US State Department finds Russia Responsible for Disinformation Campaign in Latin America
A mural of Russian president Vladimir Putin and former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, shows the reach of Russian politics. Source: AP/Matias Delacroix
On Nov. 7, a report from the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced the discovery of a significant Russian disinformation apparatus operating in Latin America. The disinformation campaign is allegedly being conducted by The Social Design Agency (SDA), an informational entity that the European Union called “a Russian IT company closely linked to Russian political power.”
The information about Russia’s involvement in Latin American media and their funding of a disinformation apparatus follows the release of The Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. The annual report propounds the “major threats to global stability, including both civil and military threats, and addresses the current changes in U.S. perceptions of the threat in detail.” This year’s publication focused on four major military threats: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. A pertinent topic in the analysis was the fact that foreign entities have “become adept at the tools of digital repression, employing censorship, misinformation and disinformation.”
Russian mainstay influence in Latin American media coverage began in 2018. Mario Morales, a professor of social communication at Colombia’s Pontifical Javeriana University claimed that “Russia used its status as host of the 2018 football World Cup to establish its media toehold in Latin America.” While sports may not be the most political medium to assert influence, Morales claims that Moscow used football to attract confidence in their reporting before ultimately penetrating the media market in Latin America and perpetuating disinformation.
For many years now, Russian media coverage has integrated into Latin America’s media market, with outlets like Actualidad RT and social media channels such as “Ahí les Va,” a known Russian propaganda YouTube channel authored by Afinogenova. U.S. interest groups have become increasingly weary with the lack of regulation on Russian disinformation in Spanish-language channels. On April 20, 2022, a group of 21 U.S. lawmakers voiced their concerns to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg about what they deemed disinformation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine aimed at Spanish speakers on Meta.
In an official announcement, the DOS said, “The Social Design Agency (SDA), the Institute for Internet Development, and Structura coordinated on the development of an information manipulation campaign targeting Latin America that aims to promote Russia’s strategic interests in the region at the expense of other countries by overtly and covertly co-opting local media and influencers to spread disinformation and propaganda.”
As the Reuters Institute at University of Oxford notes, “The Western ban of state-funded outlets such as RT and Sputnik didn’t deter the Kremlin’s impact in Spain and Latin America through social media channels.” Vladimir Rouvinski, an Associate Professor at the Universidad Icesi in Colombia, argues that the pervasive nature of RT in Spanish-speaking countries can be explained by three factors: “the deficit of non-Western media in Latin America, anti-American sentiment in the region and lack of knowledge of the realities of today’s Russia.”
Beyond Latin America and the United States, governments across the world recognize the pertinence of the issue. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland called for countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to stand up to the “powerful role of post-Soviet propaganda” and “fake news” surrounding the ongoing war in Ukraine. Furthermore, the Polish Parliament initiated a probe into Russian disinformation, with E.U. Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders labeling the issue a “special concern.”
In October, Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party was also a victim of a disinformation campaign propagated to sow discontent before the parliamentary elections on Oct. 15. Fake messages were sent out via text message that claimed the Law and Justice Party would “provide funerals for pensioners for free.” A top security official in the Polish Government, Stanislaw Zaryn, stated that the fake messages were “part of Russia’s operation against the elections in Poland.”
Putin attends a BRICS summit in 2023. Source: REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev
In Argentina and Brazil, statistics show a dislike towards Russia and Russian policy, with only 17% of those surveyed expressing positive sentiments. The statistic has dropped 20 percentage points since 2019. Meanwhile, in Mexico, favorable opinions of Russia have risen in populations under the age of 40-years-old. Around 42% of younger adults say they look positively on Russia compared to 26% of those over the age of 40.
In March of 2022, Mexico’s MORENA, the party of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and its representatives in Mexico’s Lower House of Representatives launched a Mexico-Russia friendship caucus. This occurred despite calls from Kyiv’s ambassador to Mexico, Oksana Dramaretska, to double down on support for Ukraine and decry Russian influence.
Félix Maradiaga, the Nicaraguan-born president of Fundación Para La Libertad (Foundation for Liberty), stated on Linkedin on Nov. 8 that “There is a pressing need for heightened vigilance and critical scrutiny of information in Latin America.” He added that, “It's a call to action for both individuals and institutions to recognize and counter the external influence operations that seek to shape political and social landscapes across the region.”