Meanwhile, we seem to be heading in the opposite direction.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Russia's push into Ukraine has put many on edge. But less known is that Russia is also strengthening its military links south of the Rio Grande and re-establishing itself as a power in the region.
Vladimir Putin has been strengthening military links here, and Russia is now the largest arms dealer to governments in Latin America, surpassing the United States.
Russia has even floated the possibility of building new military bases in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and putting its warships permanently in the Caribbean.
In the midst of the Ukraine crisis, Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov recently visited Cuba, Peru, Chile, and Nicaragua, where he announced that Russia would also pour money into the new Central American canal project. ..."
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/140508/russian-arms-military-trade-latin-america
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BY: Bill Gertz
February 20, 2015
Russia agreed to provide military training for three leftist regimes in Latin America and increase military visits and exercises following a visit last week to the region by Moscow's Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu, Pentagon officials said.
Shoygu met with defense and military leaders in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua and signed several agreements on warship visits and military training during the visit, which ran from Feb. 11 to 14. It is not clear whether any new arms deals were completed during the visit.
Defense officials said the Russian leader is seeking bases in the region for strategic bomber flights that Shoygu recently promised would include flights over the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/russia-boosts-arms-training-for-leftist-latin-militaries/
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Despite efforts by the United Nations to impose isolating sanctions on North Korea in response to the countrys continued development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, trade between Russia and North Korea soared more than 85 percent in the first four months of the year.
http://www.dw.com/en/russia-steps-up-north-korea-support-to-constrain-us/a-38867861
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Aug 2015
“Interesting story on how Russians are beginning to move away from the notion that the state needs to run everything.”
The Russians are reverting to their historical norms. Lots of skepticism, doggedness, and small scale, proactive local improvements. The kiosks which sprang up like mushrooms and got bulldozed at night every once in a while were an example. The independence and interdependence of the village is ingrained in Russians. The Soviets used to try to simulate some of this, like the Subbotniks, which they ruined by making them effectively mandatory, and not for the benefit of the coerced volunteers.
Alexis de Toqueville identified the above characteristic as one of the major ways that the new American Republic was superior to European governance. And in spite of 200+ years of bureaucrats trying to stomp it out, the USA "still" has that independent spirit. Battered, bashed, hated by the socialist mentality, but still alive and kicking.