Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov just concluded a three-country regional tour of Latin America this week. He kicked off his tour on Monday in the Cuban capital of Havana, and also visited Venezuela and Brazil, where he concluded his tour with participation in the G20 Ministers’ Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, where he met with several other Latin American leaders.
During his time in Cuba, the Russian diplomat discussed various topics with President Miguel Diaz Canel and his Cuban counterpart, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, including the decades-long blockade on Cuba imposed by Washington and strategies to boost economic cooperation, commerce, and investment.
“Cuba has firsthand experience of the unlawful pressure and total embargo that the United States continues to enforce as a supposed legitimate course of action. Although the rest of the international community finds it intolerable, Washington persists in its actions,” remarked the Russian Foreign Minister.
Together, the respective foreign ministers from Cuba and Russia spoke on the unfolding of a multi-polar world order, contrary to the order imposed by what they refer to as “Global Minority Countries”, meaning North Atlantic and western nations such as the United States who had enjoyed global domination in the last thirty years.
The following day Lavrov was received by the Foreign Minister of Venezuela Yvan Gil on the tarmac in Caracas. Gil remarked on X, “This new meeting will reinforce friendship, solidarity and cooperation between our nations, which have a long history of alliance and brotherhood in the face of adversity.”
Lavrov met with his Venezuelan counterpart Gil, as well as Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, and President Nicolás Maduro. Following their meeting, President Maduro wrote that it was “an encounter filled with solidarity and cooperation where we were speaking about the agenda for development in areas like: science, technology, economy, and energy.”
In a joint press conference with Yvan Gil, Lavrov remarked on his visit to the Bolivarian Republic, “We talked in detail about interaction on the international stage. We agree on the importance of working towards justice and broader democracy on the international level based on strict compliance by all countries with the main principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interconnection.”
Both highlighted the fact that the countries have been subjected to unilateral coercive measures by Western countries in an effort to economically punish them. Lavrov said, “We are united in rejecting the methods of diktat, blackmail, and unlawful unilateral restrictions employed by Washington and its satellites, with or without cause. We regard our cooperation at various multilateral venues as an important joint contribution to shaping a more just multipolar international order. In this connection, I can mention the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter created at Venezuela’s initiative three years ago. It is gaining momentum, with increasing interest from more countries.”
G20 meeting demands deep reforms of international order
Lavrov’s trip culminated in Brazil with his participation in the meeting of G20 foreign ministers. In addition to topics of strengthening economic cooperation and multilateral institutions, participants in the G20 meeting discussed Israel’s genocide on the Palestinian people in Gaza and the failure of international bodies to halt the horrors amid global public outcry.
At the start of discussions in Rio De Janeiro, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, the presiding member of the G20 assembly, called for the “profound reform” of the global world order.
“Multilateral institutions are not adequately equipped to deal with current challenges, as demonstrated by the Security Council’s unacceptable paralysis in relation to ongoing conflicts,” Vieira remarked. “This state of inaction results in the loss of innocent lives,” he said, referring to the inaction of the UN Security Council’s consistent failure to pass a ceasefire resolution in Gaza. This week, the United States voted for the third time to reject a ceasefire, prolonging the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza by Israeli occupational forces.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva has on multiple occasions called for the expansion of the Security Council and abolishing the veto power of permanent members.
During Lavrov’s travels, Washington announced the intent to further its sanctions regime on Russia, which for the first time target companies in the People’s Republic of China, Turkey, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, on the suspicion that these companies have aided in Russia’s provision of technology and military goods deemed “forbidden” by the European Union and the United States.
When asked about this development by reporters in Rio, Lavrov said that Russia “will respond with action pertaining to the development of our own economy,” and continued to say that “unlike the Western minority continually thinking in colonial and neocolonial terms, [we] have deal-making abilities and build up their economic ties in interests of their people, by raising the standard of living for citizens and providing for prosperity.”
