The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov, stated that there is “active cooperation” with countries in Latin America, emphasizing that Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are considered “strategic partners.” He also highlighted Iran’s role in the “maritime security belt” formed by Russia, Iran, and China.
During a briefing for military attachés from foreign countries, organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense, Gerasimov stated that “active cooperation is underway with Latin American countries. Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are currently our strategic partners. Cooperation in the field of defense will continue to be strengthened.”
He added that, as part of the cooperation with Iran, a naval exercise involving Russia, Iran, and China, titled Maritime Security Belt, was conducted in March in the northern Indian Ocean.
Nicaragua as an observer nation in Ocean-2024
Ocean-2024 is the main training event of the Russian Armed Forces, involving forces from the fleets and the Caspian Sea flotilla, as well as units and military groups from the Aerospace Forces. In this exercise, Nicaragua was among the 11 observer nations.
The observer nations also include China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Qatar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Vietnam, and India.
700 military cooperation activities
On the other hand, Russia indicated that there have been “advances” in the development of a global strategic partnership with China, with the aim of expanding military cooperation, also with India.
Additionally, Gerasimov emphasized that “comprehensive cooperation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) has been intensified. In June of this year, the leaders of Russia and North Korea signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty.”
The report also mentions joint maneuvers conducted with the armed forces of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Additionally, over 700 significant activities were carried out within the framework of military and technical-military cooperation, although the specific number by country was not provided.
Russia trains police officers in Nicaragua
Russia’s influence in Central America is becoming increasingly evident, with Nicaragua serving as one of the entry points for the country into the region. A report from pro-government media in July stated that among the 755 police officers graduated by Moscow University, part of the Russian Ministry of the Interior, there were members of the police forces from Nicaragua and El Salvador, the only Central American countries participating in these training programs.
According to these reports, in July of this year, three members of the Sandinista Police graduated as “specialists in forensic expertise and psychology.”
Between 2017 and 2022, the Russian Training Center in Managua graduated 1,700 police officers from 13 Latin American countries through 20 training programs on topics such as drug trafficking, organized crime, cybersecurity, corruption, economic crimes, among others, as explained by Oleg Alexandrovich, the center’s director, during a graduation ceremony in 2022. However, it was not specified how many of these graduates were from Nicaragua and how many were from El Salvador.