In a June 28 press conference following his June 21-24 trip to Moscow, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo explained that a top priority of his trip was to secure accelerated transport of the Sputnik V vaccine to Guatemala, as Russia had failed to meet the terms of a contract by which Guatemala purchased 16 million doses, but so far had only received 150,000, El Diario de Centroamerica reported June 30. In a meeting with officials of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Health Ministry, as well as with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Brolo said he was told that sending vaccines to Guatemala as soon as possible was a top priority for the Russians, and that 400,000 doses would be sent “this week.” In their joint June 24 press conference, Lavrov stated that “it is our desire that the Guatemalan people receive in the least amount of time possible the quantity of Sputnik V vaccine remaining to be completed,” EFE news service quoted him.
But beyond vaccines, Guatemala is seeking much broader collaboration with Russia. Brolo told reporters he met with representatives of “productive sectors'’ to discuss increasing bilateral cooperation in areas such as academia, security, tourism, and energy. He also reported he met with Sergey Glazyev, in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics for the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and discussed a working agenda with him related to trade, investment, integration and cooperation. Lavrov commented that greater Guatemalan participation in the EAEU would be welcomed. Brolo also met with Sergey Saveliev, the Assistant Director General of Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, who discussed Russia’s experiences in space and emphasized its role in encouraging the creation of a Central American space agency. In October of 2020, during World Space Week, the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) voted up a resolution, firmly backed by Russia, calling for the creation of a Central American and Caribbean Space Agency, one of whose tasks would be building a Central American and Caribbean satellite.
