The Russians Visited Cuba Recently And Their Beachhead In Nicaragua Keeps Growing
Editor;s note: 3/16/2015: Now in addition to the Bear's dens in Cuba and Nicaragua the Bear is in bed with Argentina openly backing the bogus Argentine claim to the British Falklands and providing itself with a permanent base from which it could interfere with shipping traffic around Strait of Magellan. At first glance that old bear, Russia would seem to have little natural interest in Latin America. Cuba is a money pit and the cold war is over.But Cuba is far from its only interest. The bear is all over Nicaragua. There are a lot of signs that the bear is carving out permanent den sites in Latin America, most especially Nicaragua. While the bear has shown more than a willingness to just stick the United States in the eye, perhaps out of Cold War habit; on closer examination the Bear has some legitimate interests in the region. Despite the fact that the Bear has a big advantage over the United States and Canada in the High Arctic; as masters of propaganda themselves the Russians aren't all that convinced that a few warm summers amount to any assurance of a future year round or long season High Arctic shipping route cutting distances between Asia and Europe. Nicaragua has a plan to build an alternative to the Panama Canal across its own territory. China has already signed a contract for part of the costs. Russia at one point considered and then rejected financing the entire project. Nicaragua is run today by Daniel Ortega and his merry commie Sandinistas. They hate America. A Chinese company may run the Panama Canal operations under contract but the United States has treaty rights of access and defense. That will never be the case with Nicaragua which might easily refuse service to the United States in critical times and assure access to China and Russia at times when they are in serious, even armed opposition to the United States. The High Arctic route may or may not be available when the Russians need it.
After a 15 year absence the Sandinista party wasted no time in seeking to modernize the Nicaraguan military and the bear was right there with equipment at fire sale prices. Russian war ships have visited Nicaragua and continue to do so. Should this periodic presence turn into a permanent naval base we could have cruise missile equipped Russian war ships constantly on both our eastern and western flanks of the Gulf Coast. But the bear has another interest in Nicaragua and that's narcotics.
The bear has as big a habit as America and it costs them just as much in increased criminal activity, health care costs, and lost productivity as it does us. Russia is cooperating with the Sandinistas in curbing the drug trade. The Sandinstas would never work with us, so we ought to be happy about this development right? Wrong, we'd bet the farm on the fact that there is a financial connection between the Sandys and the Narcos. Traffic can be cut to Russia for a price and that price could well include Russian military intelligence assistance in increasing the flow to the American market. Really, dancing bears in sombreros scare the crap out of us. We are not sure Washington has even noticed, but then again our own misgovernment scares us more than anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment