MY THOUGHTS on News.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

New York Times: “America’s Foes Are Joining Forces.” And adds: “Under both Donald Trump and President Biden, Washington has helped create the very anti-American partnerships it now bemoans.” Sans his mouth, Trump had better relations with China, Saudi Arabia, India, Brazil, and of course, Russia. Good for the U.S. Biden’s blunders? Most recent: How he messes up U.S. efforts to ease tension with China and his approval of shipment of cluster munitions to Ukraine. 

       Review of President Biden’s foreign affairs playbook: Haphazard pullout from Afghanistan. Lukewarm leadership attendance to Summit of the Americas. Economic sanction of Russia that didn’t work. The Taiwan Drama that went pfft. And his weird anti-Xi retort after State Secretary Antony Blinken’s China visit and before Treasury chief Janet Yellen trip. When I say Trump’s friendship with Washington’s rival is good is mainly economic smarts per continuous dealmaking over geopolitical narcissism hinged on military machismo to decide who is #1. 🏦😕🗽

Associated Press: “China accuses US of turning Taiwan into a powder keg.” China’s Defense Ministry says the U.S. is turning Taiwan into a powder keg with its latest sales of military equipment worth $440.2 million to the island. China is Taiwan’s top trading partner. Worth of business: Almost $300 billion, which is 23 percent of Taiwan’s total trade. With the U.S.? 13 percent. Ergo, why would Taiwan fight China? Or why not the U.S. talk about microchips over weapons? 🇨🇳☮️🇺🇸

       Facts behind the intrigue: Taiwan is world’s #1 microchips producer. Top clients of Taiwan’s giant electronics manufacturer Foxconn are U.S. Big Tech, #1 is Apple. Foxconn, which is global, has 12 factories in China, more than in any other country, including the largest in Shenzhen. 

New York Times: “Ruling Puts Social Media at Crossroads of Disinformation and Free Speech.” The Times infers, this is a “broader effort by conservatives to document what they contend is a liberal conspiracy to silence their views.” My FB Friends list is almost split between Conservatives and Liberals, which dominate my Homepage talk. I was a Left-leaning radical, now proudly unaligned. Yet when I chat with a New Left(ist) on my Page, I end up senselessly pissed.📱🗽📲

New York Times: “Is Botswana Getting a Raw Deal From De Beers Diamonds?” Many in the country are pushing to get a better deal from the industry. African countries Botswana, Congo, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Sierra Leone, and Lesotho are in the Top 10 of diamond mining countries. A more fair treatment of poorer countries on the trade table should be the focus over the ideological purity of “correcting” political systems that cultural facts don’t support. 

       While Russia is the world's largest diamond mining country and Canada is 3rd, African nations dominate the diamond production chart. But giant industry buyers such as the London-based De Beers treat them badly on the negotiating table. Related news: “When It Comes to Rubies, Is Mozambique the New Star?” And adds: “The $34.8 million auction price for a gem discovered in the East African country has the jewelry industry buzzing.” 🇧🇼💎🇧🇼

Rolling Stone: “Twitter Is So Heated Over Threads That They're Threatening Legal Action.” Threads is a new microblogging platform (like Twitter) from Meta/Facebook. Threads reached 75 million users in its first 48 hours, breaking a record set by ChatGPT. Recently, Twitter owner Elon Musk challenged Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg to fisticuffs in a "cage match." Mark accepted. But there’s no date for the “fight” yet. Are you interested now? Let’s get ready to rumbleeeeee! 🐦🙃🕶

Associated Press: “The US will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package.” A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that ejects smaller submunitions, and designed to kill personnel–and civilians–and destroy vehicles. The move would easily invite outrage from some allies and humanitarian groups that have long opposed cluster bombs. Is this Ukraine’s war or U.S. war vs Russia? 

       President Biden’s decision, part of a new $800 million military aid package he promised Volodymyr Zelensky, comes as Treasury chief Janet Yellen–following State secretary Antony Blinken–is in China to help ease tensions between Washington and Beijing. The world is very aware that the end of war hinges on how China deals with Russia, and whenever the U.S. and E.U. stop sending arms aid to Ukraine. ☮️☮️☮️

Associated Press: “Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announces resignation after ruling coalition fails to agree on migration policy.” In total, 46,460 asylum seekers and following relatives entered the Netherlands in 2022. Although the number is a lot lower than Germany’s hosting of 2.2 million refugees, including more than 875,000 Ukrainian refugees, the migrant overflow stays as Europe’s decades-old unsolved crisis. 

       In April this year, some 75,000 applications for asylum were lodged in the EU+, up by nearly a quarter (24 percent) compared to April 2022. Meanwhile, Germany (2.2. million) now ranks behind Turkey (4 million) as the country that takes in the most refugees. The ongoing Ukraine War spiked refugee presence in Europe. So it continually confounds me why Europe, especially Germany, insists on tossing military aid to Ukraine instead of maximizing diplomatic channels to peace negotiation. 🇵🇾🇵🇾🇵🇾

New York Times: “Court Rejects U.K. Plan to Fly Asylum Seekers to Rwanda as Unlawful.” I concur with relocating refugees to places/countries where cultural facts are closer to them so assimilation isn't a major issue. Giant economies can of course help by providing more economic investments to these countries or via refugee aid coursed through the United Nations Refugee Fund (UNREF) or direct aid.  Problem is, refugees favor Europe or America. 

       Refugees apparently risk life and limb to enter Europe and the U.S. Though they can cross the border to another country. Turkey hosts the most number of refugees, 4 million. From there, other nations help. The E.U. struck a deal with Turkey in re refugee aid but politics got in the way; it didn’t really work. Meanwhile, in Africa, South Africa boasts some of the most progressive asylum laws in the world. Instead of being forced into sprawling camps, once migrants apply for asylum, they can live and work anywhere in the country until the state determines whether or not they qualify as a refugee. ✈️🇬🇧✈️

New York Times: “Prigozhin Is Said to Be in Russia, as Wagner Mystery Deepens.” And adds: “After the mercenary boss staged a brief insurrection in Russia, the leader of Belarus said his country had taken him in, but now says the Wagner leader was in St. Petersburg and then `maybe he went to Moscow.’” Ah. The Ukraine War is a Netflix-styled political action thriller. Starring a dramatic buffoon and a stoic villain royale, plot twists abound a-la Jack Ryan intrigue. ☮️☮️☮️

Associated Press: “Las Vegas incident: Britney Spears says Wembanyama’s security struck her; Spurs rookie says he was grabbed.” I am not interested with what really went down. Nobody’s hurt? Fact is, Wemby hasn’t really shown his stuff in real NBA contest but hey! He's in The News, Hollywood-style. And all of a sudden Britney is in the spotlight. Kinda moved me to listen to her new duet with Elton John, “Hold Me Closer.” But uhh who held and grabbed who? 🏀🎲🏀

The NICARAGUA Story.

Previously posted on my Facebook page.

NEWS: “Nicaragua’s Secretive Ruling Family Reaches Out Quietly to the U.S.” This New York Times news was months ago during President Biden’s fiery “Sanction Russia!” call. Of course, Washington didn’t invite Nicaragua—along with Venezuela and Cuba—to the Summit of Americas in June. The Times, that time, reported that “…sanctions intended to thwart (President Daniel) Ortega’s dictatorial actions have hit his family and inner circle hard.” More pain was expected as sanctions hit Russia, an ally.

       However, the sanction didn’t pan out, as we know it now. So Ortega is back to his anti-U.S. barbs. And the former Sandinista revolutionary has escalated a crackdown on those he and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, see as a threat to their continued rule of 14 years and counting.

       Last year, Ortega detained at least seven potential presidential rivals and barred opposition parties from participating in the presidential election. The President also closed 7 radios. Dozens more human rights activists, business leaders, students, journalists and others in the Central American country of 6.5 million were threatened.

       Meanwhile, Nicaragua is in the midst of an aggravated economic crisis that began in 2018 in the wake of the political crisis that only worsened, to date. The 5 percent unemployment amidst a 3 percent GDP growth rate aren’t so bad though, especially if Noriega manages to play his deflating ball to his advantage, as did Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, another fiery anti-Washington dude.  

       “Play cool” means play cool politics with the U.S. and cool trade with China. 🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮

IRRELEVANT of Daniel Ortega’s mouth, the United States remains Nicaragua's top economic partner, buying 49 percent of Nicaraguan exports, supplying 22 percent of its imports, and expats in the U.S., sending 60 percent of remittances.

       Since 1990, the United States has provided over $1.2 billion in assistance to Nicaragua. About $260 million of that was for debt relief, and another $450 million was for balance-of-payments support. The U.S. also provided $93 million in 1999, 2000, and 2001 as part of its overall response to Hurricane Mitch.

       But that’d be after Washington funded Contra groups vs the left-wing Sandinista movement. In the 19th and 20th centuries, tensions were high between the U.S. and Nicaragua; U.S. intervention was frequent, especially in the 1980s. Years of Red Scare or socialism paranoia. Hence, with Noriega in power, the animosity resumed.

       The Biden administration did not invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in June; White House accused the three countries of having undemocratically elected leaders.

       But then other Latin American leaders snubbed the Summit altogether, including Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, a top U.S. ally. Other Presidents followed Obrador’s no-show: Xiomara Castro of Honduras, Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala, Luis Arce of Bolivia, Nayib Bukele of El Salvador; and Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

       Apparently, Noriega has some “allies” as well in the region. 🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮

BUT then, there’s China. So as Daniel Ortega shuffles political cards with Washington, he is dealing trade chips with Beijing. In late 2021, Nicaragua broke off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China or Taiwan and recognized the People’s Republic of China as the legitimate Chinese government.

       Just a month after the switch, Nicaragua and China signed several key agreements underpinning their new political relationship, including an MoU with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

       True, the U.S. is still Nicaragua’s top trading partner since 1990, when the leftist padron was ousted via a 10-year Washington-funded proxy war.

       The 1990s Nicaragua was an era of U.S.-directed neoliberalism that created special export zones for shipping duty-free goods to America. It created free trade zones in which up to 20 percent of Nicaragua’s formal sector workforce is employed by local contractors who sell their manufactured goods to US corporates such as Wal-Mart, VF Jeans, Levi Strauss, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, and Gap. However, wages were kept low, while Nicaraguan commodities were sold at low prices to be resold at many times their value on the U.S. markets. American middlemen made a fortune with very little being left on the table for Nicaraguans.

       That’s where we are at. Ortega faces an economic crisis that he can still save—as long as he knows how to play the Washington/Beijing power tug in the region. And stop his people from pulling him out of his seat. Hint: There was no regime change in Venezuela and Bolivia. Nicaragua can also prevent this macabre ghost from hounding the region again. 🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮

The SOMALIA Story.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

NEWS. “Somalia Elects New President, but Terrorists Hold True Power.” And adds: “The militants of Al Shabab collect taxes, decide court cases and control the streets. Somalis ask, will a new government even matter?” Let me try to work around what/which really is Somalia. Officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, this nation with the longest coastline on the region’s mainland, is located in the Horn of Africa. The capital and largest city is Mogadishu.

       The Somali Republic is the name given to the sovereign state composed of Somalia and Somaliland, following the unification of the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) and the State of Somaliland (the former British Somaliland). The Republic of Somaliland is a de facto state in the Horn of Africa, considered internationally to be part of Somalia. Uhh are we confused now? LOL!

       So let’s just settle with Somalia. Like other beleaguered and perennially in crisis nations in Sub Saharan Africa, I hope that the new leadership of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud leads the 7 million Somalis to better life. Mr Hassan was named in the Time 100, the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013. 🇸🇴🇸🇴🇸🇴

LET’s go straight to my usual line of discussion: How’s China doing in Somalia? China and Somalia have long relations in terms of trade, military, culture and language that predate the Middle Ages. In 2019, Somalia along with 36 other countries, have signed a joint letter to the UNHRC defending China's treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.

       But then, the following year, Somaliland established relations with Taiwan which also included the opening of representative offices in their respective countries. Confused about Somalia and Somaliland? I know.

       Anyhow, through trade, the peoples of both Somalia and China established good relations. Giraffes, zebras and incense were exported to the Ming Empire of China, and in the process influenced the Chinese language with the Somali language and vice versa.

       The Chinese exported celadon wares, spices and muskets in return for horses, exotic animals and ivory. Currently, Somalia’s top exports are gold, sheep and goats and other animals, insect resins, and oily seeds. China, however, is only the 5th destination of exports. Top 4: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Bulgaria. Though China is the country’s #2 importer.

       But it doesn’t mean Beijing isn’t active in Somalia. In 2007, the Chinese state-owned oil company CNOOC also signed an oil exploration agreement with the Somali government over the north-central Mudug province, situated in the autonomous Puntland region. 🇸🇴🇸🇴🇸🇴

SOMALIA and the United States. Somaliland and the United States do not have official diplomatic relations although they had historic relations under the Geledi Sultanate in 1776, when the then Somalia was the first independent state in Africa to recognize the United States as a sovereign nation. In those days, the two countries shared naval intelligence.

       The latest interaction was political. On May 12 this year, Larry André Jr., the American ambassador to Somalia, and General Stephen J. Townsend, Commander of the United States Africa Command met with Musa Bihi Abdi, President of Somaliland, in Hargeisa in what was described as the U.S not promoting the "secessionist ideology being pushed by Somaliland" in the context of the 2022 Somaliland presidential election and continuing the "single Somalia policy" while urging close cooperation between Somalia and Somaliland.

       Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is the President of Somalia. Musa Bihi Abdi is the President of Somaliland. I know it is confusing.

       A “better” discussion of Somalia/Somaliland and the United States can be ushered by the 2001 war film “Black Hawk Down” by Ridley Scott, based on the 1999 non-fiction book of the same name by journalist Mark Bowden, about the U.S. military's 1993 raid in Mogadishu. 🇸🇴🇸🇴🇸🇴

Photo: The Intercept.