Posted on 03/21/2014 8:23:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
While everyone is focused on the Ukraine and eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin has also been projecting Russian power into our own backyard:
Away from the conflict in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is quietly seeking a foothold in Latin America, military officials warn.
To the alarm of lawmakers and Pentagon officials, Putin has begun sending navy ships and long-range bombers to the region for the first time in years.
Russia’s defense minister says the country is planning bases in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, and just last week, Putin’s national security team met to discuss increasing military ties in the region.
“They’re on the march,” Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) said at a Senate hearing earlier this month. “They’re working the scenes where we can’t work. And they’re doing a pretty good job.”
Gen. James Kelly, commander of U.S. Southern Command said there has been a “noticeable uptick in Russian power projection and security force personnel” in Latin America.
“It has been over three decades since we last saw this type of high-profile Russian military presence,” Kelly said at the March 13 hearing.
Less obviously, but for a longer time, China too has been establishing a presense in the region:
“In Venezuela, a lot of the money that’s been able to prop up President Chavez and now Maduro has been Chinese money,” Kelly said.
But the push by Russia has implications which can’t be ignored, especially its attempt to establish bases in its old client states when it was the USSR.
Meanwhile, Latin America certainly hasn’t been much of a priority for the US:
According to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), there are 10 countries in Latin America that currently have no U.S. ambassador because they either haven’t been nominated yet or confirmed, a sign that the region is seen as a low priority.
Another sign of an inept foreign policy. If we don’t move quickly to correct the situation, the outcome is pretty easy to predict:
“We will be losing the ability to influence developments in a region that is very important to us because of proximity,” Rabasa said.
Indeed. Likely these warning will be waved off as alarmism until it is too late. And it will then tally as another failure in a long line of foreign policy failures by this administration.
What else to expect?
Putin’s abilities and IQ are roughly 10 raised to Aleph-Null power greater than those of the Obamacretin.
And there is no number large enough to express my contempt for the Slimball-in-Chief.
Some have been waring about islamist moves on central and south America for years.
Why would an anti-American communist like Barack Obamination care about a fellow communist’s takeover of Latin America? It’s that flexibility the pole smoker claimed he’d have after reelection.
Hey, it’s Friday! Another happy hour at the White House!
Payback is a wookie.
Islam has tentacled into Mexico pretty heavily.
Yeah I’ve read islamo propaganda that declared that central and south American natives were muslim before the Spanish arrived.
Why not, who's going to stop him!
So what’s the US going to do? Scream Manifest Destiny and Monroe Doctrine after going global for regime change with disasterous results?
You are wrong, sir.
Obama is as smart or smarter than Putin.
However, Putin does NOT have the interests of the United States as his primary goal.
Oh, before I forget, neither does Obama.
LOL! Excellent!
We go into his backyard...What’s good for the goose....
I'm just glad to have lived during America's ascension. Think how the Romans must have felt as their enemies slowly but surely tightened the grip.
The re-election of 'Bama, not just the initial election, was a signal to any who were watching that the USA is toast. What country would elect such a person with absolutely no regard to the truth of what his qualifications - ahem, that would be zero - were to the office?
The only thing that can really save us at this point is some kind of "come to Jesus" moment, where we get our collective sh!t together and really clean house. However, it's such a tall order, it doesn't seem possible or plausible at this point.
It's now 23 years after Russia reached the depths of their nadir. 23 long hard years to fight back and achieve some kind of semblance of order that focuses on family, local, regional and national interests.
I don't know if we have 5 years, much less 23.
It’s unfortunate, but the sky’s the limit for Putin. He knows there’ll be no pushback from Obama now or Hillary later. He’s sized up the situation and concluded it’s a “go.”
Of course! Didn't you know that Mohammed rode over to the Americas on his flying horse and converted the Mayans, the Aztecs and the Incas? :0)
this is what happens when we sit back and allow a USA hating pseudo-commie to be president.
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