La “Amiga” Russia

The Russians have a sense of reality. They know how much they need the USA.

A few days prior to the recent Russian fleet’s visit to Venezuela, the Russian Ambassador in Bogotá declared that there was nothing to fear from the naval maneuvers in Caribbean waters. Just before President Dimitri Medvedev began his first Latin-American tour, his Foreign Minister explained that the ties with the region did not depend on “third countries,” a reference to the United States. For his part, the Deputy Director of the Russian Office of Information in the Department of Foreign Affairs denied that the regional rapprochement, in particular toward Venezuela and Cuba, was Kremlin’s response to Washington’s policy in the Caucasus. According to these officials, Russia’s presence in Latin America only reflects the reality of globalization. Once in Venezuela, Medvedev as well as the Russian military representatives, were careful not to endorse the ideological and anti-imperialist rhetoric of Hugo Chavez. Political moderation was the watchword during their time in the region. Later, Vladimir Putin stated that Russia did not need to establish permanent bases in Cuba and Venezuela and he extended his hand to President elect Barack Obama in order to establish a new bi-lateral dialog.

Why such effort to speak clearly and carefully? Of course, the Russian government presently challenges the U.S. and will continue to do so anywhere in the world until attaining its principal goal: of playing an important and globally influential role. But, at least for now, it means a subtle and strategic challenge which seeks behavioral changes and does not break ties or produce enmity with the U.S. Russians have a sense of reality. They know how much they need the U.S. as well as the Western world, even more now that they find themselves in full domestic recession. Thus, those who wish for the present pragmatic Russia to turn into an unconditional revolutionary friend” of Cuba and Venezuela, regimes in economic crisis, political decadence and a growing bad reputation worldwide, need to forget it. The Russians are short-term allies, of convenience, and as such they are only taking advantage of commercial and political opportunities opened by these countries, particularly, if they can use them in their power struggle with the U.S.