Russia ready to expand political cooperation with Central America

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet in Guatemala on March 26 foreign ministers of the member states of the Central American Integration System (Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana, or SICA), which includes Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and the Republic of El Salvador, Russia’s Foreign Ministry reported on Wednesday. "Moscow stands for a strong, united politically and economically stable Latin America, which is increasingly becoming one of the pillars of the emerging multipolar world," the ministry said. "Russia is ready to expand political interaction with Central American countries in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a mechanism for political dialogue and cooperation between Russia and SICA, signed in 2004," the ministry said. The key spheres of such cooperation, according to the ministry, are the promotion of security strengthening, training of law enforcement personnel, prevention and elimination of emergencies aftermath, trade-economic and investment cooperation, innovative technologies, humanitarian contacts, academic cooperation and education, in particular, the provision of Russian state scholarships, as well as cooperation in the field of culture, sports and tourism. Moscow is "grateful to Central Americans for the support of Russia’s international initiatives, including on no first deployment of weapons in outer space, strengthening international information security and countering the glorification of Nazism." Read more