Wednesday, 13 April 2022 — Opciones

Hedelberto López Blanch

digital@opciones.cu

The enormous pressures exerted by the United States on Latin American nations to join the Russophobic policy it has imposed on the planet by controlling the main media outlets may exacerbate these problems.

One of the most affected is Ecuador, because if in 2021, 20% of the bananas it exported were destined for Russia (some 85 million boxes), now it has nowhere to put them and they will go to waste with the consequent monetary loss.

The war between Russia and Ukraine, together with the numerous extortions that the United States and its allies have imposed against Moscow, not only hit this nation economically, but also Latin American countries.

One of the worst affected is Ecuador, because if in 2021, 20 % of the bananas it exported were destined for Russia (some 85 million boxes), now it has nowhere to put them and they will go to waste, with the consequent monetary loss.

Last year, Ecuador earned 706 million dollars for banana exports to the Eurasian giant; 142 million dollars for shrimp; 99 million dollars for flowers; 28 million dollars for fish and 17 million dollars for coffee.

Paraguay had Russia as its second largest buyer of beef and in 2021 it sent 79 213 tonnes, which represented an income of 314 million dollars, and now with Moscow’s disconnection from the international banking system (swift) it does not know how to collect or send the product.

The situation is similar with Brazil. In the previous period, Brazil sold 343 million dollars worth of soybeans, 167 million dollars worth of poultry meat, 133 million dollars worth of coffee and 117 million dollars worth of beef to Russia.

Mexico shipped cars, computers, beer, tequila and tequila, among other products, and bought fertilisers. If it lacks this supply, agriculture will suffer losses and food will become more expensive.

This will lead to a worsening economic crisis in these nations, with the resulting wage cuts, worker layoffs, and price hikes.

The enormous pressures exerted by the United States on Latin American nations to join the Russophobic policy it has imposed on the planet by controlling the main media could exacerbate these problems.

For example, an intergovernmental cooperation agreement between Russia and Argentina on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, particularly in the areas of basic and applied research, construction and operation of nuclear power plants and reactors, would be halted.

In addition, Moscow has expressed interest in participating in a tender for the construction of a dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at the Atucha II nuclear power plant in the South American nation.

Washington uses all kinds of extortion to this end: political influence, economic promises and blackmail, as was the case during the recent UN General Assembly vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. After the vote, several delegates expressed that they had been forced to vote in this way for various reasons.

The impact of the Western “sanctions” war has affected the supply of fertilisers, threatening Latin American farmers but, conversely, benefiting the United States, which manufactures large quantities of fertiliser. Already, US producers are looking to increase exports to countries in the region.

Fertiliser prices are currently at an all-time high and in the first quarter of 2022 they rose by 30 %, which is higher than the prices reached in 2008 during the global financial crisis.

Because of the “sanctions”, shipments from Russia have been interrupted and Russia is one of the world’s leading producers and exporters.

Moscow is the largest exporter of nitrogen fertilisers and the second largest exporter of potash and phosphorus fertilisers.

In 2021, the Eurasian giant shipped fertilisers worth $12.5 billion. Among its main buyers were Brazil and the European Union with 25% respectively, and the United States with 14%.

Predictably, if fertilisers do not arrive, agricultural production in these countries will be severely affected.

This complex picture comes at a time when the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) reported that the food price index reached an all-time high of 159.3 points in March, while in February it had already broken the record since the cost index was created in 1990.

The agency added that among the five categories that make up the index, four have never recorded such high prices: vegetable oils (248.6 points), cereals (170.1), dairy products (145.2) and meat (120.0).

Two of the categories increased prices in February due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict: cereals by 17 % and vegetable oils by 23 %. These countries together export 30 % of the wheat and 20 % of the maize consumed in the world.

The present and future prospects for the Latin American economies are considered difficult as they will have to cope with the high costs of food products, without yet recovering from the huge losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a corollary, it can be said that the string of extortions imposed by the United States, not only on Russia but on more than 30 other countries in the world, is leading several Latin American nations into an abyss.

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)