The US asks Latin American countries to donate to Ukraine their weapons purchased from Russia

The United States asked six Latin American countries to donate to Ukraine their military equipment purchased from Russia and offered to replace this arsenal with American weapons, the leader of the United States Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, said Thursday.

“Russia has allies in [los gobiernos de] Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, but six other countries have Russian military equipment. The US is trying to get those six countries to donate Russian military equipment to Ukraine and replace it with US weapons,” the military said at a meeting of the North Atlantic group.

The US general stressed that Latin America “imports and matters a lot” to the northern country, while acknowledging that the US “has competition”, so “they should do things a little differently.”

Southern Command identifies Russia, China and “transnational criminal organizations” as the main competitors in the region.

Apart from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua – Moscow’s main allies in Latin America – other countries such as Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil have also bought Russian weapons, according to a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

The US has denounced the “criminal” Russian invasion of Ukraine since its inception in February 2022 and has declared itself an ally of kyiv, to which it has already sent more than $24 billion in defense aid against Russian forces.

This aid includes a $3.5 billion package announced this month which includes combat vehicles Bradley, self-propelled howitzers, armored personnel carriers, surface-to-air missiles, and ammunition.

The leader of the United States Southern Command mentioned thatMoscow-driven disinformation “prevails” in the region, where there are more than 30 million followers of the Spanish-language services of Russian state media such as Sputnik and Russia Today.

Richardson also expressed concern about Beijing’s influence in the countries of Central and South America.

“To see the intrusion and to see the tentacles of the Communist Party of China in countries within the Western Hemisphere, so close to the US, I am very concerned,” said General Richardson.

[Con colaboración de Jeff Seldin, corresponsal de Seguridad Nacional de la VOA, desde Washington]

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