RUSI Latin American Security Conference 2023: David Rutley's keynote speech
The Minister for Latin America and the Caribbean, gave a keynote speech at the inaugural Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Latin American Security Conference.
Good morning, buenos dias, bom dia. Indeed, a very early good morning if you are dialling in from Latin America.
Thank you to RUSI for inviting me to speak today. I’m joining you from my constituency of Macclesfield, where I’ll be spending the day speaking to constituents, as I do most Fridays.
Since I became Minister for Latin America and the Caribbean 3 months ago, I’ve spent a lot of time far from Macclesfield.
Last week I was in Bolivia and Ecuador. The week before that, I was at the United Nations in New York, discussing Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela and many issues important to the region. And before Christmas I was in the Dominican Republic, Panama and Colombia. And I will be on the road again in a few weeks.
There is no substitute for meeting my counterparts, talking to a wide range of people, and seeing the difference our overseas missions make – for the UK and for our partners.
The beauty and vitality of each of the countries I’ve visited has been plain to see. So too is their potential and promise.
Latin America is home to more than 660 million people, that’s nearly a tenth of the world’s population. And has a combined GDP of almost 6 trillion dollars. It has a quarter of the world’s forests, a quarter of the world’s cultivable land, almost two-thirds of the world’s lithium reserves… and the list goes on.
In short, Latin America is big and it matters. It has immense resources and potential. And of course, it also has its challenges.
Some are the same global problems we all face as we recover from COVID, grapple with inflation flowing from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and fight climate change.
But the region also has the greatest disparities globally between the rich and the poor. And democratic institutions have come under strain in a number of places.
In his speech in December, the Foreign Secretary set out how over coming decades “an ever greater share of the world economy – and therefore the world’s power – will be in the hands of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America”. He committed to “make a long term and sustained effort to revive old friendships and build new ones, reaching far beyond our long-established alliances.”
In doing so, we build on the work of our predecessors. Two centuries ago, we sent our first consuls to many newly independent countries in the region – a set of anniversaries that we plan to mark this year, in a series of events around Latin America.
Since 2010 we have expanded our diplomatic network – reopening Embassies in Paraguay and El Salvador, and establishing new consulates in Recife and Belo Horizonte.
Together with countries in the region, we face a rapidly growing set of global challenges and opportunities, from climate to commerce, security to science.
And our shared values and interests mean that we have many natural partners in the region. Including on many aspects of security you will be discussing today.
Geo-politics
Turning firstly to geo-politics.
Earlier this month I spoke at the United Nations Security Council meeting on the rule of law. I underlined the importance of the international community coming together to uphold the UN Charter in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was heartening to hear Ecuador, who joined the Security Council this month, condemning Russia.
In General Assembly votes last year, 85% of countries in the Americas voted to condemn Vladimir Putin’s actions; second only to Europe in the unanimity of condemnation.
It has been encouraging to see the region’s multilateral bodies taking similar action, with the Organisation of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank both taking significant steps to exclude Russia.
Although Ukraine is many thousands of kilometres away, Latin America is suffering from the fallout from Putin’s war in terms of higher energy, food and fertiliser prices, which as we all know feed into higher prices across the board. And this despite Latin America’s potential to be a part of the solution to food and energy insecurity, with its vast natural resources.
As I travel, I hear deep concern about rocketing prices, but no lessening of the determination to condemn Russian aggression, and the challenge it presents to all of our security, and to the international order on which we all rely.
That is why, as the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have said, we are accelerating our support to the Ukrainian government to ensure they prevail. It is incumbent on all free countries to stand for freedom, democracy and the sovereignty of nations around the world.
We know – in our increasingly multipolar world – that pressure is applied on countries on a variety of issues.
China, for example, is conspicuously competing for global influence in the region, using a variety of levers of state power. China’s system and approach – their view of democratic norms, human rights and national security for example – brings risks alongside the economic opportunities for the region.
But we know that Latin America is aware of the risks associated with accepting large-scale investments from wealthy third countries, and we understand why tough decisions are needed. Which is why the UK is working to support the infrastructure development that the region needs with UK expertise and finance, including investments from the private sectors.
There is also competition for values.
In the last few years we have seen a coordinated attempt by some states across the globe to roll back women’s and LGBT rights.
I applaud Latin American countries for taking a progressive stand internationally and domestically. Cuba’s September legalisation of same-sex marriage and adoption being a good example. Such progress has often had to overcome disinformation from third parties – just as Latin America has been a key target for Russian disinformation in relation to Ukraine.
Despite lots of good practice and progress in many countries, concerns for human rights and gender equality remain. In a region where ‘disappearances’ remain worryingly high, most obviously in Mexico, more must be done to support vulnerable groups, and those who seek to shed light on their plight.
Economic security
Global events last year served to remind us all how strongly economic security and national security are linked. Which is why the UK government works to expand free and fair trade, and build links between UK and foreign businesses, innovators and scientists.
The UK is negotiating to join the Trans-Pacific free trade agreement as soon as possible – which will further benefit our trade with Chile, Mexico and Peru. We are negotiating a new trade agreement with Mexico. And we signed a Double Taxation Agreement with Brazil late last year – which will help companies in both countries.
I want to see trade with the UK growing right across the Americas.
Climate change is the ultimate threat to global security and prosperity, and Latin America has a key role to play is limiting it, including the global transition to clean energy.
Two-thirds of known global lithium reserves are in Latin America. Chile and Peru have 40% of the world’s copper reserves – a key component of wind turbines. And Brazil is home to the majority of the world’s niobium resources.
So I’m pleased that Anglo-American have invested 5 and a half billion dollars in the Peruvian Quellaveco mine. This will increase copper production and add one percent to Peru’s GDP, while also pushing better environmental, social and governance standards.
The UK government is supporting and pursuing an increasing number of exciting joint projects with partners in the region. Including work with the Chilean government and regulators to help shape global standards for the production and supply of green hydrogen. And the agreement signed last week with the University of Warwick, that will provide scholarships, training and joint research on battery production to the Bolivian government.
Climate security
Beyond the clean energy transition, broader cooperation on climate change is central to our partnerships in the region.
Since 2011, Colombia has been one of the largest recipients of UK International Climate Finance, which has helped protect one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, tackle environmental crime and associated violence, as well as develop sustainable and inclusive economies in conflict-affected areas.
Many Latin American countries were joint architects of the COP 26 Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use – an agreement that promotes biodiversity and sustainable land use where it is most needed.
Ensuring that forests, and the indigenous peoples and local communities who live there are protected, is a huge challenge. And hugely important.
The UK government continues to deliver on our pledge to spend up to £300 million tackling deforestation in the Amazon region. We are contributing £100 million to the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund in Honduras, Guatemala and other countries. And we help fund CMAR – the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor – with Blue Planet Funds.
President Lula’s return offers an opportunity to deepen our relationship with Brazil on climate change, as well as on trade, development, security and other shared priorities.
In 2023, Brazil has a seat on the UN Security Council, and will assume the G20 Presidency next year. It has also launched a bid to host COP30 in the Amazon in 2025.
Lula has an ambitious programme to deliver a green and inclusive economic transition for Brazil, which would have clear benefits for the UK and the world.
As a leader in green finance we are working to mobilise private investment, and align our existing ODA funding on climate and nature, with Lula’s green and inclusive economic transition agenda – which has ‘keeping forests standing’ at its heart.
Peace and democracy
Healthy democracy – with institutions that are responsive to people’s needs – is another important insurance policy against insecurity.
There has been well-publicised constitutional unrest in Peru and Brazil – and we have been vocal in our support for democratic principles and the constitutional order. We are also steadfast supporters of those who bravely defend democratic principles in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Talking of democracy, it would be remiss of me not to mention the Falklands.
The Falkland Islanders, like everyone else, deserve the freedom to decide their own future, in political, cultural, economic and development terms. The people of the Falkland Islands have made very clear – most comprehensively in the 2013 referendum – that they wish to maintain their current relationship with the UK, as is their absolute right.
The UK will continue to support the islanders’ right of self-determination as firmly as we have done to date. The principle is one that deserves wide international support.
Where democratic institutions fail, it is often voices of freedom and the most vulnerable who suffer the consequences most acutely.
In Nicaragua, repression is increasing.
In energy-rich Venezuela, the World Food programme estimates that there are currently 5.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. Millions have been forced to flee the country as refugees, putting a huge strain on generous neighbours.
We continue to encourage all parties to do everything necessary to return democracy to Venezuela, and to hold free, fair presidential elections in 2024, in accordance with international democratic standards.
Organised crime, fuelled in large part by the production and trafficking of illegal drugs, continues to curse the region, feeding corruption, corroding institutions, and damaging the environment through deforestation and illegal mining.
Last week I saw how equipment donated by the UK helps protect Ecuador’s Special Mobile Antinarcotics Unit. An investment that helps limit the drugs heading for our shores.
And in the UN earlier this month, we won support for the latest UK-led Security Council resolution backing the Colombian Peace Process.
There is a long way still to go to end the violence and criminality that has plagued Colombia for so long. But the 2016 peace agreement between the government and the FARC shows what can be achieved with determination and leadership on all sides.
We have supported that process with almost £70 million from the UK’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. And we will continue to ensure the Security Council offers the support and guidance needed.
We are also working with partners in the region to make cyberspace an open and secure engine of knowledge and growth – shaping the international governance of cyberspace in accordance with our shared values.
In the last 3 years alone, the UK has funded cyber capacity-building for over a dozen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. From promoting initiatives around women in cyber in Argentina, helping Uruguay carry out a national cyber risk assessment, to signing a cyber memorandum of understanding with Brazil.
Closing remarks
To conclude.
Security is multi-faceted. And the threats to it are constantly evolving.
This government has committed to intensify our work with partners in Latin America, to strengthen international peace and security, to bolster economic and climate security, and to support the democratic institutions that underpin national security.
I look forward to discussing that work with you.