In addition to Brazil, Russian Foreign Minister will visit Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, announced this Thursday (13) that, in addition to visiting Brazil during his trip to Latin America in the second half of April, he will visit Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, three leftist dictatorships. and key Kremlin allies in the region.

“We defend the strengthening of Russian-Latin American cooperation based on mutual support, solidarity and taking into account the interests of each other”, wrote Lavrov in an article published by the Mexican magazine Buzos de la Noticia.

In the text, reproduced on the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lavrov highlighted the strategic relationship with Brasilia, Caracas, Havana and Managua.

“The rapidly changing geopolitical landscape opens up new possibilities for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and the countries of Latin America. The latter play an increasingly prominent role in the multipolar world,” she emphasized.

Lavrov claimed that Moscow does not want Latin America and the Caribbean to become a space of antagonism between the powers, since it bases its foreign policy not on ideology, as was the case of the Soviet Union, but on pragmatism.

As an example, he stressed that, despite sanctions and political pressure, Russian exports to the region increased by 3.8%, while wheat supplies jumped by 48.8%.

The head of Russian diplomacy noted that 27 Latin American countries have now signed visa-free regimes with Russia, and the number of Latin American students studying at Russian higher education institutions has increased.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to Moscow when he received special adviser Celso Amorim at the Kremlin.

Later, Lula guaranteed that during his visit to Beijing he would propose to the Chinese dictator, Xi Jinping, the promotion of dialogue for the restoration of peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro has offered Putin “full support” since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia and Venezuela celebrated the 78th anniversary of their diplomatic relations on March 14, ties that were strengthened with the advent of chavismo in 1999.

Cuban dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel showed support for Putin in his confrontation with the West by visiting Russia in December 2022, after which he also condemned the arrest warrant issued against the Kremlin chief by the International Criminal Court (ICC) .

At the end of March, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada met in Moscow with Lavrov and claimed that Russia has the right to guarantee its “integrity”.