Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become accustomed to being the star guest at any Western international summit. Often, by surprise. In person or virtually. But, at the summit that starts today in Brussels between the EU and the Latin American and Caribbean countries, it is neither on the agenda, nor is it expected.
Zelenski's attendance would be a major surprise. The Ukrainian leader expressly requested the EU to be invited so that he could personally explain to the American leaders the vision as an attacked country and convince them to support Ukraine without the ambiguities that have been seen from the other side of the Atlantic
However, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) said no to Zelenski's presence. The presidency of Celac currently rests with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a Caribbean island state member of the Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (ALBA), an organization controlled in practice by Chavista Venezuela, one of Russia's staunch allies on the continent Although, beyond the fact, it is impossible for the Zelenski veto to have taken place without the approval of the three largest countries in the region, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, all of whom have ample reason not to get involved much in the war in Ukraine.
In addition, CELAC did not want the Ukrainian conflict to appear in the final declaration of the summit, which will be made public tomorrow, according to the drafts exchanged in the previous weeks. It is likely that in the end some mention of the war on European territory will be included, although it might not go much beyond the reference included in the text approved by the March Ibero-American Summit in the Dominican Republic, where Zelenski did not go either. Then, despite pressure from Spain, Ukraine was not even mentioned in the final declaration, which simply called for a "complete, just and lasting peace throughout the world based on the Charter of the United Nations, including the principles of sovereign equality and territorial integrity of States".
The reasons for understanding this Latin American coldness towards Ukraine are historical, but also pragmatic. On the one hand, the long tradition of non-aligned countries on the American continent; on the other, the anti-imperialist sentiment towards the USA and anti-colonialist towards Europe. This means that, despite the fact that in practice relations with Washington and Brussels are fluid, with some exceptions, the region always takes advantage of the summits to mark territory and remember the principles.
The latest is what happened at last year's Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles (USA), where several presidents refused to go through the White House's veto in the three authoritarian countries of the continent – Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba – despite the fact that most regional leaders already criticize these governments and policies that violate human rights.
The main pragmatic motive of the Latin Americans is of a commercial nature and has a lot of weight. Russia produces the fertilizers on which the important agricultural industry of Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Brazil depends.
Since well before the pandemic, the Kremlin had already shown intentions to follow in China's footsteps and increase influence in the region, and had originally focused on supporting Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The health crisis paved the way for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to use vaccine diplomacy, as did Beijing. The Russian Sputnik V antidote was key to the immunization of Argentina, when few of the neighbors had access to the covid cure. The Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, thanked Putin in an ill-timed visit to Moscow, a few days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was also done by the then president of Brazil, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro.
Costa Rica is the only country in the region that applies the sanctions against Russia imposed by the US and the EU. However, and despite lukewarm support for Ukraine, most Latin American countries have remained formally within the global consensus that blames Russia for the war, having supported all four resolutions voted so far in the UN In the aforementioned resolutions, only the usual suspects – Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela – voted against or abstained, while Bolivia and El Salvador – with the increasingly authoritarian president, Najib Bukele – abstained in some of the voting at the UN.
On the other hand, in January, the head of the US Southern Command, Laura Richardson, asked six countries on the continent that have old Soviet weaponry to send it to Kyiv in exchange for receiving new material manufactured by the United States. Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Chile, ruled by progressive presidents, rejected the position to preserve non-interference, while Peru and Ecuador initially studied it. Lima came very close to sending the Ukrainian armed forces missiles, shells and armored vehicles, while Quito considered giving MI-17 helicopters. Finally, the two countries, settled in political crises, ruled it out.
