Volodymyr Zelensky Makes His Pitch to 'Indifferent' Latin America

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attempted to convince Latin America to abandon what has for months been little more than apathy towards the Russian invasion of his country in a speech to Chilean college students this week, lamenting that Kyiv does not have “enough communication” with the region and asking it not to be “indifferent.”

Unlike much of Western Europe and the Anglophone Americas, support for Ukraine against Russia’s eight-year-old invasion and colonization of much of the country has not become a popular cause and has failed to attract much attention from either the general public or regional heads of state. To the extent that it has, the Ukraine issue has galvanized support for Russia from its far-left, authoritarian allies in the region, most prominently socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.

Only one regional leader, conservative President of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei, has visited Zelensky in Kyiv to lend support. The hemisphere’s most prominent conservative president, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, has insisted on “neutrality” in the Ukraine war but was in Moscow visiting Russian leader Vladimir Putin in February as the latter escalated the invasion to include a full-scale military assault.

Socialist Argentine President Alberto Fernández met with Putin in Moscow a week before Bolsonaro to discuss, among other topics, expanding trade ties between the two countries.

Issuing a virtual address at the Catholic University of Chile on Wednesday, Zelensky asked Chileans and Latin Americans generally to consider breaking economic ties to Russia, including imposing sanctions, and “oppose Russian propaganda.” Zelensky attempted to appeal to the former Spanish and Portuguese colonies of the region by referring to Russia’s intent in conquering Ukrainian territory as “purely colonialist.”

“When a state turns energy poverty or hunger into a weapon, it is a blow to everyone in the world. When a state tries to conquer another because it wants to be a colonizer, it is a threat to all who value their independence,” Zelensky said. “And when people are killed simply because they are, because they belong to their people, because they do not give up their homeland, it is a threat to humanity as such.”

“Can you stay away?” the president asked. “Can you stay indifferent? I don’t believe that.”

Zelensky reportedly also protested that Russia was actively intervening in diplomacy between Kyiv and Latin American states in comments following his official remarks.

“I believe that we do not have enough communications between our countries in terms of leaders, in terms of bilateral relations, and I think it has to be corrected,” Zelensky added, referring to the region, according to the regional news outlet Mercopress. “You have to understand that the Russian Federation tries to prevent our contacts with the countries of Latin America and Africa, because Russia has its influence.”

“What matters to us is that Latin American countries know the truth and share our truth with others,” he continued, adding that he also hoped to see more Latin American states “cease any commercial activity with Russia.”

Zelensky also noted that he had conversed with Chile’s far-left president, Gabriel Boric, in an attempt to establish a rapport.

Mercopress covers news from countries belonging to Mercosur, a regional trade bloc including Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. Mercosur rejected a request from Zelensky to speak at its latest conference in July, one of the few international venues to do so. Paraguay, which hosted the summit, said that “there was no consensus” among the countries regarding the invite, so the host country could not accept it. No country took responsibility for blocking the invite; Zelensky has held personal conversations with the presidents of all four countries.

Giammattei of Guatemala remains at press time the only regional leader to meet with Zelensky in person. Giammattei traveled to Kyiv in late July, noting that the war jeopardizing Ukraine’s grain industry could have catastrophic consequences for Latin America. Giammattei has made countering communist and socialist regimes in his neighborhood a priority – most prominently those of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, all of which have publicly sided with Putin on the Ukraine invasion. Russia is a major arms vendor to these rogue states and occasionally raises the possibility of establishing a military presence in Venezuela. On Monday, Putin announced plans to sell Russia’s “most modern” weapons to its client states in Latin America and Africa.

“Russia sincerely cherishes the historical strong, friendly, truly trusting ties with the states of Latin America, Asia, and Africa and is ready to offer its partners and allies the most modern types of weapons. From small arms to armored vehicles and artillery, combat aircrafts and unmanned aerial vehicles,” the leader said.

Ukraine maintains an embassy in Havana, Cuba, despite the communist regime imprisoning Cubans for attempting to show solidarity with the country, and a consulate in Managua, Nicaragua.