For his part, the president of the Russian Parliament, Viacheslav Volodin, met in Havana with the Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel. Some anecdotal images, but that seem to make clear the trends and alliances that the governments of the region have in the face of international events.

discordant voices

The immediate diplomatic reaction has been mostly rejection of the use of force by the Russian government. However, in the case of Bolivian President Luis Arce, he made a pale call for peace without further qualifying the conflict, while the mediatic President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who has questioned the credibility of the United States before the Russian offensive, has not yet made a statement.

As expected, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela They “closed ranks” openly supporting Russia’s military actions, following in their official statements the line of argument that this country seeks to liberate Ukraine from fascism and defend pro-Russian minorities from an alleged “genocide” in progress led by the Ukrainian government. In this way, these governments, of undeniable dictatorial drift, approach positions with one of the few international allies that they still maintain.

These views are aligned with the Kremlin-sponsored propagandist narrative. Some official social media accounts of these governments even openly spread the versions of Russian media such as RT or Sputnik -vetoed by the European Union and Facebook-, as well as other media ideologically aligned with Russia, such as Telesur and Al Mayaden.

This notorious discrepancy reveals an open distance from two of the guiding principles of international law: the principle of self-determination and the rejection of the use of force to resolve conflicts. In this way, the distancing of these radical leftist tyrannies from the new democratic leftist governments in the region is also evident.

These discordant statements, however, are minority and contrast with the diplomatic messages of the majority of the governments of the region rejecting the unjustified use of force and the search for a peaceful resolution to a conflict that continues to leave victims in its wake. (OR)

Xavier Rodríguez Franco, political scientist. producer of the podcast from Latin America21. He graduated from the Central University of Venezuela and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Master in Latin American Studies from the University of Salamanca. Publisher of Parlamundi Venezuela. www.latinoamerica21.com, plural media committed to the dissemination of critical opinion and truthful information about Latin America. Follow us on @latinamerica21.