The offer from the US sounded appealing: if Latin American nations donated their ageing Russian-made military kit to Ukraine, Washington would replace it with superior American weaponry, Financial Times reports.
But far from taking up the US proposal, which was revealed last month by General Laura Richardson, head of the US Southern Command, Latin America’s leaders lined up to denounce it.
“Even if they end up as scrap in Colombia, we will not hand over Russian weapons to be taken to Ukraine to prolong a war,” Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s leftwing president, responded. “We are not with either side. We are for peace.” “Brazil has no interest in passing on munitions to be used in the war between Ukraine and Russia,” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said.
“Brazil is a country of peace. At this moment, we need to find those who want peace, a word that has so far been used very little.” Neighbouring Argentina took a similar line. “Argentina is not going to co-operate with the war,” a defence ministry spokesperson said. “It is not appropriate to co-operate by sending arms to the conflict in Europe.”
Asked whether any Latin American nation had taken up Washington’s offer, Jose Ruiz, a spokesperson for US Southern Command, said it was “our policy not to disclose the particulars of ongoing private discussions with our democratic partners, discuss details about the defence resources of other sovereign nations, or speculate about any support to Ukraine”.
Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz also came away apparently empty-handed from a recent visit to Brazil, Argentina and Chile, after Lula refused a request to resell tank ammunition to Berlin for use in Ukraine and Alberto Fernández, Argentina’s president, rejected sending arms to Europe.
Chile’s president Gabriel Boric, whose leftwing coalition includes pro-Moscow communists, only offered Kyiv help with clearing mines. Latin America’s unwillingness to provide weaponry for Ukraine stands in sharp contrast to European nations such as Britain, which have been in the vanguard of efforts to supply Kyiv with modern arms.
Last week London promised to look into sending fighter jets to Ukraine. On paper, Latin America’s military could provide valuable weapons for Ukraine.
Chile and Brazil’s armies both use the highly regarded German-made Leopard tank that Kyiv is seeking. Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador have all bought Russian-made MiG transport helicopters and in some cases Russian surface-to-air missiles or anti-tank missiles, equipment compatible with that used by Ukraine’s military. Peru is reported to have serviceable MiG and Sukhoi military jets.
