The relations between Peru and The Russian Federation: revision and interpretation. From an international relations perspective

Abstract

In February 2019, Peru and the Russian Federation celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations at Embassy lev-el. However, the first diplomatic contact between the two countries dates back to 1863, with Peru being one of the first states in the region to es-tablish a relationship with the then Russian Empire. Once the Soviet Union was established in 1917, interaction with Latin America was generally scarce for several reasons: geographical distance (and proximity to the hemispheric hegemon, the United States), the fer-vent anti-communist stance of the elites in the region and, in the eyes of the CPSU, the supposed low revolutionary potential of Latin America. On-ly with the inauguration of Khrushchev’s “peaceful coexistence” policy and, even more, the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Moscow began to exhibit a, clearly pragmatic, rapprochement to the region, considering its poten-tial as an economic partner (basically, buyer of Soviet machinery and weapons) and a playground to “balance” Washington and underset its superpower status.