Asset Publisher

IMAGO / Newscom World

Country Reports

Central America: Russia on course for expansion

by Prof. Dr. Stefan Jost

Ortega regime is the driving force behind the Parlacen expansion

With its admission as a "permanent observer" in the Central American Parliament PARLACEN, Russia has achieved an important long-term success for its geopolitical positioning. The democracies and their parliaments should see this as a wake-up call and a warning call.

Asset Publisher

The decision of the PARLACEN to admit Russia as a "permanent observer" made headlines. After 76 MPs had called for Russia's admission a little earlier, 65 MPs voted in favour, 36 were against and three abstained in the decisive plenary session on 25 September. "Operation Russia" was mainly operated from Nicaragua. A son of the Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega, Guillermo Ortega, is leading the way. PARLACEN's decision was made on the basis of a report by the Russian Embassy in Managua. This was criticized as well as the decision-making process itself. On the one hand, deputies, including the former vice-president of Guatemala, Carlos Castillo, confessed that they were not informed about this bill. Others spoke of the fact that parliamentary groups did not know them. The left-wing Honduran MP Engels Martín Pineda García took advantage of this at least partial communication vacuum and launched the vote on the agenda of the plenary by way of an urgent motion (sic!). This, too, is an expression of an undisguised power strategy of this Russia-friendly coalition. Politics, as one actually learns in political childhood, is also, and sometimes primarily, made with the rules of procedure. The inexperience of many members of parliament makes such procedures possible. If politically desired, there remains a considerable need for clarification as to how this decision was made.

Russia's admission was justified by the "fruitful and friendly relations and interparliamentary cooperation since 2018". In fact, Russia has reportedly invested heavily in these relations for years. Invitations to travel to Russia not only for deputies, but also for the working level of the parliament have prepared the ground for the current decision. There are probably no limits to the imagination. The fact that Russia is committed to paying 350,000 US dollars per year and financing projects and measures naturally suits PARLACEN. The admission of Russia makes a mockery of the treaty-enshrined objective of PARLACEN and is pure political cynicism. PARLACEN is intended to contribute to peaceful coexistence in the region, "based on representative and participatory democracy, pluralism (...) and international law". It remains the secret of the approving members of parliament how Russia fits into this requirement profile, although parliamentarians of the previous legislative period should have asked themselves this question, also with a view to the admission of China as a permanent observer. It remains to be seen to what extent the parliamentarians who do not agree with this decision, in cooperation with the rejecting governments, will try to reverse the decision of PARLACEN.

The strategy of both China and Russia to further establish itself in this region is clearly recognizable. Russia's strategy has not yet been sufficiently acknowledged. In Europe and Germany there is a need for a political-strategic reassessment of undervalued sub-regional associations and smaller states. These also have a seat and a vote in international organisations. For democratic governments and parliaments alike, this development should be a wake-up call and a warning call: two dictatorial and global players are on an expansion course, in all corners of the world, at all levels. Democratic regimes must develop a coordinated counter-strategy.

 

Asset Publisher

Contact

Prof. Dr. Stefan Jost

Prof. Dr

Representative of KAS office Philippines

stefan.jost@kas.de +63 2 8539 38-41, -42, -43, -44 ,-45 +63 2 8893 6199

comment-portlet

Asset Publisher

Media library

Rule of Law Rules Podcast

#11: Hannah Lim on Legal Technology in South East Asia

As Head of Rule of Law and Emerging Markets at LexisNexis in Singapore, Hannah identifies areas where LexisNexis can, leveraging on technology, support the rule of law.

read now
Rule of Law Rules Podcast

#6: Lee San Natalie Pang on the General Data Protection Regulation & its influence in Southeast Asia

For the last episode of our first series “Data Protection” we go to Asia and take a closer look at the Southeast with Dr Lee San Natalie Pang, our expert on Data Protection.

read now
Rule of Law Rules Podcast

#5: Ridwan Oloyede about the GDPR and its influence in African legal framework

Ridwan Oloyede is co-founder of a Nigerian start-up, that helps businesses to achieve operational excellence through the reliable and efficient application of technology.

read now
Rule of Law Rules Podcast

#4: Nadim Gemayel on the General Data Protection Regulation and its influence in Middle East

Nadim Gemayel is a politician and lawyer based in Lebanon and Qatar. He was a member of the Lebanese Parliament between 2009 and 2020.

read now
Rule of Law Rules Podcast

#3: Eduardo Magrani on Data Protection in Latin America

We speak with Eduardo Magrani about the General Data Protection Regulation and its influence in Brazilian and Latin American legal framework.

read now
Rule of Law Rules Podcast

#2: Ioana Stupariu on the GDPR's influence in South East Europe

Ioana Stupariu works with tech and healthcare start-ups and companies across Central and Eastern Europe. And she researches on Data protection & Privacy.

read now
Rule of Law Rules Podcast

#1: Frederick Richter on the the EU’s GDPR and data protection worldwide

We look at the EU’s GDPR: How is data protection handled in other parts of the world? How can we establish international standards? And what will happen next?

read now

Asset Publisher