Posted on 09/17/2008 10:12:16 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Russia offered aid to the leftist government of Nicaragua on Wednesday, a former Cold War ally, as part of a push to increase its influence in Latin America after years on the sidelines in the region.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin was in the Central American country following a tour of Cuba, where he promised to help areas devastated by recent hurricanes.
Sechin said his country wants to promote trade, energy and education projects while increasing "political cooperation" with Nicaragua.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla, had close ties to Moscow when he first governed the country in the 1980s and his Sandinista Party was locked in a war with U.S.-backed Contra rebels.
The Sandinistas were voted out of office in 1990 but Ortega returned to power in a 2006 election.
Since then, the ex-rebel has spoken out against U.S. "tyranny" in the region and irked Washington by allying himself with anti-U.S. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Nicaragua recently joined Chavez and Cuba in recognizing the breakaway Georgian regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia, backing Russia's stance in the international dispute.
Russian troops overwhelmed Georgia's military in a brief war last month, with Moscow saying it sent troops and tanks to defend South Ossetia from Georgia's bid to retake the rebel region by force.
Many world leaders criticized Russia after it recognized the two regions as independent states, but Nicaragua sided with other leftist Latin American countries that took a stance against Washington's support of Georgia.
Chavez is planning joint military exercises with a Russian nuclear-powered battleship soon to be circling the Caribbean in the United States' backyard.
Are you ready for The Cold War Part Deux? Should be interesting with a Chicago Community Organizer in the White House. Maybe he’ll send “voter registrations” over the the Soviet Union Part Deux and have them fill them out.
The Empire Strikes Back.
Oh, I didn't know that.
Well, look at the bright side.
Our Democrat politicians will wait until after the November election, before they fly down there to kneel at Ortega's feet, and agree with him on how bad the United States is.
bump for later....Contra
Good! One less handout for us. Let the russkies feed them and cut them off period.
yeah he did get elected. I don’t live in NIC. but generally people the US public doesn’t care for win these elections on purely local issues, such as the gross incompetence or/and flagrant corruption of the other options, local economic issues, etc. Seriously, the traditional ruling parties in latin american countries don’t even try to pretend to be clean here.
Especially since Russia is struggling to prop up the ruble, their stock exchange shut down two days ago after being open 2.5 hrs and failed to open at all yesterday, and a few days ago they were considering tapping their pension reserves to prop up their financial markets.
What Russia really needs right now is another great big DRAIN.
Another brilliant move by the genius Pooty Poot and announced by his butt-boy Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin. Come on Russian Brain Trust, redouble your efforts and I think you can shit can your whole country in less than a year.
What Russia really needs right now is another great big DRAIN. ........................ Now they want to increase their military budget? Sounds like Hitler’s way out of a depression.
I think it was Jimmy Carter who killed the Monroe Doctrine.
As you know, it’s getting more and more that way in the States. Jefferson and Nagin in Louisiana, Barney Frank, etc. and I won’t be surprised if Detroit’s Kwame Kilpatrick gets reelected when he gets out of jail.
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