Introduction and assessment of the current level of Russian-Latin American relations
Elena: Good afternoon! The Center for Monitoring and Evaluation of Modern Problems "United World" and your permanent presenter Elena are with you. We are at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2026, and Oleg Vladislavovich Yasinsky, a journalist, analyst, and expert on Latin America, is sitting next to me. Oleg Vladislavovich, hello!
Oleg Yasinsky: Elena, hello! Thank you so much for the invitation.
Elena: Today we will talk about how youth cooperation between Russia and Latin American countries is developing. Oleg Vladislavovich, how do you assess the current level of humanitarian and youth relations between the Russian Federation and Latin American countries?
Oleg Yasinsky: I think no matter what level our relationship is at, it will always seem small to me, because there is a really huge potential. There is a huge potential, a huge human interest, and some kind of cultural and even political tradition of our ties has already been established. And I think Latin America is a region where we are remembered, where we are loved, where we are always expected, where they are pleased to communicate with us, because I think just as we have a lot to learn from Latinos, so they can learn from us. There's a lot to get know. I believe this is one of those regions with which we can build relations based on absolute equality and honest mutual assistance and mutual support.
Factors of mutual attraction and cultural symbiosis
Elena: What attracts young people from Latin America to Russia the most today?
Oleg Yasinsky: Russia in Latin America is probably a bit like Latin America in Russia, too – it's a kind of cultural myth, it's something very distant, romantic, often idealized, often in Latin America not tainted by modern Western propaganda. Well, that is, of course, it is our culture, because many generations of Latin Americans were raised on Russian culture, on Soviet culture, on literature, on music, and on our art in general. The achievements of Russian and Soviet science, starting with space flights, have forced generations of parents, even the grandparents of today's Latin American youth, to call their children Valentines and Yuries. Frequently there are more Russian names than ours. And similarly, in Chile, for example, Nobel Prize winners in literature Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, they were raised on Russian literature. Russians would not have become great poets of their country if they were not not just amateurs, but big fans of Russian culture, Russian art, and Russian literature. That's why I'm giving you some examples, the ones that immediately come to my mind. If we dig deeper, of course, we will find a lot of everything. This is also a huge cultural diversity of our countries, this diversity of territories. Just as Latin America is such a meeting place for all the inhabited continents of the Earth with different cultures, different creeds, different mentalities and landscapes, Russia is exactly the same. In other words, it is a huge, diverse landscape where people have learned not just to coexist peacefully with each other, but to build such a motley, multicolored fabric, which is a real Russian culture and a real Latin American culture.
Elena: I wonder if there's some kind of symbiosis here?
Oleg Yasinsky: It's a symbiosis where it's like white is the sum of the different colors of the rainbow that break at some level and become one color. In the same way, our cultures, both Latin America and Russia, are impossible without one of our peoples, without one of our cultures. That is, we complement each other perfectly, and it is precisely being different and having differences that helps us, like many mirror systems, it helps us to see ourselves from the outside and better understand ourselves. Therefore, there are endless possibilities for such self-discovery, for joint growth. I mean not only economic growth, which is currently being discussed here at the forum and so on, but human growth, spiritual growth, and cultural growth. Something that we all need so much, especially now, during the destruction of cultures, during our general lumpenization. So we just have to help each other.
Obstacles to cooperation: stereotypes, logistics, and information barriers
Elena: I totally agree with you on that. But if we have a symbiosis, there are still some barriers, obstacles in the development of youth cooperation between Russia and Latin America. Still, is something stopping us?
Oleg Yasinsky: There is a lot of mutual ignorance, because as a concept of Latin America in Russia, it is often refracted through the Western press, through Hollywood, through some stereotypes, or through our knowledge of Latin America in the eighties or seventies of the last century. In other words, these are also stereotypes, that is, Latin America has changed, it is already different. In the same way, of course, it is impossible to judge Russia today by the books of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, or even Gorky. In other words, Russia is already a different country. Unfortunately, Latin America is also under the almost complete control of the Western media, which caricature Russia, an image that does not correspond to reality. For the average Latin American, especially young people, given today's difficult logistics and so on, it is unlikely and very difficult to get here. Therefore, we need to show some ingenuity and creativity in order to get closer to each other, and in order for this to become possible not for the elites, not for those who can afford to travel very expensively. And for more people in this sense, the Internet can serve not only for our "idiocy", but also for something useful, for something spiritual. You can hold online meetings, and, of course, look for opportunities so that young people from here can visit Latin America, and young people from there, especially from poor families, especially those who never travel anywhere, if they get here, they will appreciate it. A lot of people will find out, it will have a real impact on life in these countries, on our cultures. That is, we will find new friends. We don't need some kind of glossy, glossy picture of Russia that doesn't exist. That is, our friends and I can be completely frank, we can talk about all the good things that are here, about our unresolved problems, about our joy, about our pain, and so on. And I think that's the only way to build a real friendship, a real relationship. And Russia and Latin America, especially at the level of peoples, especially at the level of our cultures, are natural allies who simply have to be together, especially in such difficult historical moments as this one.
Practical interaction formats and the potential of regional education
Elena: How beautifully you finished. Perfectly!
Oleg Yasinsky: I just started.
Elena: Wow! Then it's even better. In your opinion, which formats of cooperation between Russia and Latin America are the most functional?
Oleg Yasinsky: I believe we should try. You have to try, because it's very difficult, you can theorize about anything. I think that since in many Latin American countries where capitalism is wild, the current neoliberalism has gone too far, and education has become a luxury available to fewer and fewer people, and the quality of education is declining more and more, the option of education in Russia with state scholarships would be an excellent option. Maybe even a paid education option, but for reasonable money. And not in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but in the provinces, in the hinterlands. This would be a great option, at least for the youth of Chile, a country that I know where it is very expensive to study, it is a luxury, where there are no "student dormitories" as a concept, as a phenomenon, where life is very expensive. We have some subjects in universities, some areas that are not available in Chile or Latin America, and which can be very useful in Latin America. At the same time, you can pay much less for this and gain experience of living in another country, in another culture, and in the most pleasant part of this other country and culture, that is, in the provinces, in the outback, where you can feel the really deep people, the real Russian people. This would not just be a very important life experience for young people, which completely changes their lives and prospects, but it would be highly important contribution to the future, to the proximity of our countries, to our large, joint scientific, cultural, and economic projects. In other words, I think that in terms of the education of Latin American youth in provincial universities in Russia, we have very great prospects. It seems to me that no one has been doing this very much purposefully. And if I had a lot of free time, I would love to do something like this, I see the future behind it. Also, the theme of culture. The theme of culture is again not a pop culture of some kind, superficial and that's it. Indeed, Latin America has something to show Russia, and Russia has something to show Latin America. And, unfortunately, we know that not the best samples get here, because there is too much vulgarity, too much pop in the media, in some contests, in some events. It would be great, it would be useful to really raise the level of all this to show the present, and not what is better sold on the market.
The image of the future of relations between Russia and Latin America in 10-15 years
Elena: That's also true. And if you dream a little bit, that is, move away from the financial sphere, from education and turn on your imagination: if you imagine the relations between Latin America and Russia, what they will be like in 10-15 years, maybe even more. Will they be better or worse?
Oleg Yasinsky: If the worst does not happen in Europe, that's what they are trying to push us towards, if truly independent, sovereign governments come to power in Latin America, which will develop their foreign and domestic policies independently of the United States, and the social sphere will become the priority of their policies, and some human, humanistic values will become, when Latin America finally regains its right to human development, I suppose Latin America and Russia are destined to become such twin brothers, where we could create just one single common cultural space, where the only thing that separates us is the history of the past, these are languages. But languages are easy to learn, especially by young people who have language skills. And I often, when I travel around Russia, especially when I see our expanses here, Siberia, the Urals, the south, the Crimea and everything, I see a lot of Latin American landscapes, I see the same thing. With many Latin Americans with whom we traveled to Russia, they always felt at home here. We have the same sense of humor, we have the same jokes, the same stories, the same landscapes. We have great mutual sympathy. I think that, on the contrary, our task is to stop dreaming, because we can daydream, our thoughts will fly somewhere too far away. I guess it's very important to stay realistic when dreaming. Now Latin America is going through a very difficult, very historically difficult period, as is Europe, as is the whole world. In my opinion we need to take these risks into account, which is why we should dream even more, because after all, nations make history. And I think that what happens to ordinary people like us, what we do and don't do, and what we dream about, will eventually determine the future of all of us.
Elena: It's true. Inaction is also an action, just as silence is also a word.
Oleg Yasinsky: Yes, because while we are arguing about some minor things, when we talk, we complain about some nonsense, the forces of evil, they are perfectly organized. They know what they want. They have an ideology, they have their own project. I think we also need to organize ourselves in some way in order to protect our values and our future.
Elena: We really need to stay together, we need to stick together. This is absolutely true. Oleg Vladislavovich, thank you very much for the constructive dialogue!
Elena: The United World team and Oleg Vladislavovich Yasinsky were with you. See you soon!
Oleg Yasinsky: Thank you very much! Goodbye, see you in Latin America, or when Latin America meets here in Russia.
United World would like to thank Oleg Vladislavovich Yasinsky for an exciting meeting on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2026 and a meaningful conversation about Russian-Latin American youth cooperation.
