Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev promised “comprehensive support” to Russian allies in Latin America against U.S. “interference” during a meeting with officials from Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua, hosted in Managua” yesterday, according to the Miami Herald.
Patrushev, a top Russian security official and ally of President Vladimir Putin, met with Raul Castro in Havana before his visit to Nicaragua, and is also due to visit Bolivia and Venezuela, reports Reuters.
Patrushev traveled with officials from Russian spy agencies like the Federal Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service in addition to officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and other government agencies, according to Russian media, despite the fact that “the presence of intelligence officials in Russian delegations abroad is rarely disclosed by the country’s state media,” notes the Miami Herald.
“Moscow will continue within the framework of existing means to prevent interference in the internal affairs of your countries, campaigns to discredit their legitimate authorities, intimidate their populations and destabilize their economies," said, according to Russia's TASS state news agency.
More Regional Relations
Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “Putin is not nearly as isolated as U.S. officials had hoped,” reports the New York Times, citing Brazil’s stance on the conflict. “Russia’s inherent strength, rooted in its vast supplies of oil and natural gas, has powered a financial and political resilience that threatens to outlast Western opposition. In parts of Asia, Africa and South America, his influence is as strong as ever or even growing.”
Brazil
Former President Jair Bolsonaro led a rally in São Paulo on Sunday — but he was subdued, and focused more on defending himself than attacking others. “Bolsonaro seems to recognize that the political reality in Brazil has shifted: That he remains the spiritual leader of a powerful conservative movement, but he is so boxed in by legal trouble that his own political career is probably finished,” writes Brian Winter in Americas Quarterly. (See Monday’s post.)
Brazil’s development bank, BNDES, announced it would partner with the world's biggest financial climate coalition, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, to turbocharge funding for clean energy and efforts to restore nature, such as reforesting the Amazon rainforest, reports Reuters.
The Economist criticizes Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s diplomatic efforts, saying he “has undermined his administration’s successes with unscripted remarks, and a naive desire to appear chummy with autocrats and democrats alike.“
Migration
An exodus of nearly 8 million Venezuelan migrants has boosted the economies of other countries across South America, according to studies published by the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the UN Agency for Refugees. The research found “the foreign workforce will lift the economies of their main host nations in Latin America and the Caribbean by 0.10-0.25% on average each year,” and that “if access to jobs were increased for Venezuelans migrants the economic benefits could be greater still,” reports the Guardian.
The territorial dispute and rhetorical tensions between Venezuela and Guyana complicate the lives of the estimated 21,676 Venezuelans living in Guyana, writes Jordi Amaral at the Americas Migration Brief. “Contrary to some perceptions, Venezuelan immigrants in Guyana have not, and do not, pose a security threat to the country. The available data shows they commit crimes at lower rates than their share of the total population, and there is no substantiated reason to believe they represent a hidden threat to the country’s borders and sovereignty.”
Colombia
Former warlord Salvatore Mancuso — found responsible for more than 1,500 murders and cases of forced disappearance — returned to Colombia yesterday, “after serving a drug-trafficking sentence in the United States and being denied several requests to be sent to Italy, where he also has citizenship,” reports the Associated Press.
Venezuela
Analysts believe María Corina Machado is unlikely to head the opposition presidential ticket in Venezuela’s elections later this year — nonetheless, “best strategy for Machado, the opposition, and the international community is to remain 100% committed to Machado's candidacy and never publicly discuss alternative scenarios,” argues James Bosworth in Latin America Risk Report.
Chile
“A Chilean environmental court partially reversed a permit allowing Google to build a data center in the country on Tuesday, asking the U.S. company to revise its application to take into account the effects of climate change,” reports Reuters.
Argentina
An Argentine federal judge ordered the national government to stop withholding Chubut province’s share of federal taxes, a victory for the provincial governor in a funding feud with the national government that has the local government threatening to cut off oil and gas supplies to the rest of the country. (Buenos Aires Herald)
Argentina’s Milei administration banned gender-inclusive language in all official documents and public administration, yesterday. Going forward, “it will not be possible to use the letter ‘e,’ the ‘@’ sign, the ‘x’,” said presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni, adding that people should also “avoid the unnecessary use of the feminine in all public administration documents.” (CNN)
Flora
In the Panamanian rainforest, scientists found the first known plant species to transform decaying tissue into a new source of nutrients — meet the “zombie leaves” — New York Times