The Footprints of the Bear. Why does the Return of Russia to Latin America Matter?

Abstract

This paper examines the motives behind the ’return’ of Russia to Latin America and the means employed for that end: general commercial relations, arms sales, energy deals, niche technology related to nuclear science, naval and air power displays and high-level political meetings. The growth of Russian presence in Latin America in the 21st century has not been even. There is a clustering in time around events via which Russian leadership tried to alter the status quo near its borders, in Georgia and Ukraine. It will be argued that the intensity of Russian top diplomatic activities and military displays in far-away Latin America do not only coincide with the date of these anti-status quo events, but in fact could have helped to foresee some of them.