During Vladimir Putin’s five terms as President of Russia, Moscow has created a complex disinformation ecosystem as part of its national security apparatus. These multifaceted activities, took on even more power following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and after the large-scale invasion carried out in Ukraine in 2022. This large disinformation apparatus targets multiple audiences across a broad ideological spectrum, taking advantage of Russia’s limited but influential alliances in the Iberosphere.
In 2013, Kremlin declared that its relations with Ibero-America were of great strategic importance, a year later it carried out the annexation of Crimea. A similar development can be seen after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when Putin noted that: “there are historically strong, friendly and truly trusting ties with Latin America”.
Russia has long sought to take advantage of the historically troubled relations between the United States and Ibero-America. It is important to remember the long history of the US interventions in the region’s politics, such as several coups aimed at overthrowing leftist leaders, economic interference, among others.
Today, the totalitarian regimes most loyal to the Kremlin are: Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela. While it is true, in addition to having installed an extensive disinformation network in these nations, Kremlin has also provided them with strong military weapons, security and intelligence equipment, whose purpose is to secure them in power and continue expanding their vile influence in Spanish-speaking countries but also in Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil.
This complex Kremlin ecosystem in Latin America is composed of a dual strategy: one focused on politics, the other on disinformation, the Kremlin has achieved its goal in these narco-communist regimes. Russia has established a nucleus to extend its area of influence from Mexico to Chile. It not only has the backing of local media such as RT and Sputnik, but also influential Internet figures, Kremlin-paid journalists, thousands of bots and trolls to amplify its messages and generate polarizing debates. These practices erode trust in democratic institutions and local media, weakening social cohesion and favoring a narrative of chaos that justifies the search for alternatives to the Western system.
It is important to note that Russian television broadcasts in Spanish have their beginning in 2009 and greatly increased after two previously mentioned Russian aggressions in 2014 and 2022. Despite the latter, Russian media have continued to achieve good results in terms of interactions and audience growth in Ibero-America. For example, Actualidad RT is still maintained on Facebook and has more than 17 million followers. Additionally, there is also RT Play (viral entertainment videos), which by the end of 2023 had more than 6 million followers.
For its part, Actualidad RT has established itself as part of the regional media environment, expanding its objectives and not only spreading Russian disinformation in Latin American nations but also feeding the rhetoric of Latin American leftist movements. An example of this can be seen in the coverage of these media in the face of the violent protests in Chile and Colombia in 2019, with the aim of overthrowing governments with close relations with the United States. A notorious fact is that after the Russian invasion in Ukraine, three RT journalists received awards for their international coverage of Putin’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, granted by the renowned Club of Journalists of Mexico. So much so that the Russian ambassador to this country was present at the event where it was emphasized that the awards “support our fight against Ukrainian terrorism”.
If we talk about the social network X, the account of Actualidad RT in Spanish has more than 3.5 million followers, totaling 13.9 million visits at the end of November 2022. Almost half of the visits came from Venezuela, Mexico and Argentina. Telesur and HispanTV are also added to the disinformation media exploited by Russia. The first was founded by dictator Hugo Chavez in 2005 with the support of Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Argentina. The latter is a media outlet founded by the Iranian regime in 2012.
Both Telesur and HispanTV aim to disseminate an alternative vision to that of the Western media, greatly promoting the interests of these countries and giving credence to new blocs such as the BRICS in the region. All these media share a critical stance towards the Western-led international order, in particular the United States, NATO and its allies. In other words, they promote narratives that support leftist governments or movements aligned with their agendas, such as those of Venezuela, Iran, Syria, Russia or Cuba.
In addition to ideological alignment, there is also collaboration in rebroadcasting news published by RT and Sputnik and vice versa. In this way, they cooperate indirectly by reinforcing messages or disinformation campaigns that favor common interests. Two notorious examples are, first of all, Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine or international sanctions against Iran and Venezuela. Since 2020, disinformation campaigns have greatly increased, which can be observed a homogeneous narrative, broadly criticizing the West and promoting the positions of Russia, Iran or allied governments.
BRICS impact:
Kremlin has leveraged its powerful disinformation apparatus in Ibero-America and imposing presence in this alliance to promote a narrative of multipolar cooperation, challenging the hegemony of the United States and Europe.
In this context, Russia’s disinformation strategies promote Moscow’s particular objectives within the alliance (Brazil, China, India and Russia). The Brazilian giant represents the largest economy in Ibero-America and maintains close ties with the Kremlin in several areas, such as the fertilizer market, reaching a dependence on Moscow of 40% of the Brazilian market in 2024. On the other hand, despite the intentions of Maduro’s regime to join the group, it could not materialize due to Brazil’s blockade in view of the fraudulent elections held last July 28.
On the other hand, Russia is promoting a perception of the BRICS as a bloc capable of challenging the supremacy of the United States and Europe in the military, political and economic fields. One of the most visible effects is the construction of common narratives that strengthen the perception of unity among members. For example, Russia emphasizes the collective rejection of the dollar-based financial system and promotes the idea of a “multipolar world order”. This discourse is echoed by the other countries in the group, especially China and South Africa, which also seek to reduce their dependence on the West.
This is clearly visible in the Russian narrative of support for totalitarian governments such as Venezuela, which serves as a demonstration of how the BRICS can serve as a political shield, even when there are human rights violations, crimes against humanity and fraudulent elections.
Russian disinformation has proven to be an effective tool to advance the Kremlin’s interests both in Ibero-America and within this political forum. In these countries, its impact has been evident in political polarization, distrust of democracies and the strengthening of anti-Western narratives. Russia’s disinformation methods have had a significant influence on the perception and narrative in most Iberosphere countries. This strategy has contributed to consolidating a dangerous vision of unity vis-à-vis Western powers, while reinforcing the Kremlin’s position as a key player within the group.
