Eduardo Valdes, a former diplomat and member of the Frente de Todos government coalition, which now chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, says there is a clear line between vaccine negotiations and external factors.
“Now is not the time to make ideology. Our goal is for the western hemisphere to get its vaccines and not to meddle in someone else’s internal affairs,” he told CNN.
Although historically seen as Washington’s geopolitical “backyard,” Latin America is increasingly turning to Moscow for help in dealing with the pandemic. Six countries in the region – Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela – have already authorized the use of the Sputnik V vaccine. Others are considering requests for authorization, which are increasingly urgent due to the global shortage of available vaccines.
The case of Colombia is an example: Bogotá, America’s closest regional ally, is now about to authorize Sputnik V as well – a decision that surprised many due to the close alignment between some sectors of the governmental coalition and the U.S. Republican Party. In the past, right-wing members of Duke’s own party, the Democratic Center, have openly criticized Putin’s involvement in Latin America.
At the very least, the vaccine deal could be a step to smooth things over. “Both countries want to turn the page. It was unfortunate, but we want to move on,” said Sboiko, adding: “Cooperating with vaccines is the most urgent issue at the moment and will positively influence [Colombia and Russia’s] bilateral relations. “
Sboiko told CNN that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which handles the marketing of Sputnik V, last week applied for an emergency authorization to the Colombian medical agency INVIMA, and is ready to deliver 100,000 doses within 14 days after purchase.
“I think they had to bite the bullet and buy the vaccine regardless of who bought it. And the Russians acted with enormous pragmatism,” Juan Carlos Ruiz, professor of foreign affairs at Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, told CNN.
Ease of doing business
The need to guarantee more vaccines is urgently felt in the region. Latin American countries are among the most affected in the world by the pandemic, but large-scale vaccination campaigns have not yet started, with few exceptions.
Russia’s readiness to strike deals has been instrumental in spreading the vaccine throughout Latin America so far, according to Danil Bochkov, an expert in international relations at the Russian Council on International Affairs.
“It is always easier to negotiate with the state than with a private company, which has to protect itself from possible risks for fear of huge losses. State-owned companies are easier to negotiate, especially when they are pursuing political goals,” Bochkov told CNN.
Valdés, the Argentine lawmaker, says that negotiations with Moscow were easier than with Pfizer, from whom the Argentine government initially planned to buy vaccines. “When we analyzed the contract, we judged that Pfizer’s did not comply with the legal protocols we expected,” said Valdes. “We contacted the Russians and [Argentinian] President Fernandez was directly related to Putin, and that has speeded things up, “he told CNN.
In a statement to CNN, Pfizer said the company remains committed to working with the Argentine government, but declined to comment on the status of the confidential negotiations.
In addition to ease of negotiation, two other factors contributed to the spread of Sputnik V throughout Latin America, according to analysts and lawmakers involved in purchasing vaccines in Argentina and Bolivia: Sputnik V is inexpensive and relatively easy to store.
Other privately manufactured vaccines, such as those from AstraZeneca and Moderna, have not yet arrived in large quantities in Latin America, while countries like Brazil, Chile and Mexico have invested in Chinese-made vaccines.
What Russia has to gain
Former diplomats and analysts in Buenos Aires, Bogotá and La Paz say Russian President Vladimir Putin can now reap the benefits of spreading the vaccine, potentially using it as a global business card to start new and more tolerant relationships.
“Russia made a big bet on the vaccine: in recent years, Russia has rediscovered Latin America, not because of ideology, but because if its objective is to question the norms and values of the liberal international order, Latin America is a particularly sensitive region to that goal, “said Serbin.
Both Russia and China are looking to improve their reputation after years of confrontation with the U.S. and the EU, and the role of a vaccine supplier to the developing world is a perfect opportunity for a positive public relations campaign. As Bochkov says, “Russia has dominated Sputnik V as a diplomatic tool until now”.
Commercially, selling millions of doses of vaccines also means making profits of several million dollars – something of primary importance to the Russian economy, which has been hit by Western sanctions recently.
“The difference is that the United States is working to obtain vaccines mainly to vaccinate American citizens. Others, such as Russia and China, are looking to strengthen relationships where they can,” said Pablo Solon, former Bolivia ambassador to the Nations United Nations, CNN.
A missed opportunity for the West?
Western powers could have taken advantage of the political – and even moral – advantage, says Amadeo Gandolfo, an Argentine academic in political communication at Berlin’s Humboldt University. He argues that Western countries missed an important opportunity to claim a moral victory when they allowed companies to patent their vaccines.
“In view of the absolute need for everyone to obtain the vaccine, leaving it in the hands of pharmaceutical companies and not allowing a liberalization of the formula, I think it is something that has alienated some sectors from Latin America,” he said. CNN.
Now, as with any new patented product, privately developed vaccines are protected by proprietary rights and cannot be replicated by other companies or countries. Thus, while private companies like Pfizer and AstraZeneca are struggling to meet compromised orders, other laboratories cannot intervene to produce the same vaccines and increase supplies.
Instead, many Western countries have invested in the Covax mechanism, a structure promoted by the World Health Organization to buy vaccines in bulk and guarantee deliveries to developing countries that cannot afford to pay for themselves.
But while Covax promises to inoculate up to 20% of the developing world and says it will prioritize four Latin American countries, including Bolivia and Colombia for early access, it has not yet delivered a single dose.
This will cost Western governments in post-pandemic geopolitics, argues Sólon, the Bolivian diplomat. “The world has been multipolar for some time,” he told CNN. “But in this multipolar world, Russia and China are advancing rapidly. The vaccine situation is only strengthening the trend.”