Russia in Latin America: A Challenge to the U.S.

By Michael Sulick

Michael Sulick is the former director of CIA’s National Clandestine Service and is currently a consultant on counterintelligence and global risk assessment.  Sulick also served as Chief of Counterintelligence and Chief of the Central Eurasia Division where he was responsible for intelligence collection operations and foreign liaison relationships in Russia, Eastern Europe and the former republics of the Soviet Union.  He is the author of Spying in America: Espionage From the Revolutionary War to the Dawn of the Cold War and American Spies: Espionage Against the United States from the Cold War to the Present

With global attention focused on Russia’s role in the Syria quagmire, the media is barely covering Vladimir Putin’s aggressive maneuvers in Ukraine, let alone his foreign policy in America’s own backyard—Latin America.

Since Putin came to power, he has attempted to restore Russia’s superpower status around the world, especially in Latin America, a region that provides him an ideal venue to counter the United States.  Russian foreign policy has traditionally relied on symmetrical responses to perceived attacks against the nation’s interests. After U.S. condemnation of Russia’s role in the Georgia crisis of 2008 and, more recently, in Ukraine, Putin significantly increased Russian engagement in Latin America. The symmetry was perfect: if the U.S. interferes in Russia’s sphere of influence, Putin would challenge the U.S. in its own backyard.

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