By Martin Barillas

After meeting President George W. Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine, to discuss bilateral issues such as trade and defense, Russian leader Vladimir Putin left for Guatemala on July 2 for a three-day visit to the Central American republic.

Putin's government has been lobbying the International Olympic Committee to decide on the Russian city of Sochi as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Russian government has reportedly promised an expenditure of over $1.5 billion dollars to ensure the success of the Games at Sochi, which is located on the Black Sea. It is expected that Russia will improve infrastructure such as airports and railways, as well as provide adequate sporting facilities for the 2014 Winter Games.

Sochi is among two candidates being selected by the IOC on July 4 in Guatemala. In the running are Salzburg (Austria) and Pyeongchang (South Korea). Austrian chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer will also be on hand in Guatemala City to lobby for Salzburg's bid. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's presence in Singapore during the 2005 IOC session in Singapore is widely seen to have cinched London as the site for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

But fun and games are not the only things on the agenda for the meeting of Putin with Guatemala's President Oscar Berger. According to Guatemalan Foreign Minister Gert Rosenthal, the two are expected to toast a successful conclusion of some 12 years' trade negotiations between Guatemala and Russia, which are to expected to benefit Guatemala's coffee and sugar exports with favorable tariffs. The negotiations brought about Guatemala's support of Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The two presidents met July 3.

In advance of Putin's arrival to Guatemala, Russian Vice Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov was quoted saying that "We hope to establish new economic, commercial, and cultural relations with Guatemala on this visit. There are large Russian petroleum companies that are interested in cooperating with technology transfer."

Zhukov reminded listeners that Russia is a completely different country from the defunct Soviet Union, saying "We are ready to invest in various areas, to cooperate economically. It depends on Guatemala's interest." Zhukov also made it official that Guatemala will soon have a Russian embassy, whereas relations with Guatemala are currently conducted out of Russia's embassy to Costa Rica.

Russia is the largest producer of petroleum in the world. Coincidently, Sheik Ahmad Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait, the president of the Oil Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel (OPEC) is also to visit Guatemala in the coming week. Compared to Kuwait and Russia, Guatemala produces small amounts of petroleum and has little refining capacity. Exploration was conducted as early as the 1950s when Texaco commissioned a survey for a possible road and pipeline in the Peten region in 1959.

Guatemala is Central America's only oil producer, while the 30-year-long civil war, low oil quality, and poor infrastructure discouraged further investment. In 1981, new deposits of oil were discovered in the northern jungle region of Guatemala. A pipeline to the Caribbean coast was completed in 1981 but attacked more than a dozen times in 1991, ostensibly by Marxist guerrillas. Since the end of the civil war in 1996, oil concessions have been granted by the government and production has averaged 23,300 barrels per day in 2000. Guatemala also has modest natural gas reserves.



©Copyright, Martin Barillas 2007

Martin Barillas is a former US diplomat and human rights observer who served in Latin America, Europe, and the US. He is Religion News editor for Spero News and blogs at HispanoBizantino.

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