Peter the Great St.

Petersburg Polytechnic University

Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade
Graduate School of Management and Business

ESSAY
History of relations of Colombia and Russia
on the discipline “History”

Completed by student gr. 3733802/82601 Carolina Parrado Ocampo

Supervisor,
, associate professor Cidorchuk Ilia Viktorovich

«_30__» _____May_____ 2020 г.

St. Petersburg
2020

INTRODUCTION
In this essay I want to express all the situations that occurred between the Russian Federation
and Colombia as a means of understanding better the current situation of relations, how it has
developed and the reasons for its development. The main aim of this essay is to give a clear
view of the historical relations between Colombia and Russia in their expectations for
international relations and their point of view in international law. For this work several
sources of information have been analyzed including the websites from the most visited sites
and news.

History of relations of Colombia and Russia

In the history of Russia it has always been always the stigmatic biggest country of the planet,
in which Vladimir Putin has been shown as an autocrat despite his clear desire to have a
multipolar world and strengthen the system of international law.
Deep thoughts about Russia and Colombia have brought the big question mark of how the
Russian Federation, a strong nation with such a deep past and Colombia now could be united
in terms of weapons and democrats. Yes, I am a Colombian who even after hearing all those
scaring stories about bears and coldness came to Russia and proved it wrong. That even
though hearing the word death with so much strength came to see so much life.

The Colombian economy is quite open, seeks relations with all countries and regardless of
their ideologies, political or economic systems. Relies on international law when having
international trade follows the guidelines given by international law.

The strength of bilateral trade agreements with South Korea, Japan and China have been
evident since 2008, and now more than ever with the coronavirus pandemic we see how
South Korea has helped Colombia more of what it was expected. An undoubtedly openness
in the political situation in the past administration of Santos, the last president, has given a
great advance in the peace processes with the Farc guerilla which has diminished
significantly in numbers. Due to these better situations the Russian Federation has decided to
establish in 1935 an embassy of its own in Bogota, Colombia and as well the Colombian
embassy is in the capital city of Russia, Moscow. In spite of the image Putin has declared
upon the latin american countries such as he doesn’t see western nations as mere benign
trading partners, but rather as Cold War-style threats. Also the power over other countries as
Great Britain suggests the change of the Russian constitution to extradite the former spy
Litvinenko from the UK when he has died from radiation poisoning, Colombia is not a threat
in this sense. Russia’s foreign policy in an attempt to be interdependent and self-sufficient as
the contrary shows for the plans of the United States of promoting competition and
confrontation, but the integration into global processes and giving the potesty to the United
Nations Council as the only one to use the force in cases where it is required.

As the relation between Colombia and the United States is very strong among the latin-
american countries, Russia supports the left leader in the neighboring country and has send a
letter proclaiming the military support of Colombia in the opposition party in Venezuela
which according to Colombia’s president Duque it should be pacific and led in their own. As
it has been evident Russia has been a strong supporter of Maduro since the nation descended
into political turmoil. Also the recent arrival of two russian air force planes bringing 100
russian special forces and cybersecurity personnel has confirmed the support of Moscow for
Maduro.

Moreover, the expansion of the Russian federation over Latin america began as it happened
in the past with the cold reception of Australia in the G20 2014 after the illegal annexation of
Crimea, with the strategic partnership agreement signed with the Argentinian president
Mauricio Macri in 2018. The objectives of Russia include undermining the U.S. liberal
international order and the West’s cohesion. Additionally Putin's domestic legitimacy
demonstrating the status of Russia as a global power and promoting the Russian commercial,
military and energy interests.
And this is proved by the fact that Colombia has sent his defense minister Juan Manuel
Santos on October 6th 2008 to discuss the signing of a new military cooperation accord. In
the web site was shown also the interest of the cooperation to fight drugs trade and terrorism.
Even though it is very suspicious after all the sales made to Venezuela in weapons in which
the reason was grounded in the influence from the United States in Latin America accused by
Colombia of arming the FARC. One of the last interactions in 2013 was the interception of 2
black jets flying in the Colombian airspace without previous governmental authorization,
they were escorted and sent a note of protest by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia
to Moscow.

The motivation of Putin towards the increasing of the tides in Latin America is highly
influenced by the geopolitics and Colombia having 2 oceans, a central location and neutral
position politically. As Russia has set an eye in the countries that are not influenced by the
United States or Europe to create institutions, however Colombia might not be the best case
since it’s highly influenced and interested in the US affairs.

Colombia through the eyes of Russia is an opportunity for Moscow to create problems or
distractions for the United States through one of its closest partners. Regarding to the past
elections, the tracking of virtual voting after the covenant with the Farc and the government
has increased since the latin americans, including colombians, are hooked in their mobile
phones and social media, making them susceptible to efforts within or outside the political
system to confuse and manipulate the political system ahead of the election day.
Consequently, Colombian authorities have been investigating over a series of cyber intrusions
into voter registration systems that were tracked, one of them from a Venezuelan account
which has been counted from Colombians as an intrusion from Russia through their
relationships in Venezuela. Russian economic and security cooperation with Colombia has
remained limited.
Alternatively, the United States has taken action in this matter by improving their ties with
states that could be keys for their political, economical and security interests like Colombia
and will also reduce the tensions and help stem Russian advances.

CONCLUSION

Colombia is a key factor in order to influence or disturb the United States and that’s why the
preservation of the relations between both of them even though it has been low and distant it
has remained open.

REFERENCES

1. Russia: Playing a Geopolitical game in Latin America.// Carnegie Endowment

For International Peace.-2018- URL:
https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/05/03/russia-playing-geopolitical-game-
in-latin-america-pub-76228 (date of use: 30.05.2020)
2. Relaciones Colombia-Rusia.// Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. -2020- URL:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relaciones_Colombia-Rusia (date of use:
30.05.2020)
3. Colombia rejects Russia warning against Venezuelan military action.//
Reuters. -2019- URL: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-
russia-colombia/colombia-rejects-russia-warning-against-venezuelan-military-
action-idUSKCN1RE23C (date of use: 30.05.2020)
4. Foreign relations of Colombia.// Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. -2020- URL:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Colombia(date of use:
30.05.2020)
5. Foreign relations of Russia.// Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. -2020- URL:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Russia (date of use:
30.05.2020)