BUENOS AIRES, March 21. /TASS/. The majority of Latin American countries are under constant pressure from the United States, and thus were afraid to congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election victory, Julia Perieh, president of the Victoria Foundation Observatory of International Relations and former member of the National Congress of Argentina, told a TASS correspondent.

"Latin American countries, as well as the countries of the South American common market [Mercosur], are under intense pressure from the US and the EU, and so they abstained from making any congratulatory statements regarding the Russian presidential election," she said.

According to Perieh, Latin American countries should expand their cooperation with Russia. "This rapprochement would be very beneficial for the region, because Russia is a big country with great potential, and I can see that the Russian people are ready to establish closer relations with Latin America," she noted.

The expert regretted the fact that Argentine’s current government cannot see the benefits of collaboration with Russia. "Argentinean President [Javier Milei] is very dependent on the US; he cannot see what is going on in the multipolar world now. He adheres only to the US, Israel and the EU," Perieh said.

She noted that people who visit Russia can now see that the Western media attempt to portray a distorted picture of the situation in the country, including the election. "I personally did not participate in the election as an observer, but my colleagues were shocked with the voter turnout. It shows that Russian citizens really trust the government," Perieh added.

After the announcement of the election results and Putin’s win, the governments of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, Bolivia and Honduras congratulated Putin on his victory. The Metr·poles publication reported on Wednesday that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva had also sent a congratulatory letter to the Russian leader.