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Lavrov hopes Latin America to become visa-free zone for Russians

Paraguay will become the eleventh country of the Latin American region with which Russia has introduced visa-free rules

MOSCOW, January 21. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has expressed the hope that the whole region of Latin America and the Caribbean will become a visa-free zone for Russian travelers in the foreseeable future.

Speaking at a major news conference reviewing the results of 2013, he recalled that recently Paraguay had introduced visa-free regulations for Russian tourists.

“Paraguay will become the eleventh country of the Latin American region with which Russia has introduced visa-free rules,” Lavrov said. “I am confident that in the foreseeable future the whole territory of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (that unites 33 countries of the region) may become a free-travel zone for Russians.”

Russia “very closely cooperates” with Latin American countries not only through bilateral channels, but also through integration structures, in particular through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Union of South American Nations, the diplomat said.

Lavrov recalled that last May Moscow hosted a meeting of foreign ministers of the expanded troika of CELAC, composed of Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica and Haiti. Diplomats agreed to finalize parameters of a regular dialogue between Russia and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

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