International Events Next-

[DireWolfSpirit]

I could supply Modi a nifty enemies list for deserving U.S. pricks but for heavens sake leave the gosh darn Canadians in peace!

[IheartIheartTesla]

Is there any blowback from the news of the Indian government being involved in assassinations and assassination plots in the USA and Canada?

I doubt it. Support for the Khalistan separatist movement is pretty low in India (its <5% even among Sikhs), and I imagine most Indians will shrug their shoulders and rationalize it by noting other (Western) nations have done similar things to protect their national interests as well.

Edited December 6, 2023 by IheartIheartTesla

[Corvinus85]

On 12/5/2023 at 7:25 AM, DireWolfSpirit said:

Very disappointed that so many Venezuelans feel entitled to thier neighbors resources.

Voting results in Venezuela aren't really that trustworthy. 95% in favor of messing up a neighboring country and potentially starting a war? I don't think so.

[kissdbyfire]

4 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Voting results in Venezuela aren't really that trustworthy. 95% in favor of messing up a neighboring country and potentially starting a war? I don't think so.

Voting results in Venezuela appear to always be whatever Maduro wants. Maybe that's another reason why Trump wants to invade, Maduro managed to achieve what Trump couldn't. 

[Altherion]

It looks like Venezuela is moving towards claiming the resources in the contested region:

Quote

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is plunging ahead with its plans to take over Essequibo, the oil-rich region controlled by neighbouring Guyana.

He has ordered the state oil company to issue extraction licences there and proposed the National Assembly pass a bill making the area part of Venezuela.

Guyana has put its defence forces on full alert in response.

 

[Corvinus85]

In totally unrelated news, the US military is brushing up on jungle warfare tactics and strategies.

[Padraig]

4 hours ago, Altherion said:

It looks like Venezuela is moving towards claiming the resources in the contested region:

I wouldn't say I know a lot about Venezuela but I know enough to be really confused by what is going on there.  I was trying to find some decent analysis of this situation.  I think it is reasonable to be skeptical of articles from cato.org but there isn't much else and it does seem to make reasonable points.

https://www.cato.org/blog/will-nicolas-maduro-invade-guyana

It is basically suggesting that fear of a detrimental ruling from the ICJ, fear of losing the 2024 election, Guyana having no real army, a belief that Colombia and Brazil (with their left wing Presidents) wouldn't oppose them and the US being distracted by other fish, means Venezuela is willing to push this.

Concluding...

Quote

Experts assure us that Maduro will not invade Guyana, which would be the prudent option. At the same time, it would be remiss to deny that he has more than one incentive to do so.

The Brazil thing is the most interesting aspect.  Brazil has supported diplomacy but it has moved some of its army near the borders in case things go crazy.

[Bironic]

If he does it will be his Falkland war…

[SpaceChampion]

On 12/5/2023 at 8:25 AM, DireWolfSpirit said:

Very disappointed that so many Venezuelans feel entitled to thier neighbors resources.

I've only seen Venezuelans making comments on youtube saying they don't know a single person who went to the polls at all.

I do see my relatives (i was born in Guyana) getting anxious and upset, and belligerent.  Very few people live in that area, but it appears Venezuela wants it just to be able to claim the offshore petroleum that's been found.

Was surprised to see Perun cover it this morning:

Haven't watched the video yet.

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by SpaceChampion

[DireWolfSpirit]

^^^Its a very scary controversy, ive been hearing reports of Maduro having already issued drilling permits to his oil company cronies.

The offshore deposits are stupendously large, making Guyana in a position for generational wealth creation and transformative possibilities for thier society to raise living standards.

The future holds much promise but Venezuela is trying to steal it. Its such a tired story. Country finds immense resource, foreign vultures try to claim it as their own.

Its naked aggression right in the open. Maduro needs to be stopped.

[kissdbyfire]

 

11 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Country finds immense resource, foreign vultures try to claim it as their own.

Sure, Maduro is a disgusting dictator, but this is basically what every rich western country has been doing all over the world since forever. 

I bet America steps in and "protects" Guyana though, if only b/c of all the oil. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

Yes it goes without saying the obvious- Venezuela is emulating the very base/worst behavior of exploitive powers past and present

U.S., Russia, Japan, Great Britain, France etc have all been guilty of the same at some point.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, kissdbyfire said:

 

Sure, Maduro is a disgusting dictator, but this is basically what every rich western country has been doing all over the world since forever. 

Why limit it to Western countries? Most powerful states have taken advantage of weaker ones throughout history.

Quote

I bet America steps in and "protects" Guyana though, if only b/c of all the oil. 

Hey, oil needs freedom too! 

[Padraig]

I've read that it is very difficult for Venezuela to even invade Guyana.  The border is jungle.  They'd have to make an amphibious attack, which is obviously more challenging.

Most experts in that region seem positive that there wouldn't be any war.  Maduro is just using it as an opportunity to arrest opposition figures for treason (since they opposed the referendum).

The Presidents of both countries are supposed to meet this coming week, so we'll know more then.

[kissdbyfire]

13 minutes ago, Padraig said:

I've read that it is very difficult for Venezuela to even invade Guyana.  The border is jungle.  They'd have to make an amphibious attack, which is obviously more challenging.

Most experts in that region seem positive that there wouldn't be any war.  Maduro is just using it as an opportunity to arrest opposition figures for treason (since they opposed the referendum).

The Presidents of both countries are supposed to meet this coming week, so we'll know more then.

Yes, this is similar to much of what I’ve read. Apparently the easiest way would be to invade over land crossing into Brazilian territory but experts say that won’t happen. I also saw an interesting analysis on their military capabilities and it seems it’s nothing to write home about. One analyst said they have some 30 or 40 Russian jets (don’t ask which ones, I’ve no idea) but only between 2 and 4 are operational and few pilots who don’t get enough hours in the air; their tanks and stuff are also not in great shape, and so on. This guy said they have something else which I can’t remember the name that is apparently good quality - some type of land to air defensive stuff w/ 300 in the name (???}) but that’s about it. And the US was already conducting “unscheduled air exercises” in the Guyana this week. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by kissdbyfire

[Zorral]

After arrests and deportations, Mongolians worry about Chinese reach

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/10/china-mongolia-language-culture-xi-jinping/

Quote

 

.... Underlying concern about Chinese influence are deeper fears that hard-line security policies under Xi amountto a wider assault on Mongolian culture and heritage.

Watching Mongols in China fight to protect their heritage sparked sympathy in Mongolia, because “people saw how hard they are trying to preserve their language,” said Zolzaya Nyamdori, executive director of the World Mongol Federation.

Others see a chance that China’s crackdown on Mongolian-language education, combined with its increasingly aggressive actions inside Mongolia, could backfire by spurring on criticism of China and support for Chinese Mongols in Ulaanbaatar.

Muumiangan Tengerleg walks through Ulaanbaatar looking like he just stepped out of the ancient past, when Mongols ruled from the Carpathian mountains of central Europe to the Sea of Japan. An ethnic Mongol from China who came here with a Chinese mining company 15 years ago, he now wears a navy blue deel tunic and traditional yuden hat.

Over a dinner of deep-fried mutton pockets, the 41-year-old said that if the Chinese government pushes too hard it could “bring together their enemies’ enemies,” meaning Mongols in China and Mongolia or elsewhere. “Then we would have a showdown,” he warned.

Among Mongol literati, there are few more potent symbols of their endangered heritage than the dying use of that vertical writing system. Many consider Mongolia’s adoption of Cyrillic in the 1940s a grievous error of Communism. At the time, Mao Zedong let Inner Mongolians keep the script, in part to distinguish them from kinfolk across the border. Now Mongolia is trying to undo that mistake.

Five minutes east of Sukhbaatar Square, a famous paean to the beauty of Mongolian language is painted in brilliant blue graffiti on a two-story whitewashed wall. The artist, who goes by the pseudonym Ochirone, said watching videos of protests in Inner Mongolia during the pandemic inspired him to teach himself the script and incorporate it into his work “as a reminder that language is the biggest part of our national identity.”

Watching Mongols in China fight to protect their heritage sparked sympathy in Mongolia, because “people saw how hard they are trying to preserve their language,” says Zolzaya Nyamdori, executive director of the World Mongol Federation. (Chiara Goia for The Washington Post)

For some in Mongolia, China’s crackdown on the Mongolian language brings up unpleasant memories of the Soviet Union’s suppression of Mongolian intellectuals.

“The situation is desperate,” said Mongolian novelist Puvsan Purevdorj, who wants his government to offer visas to Inner Mongolians so they can come teach Mongolians how to write vertically.

“In the past, we achieved independence by standing, carefully balanced, between Russian and Chinese influence. But now that balance is being lost,” he said. “If Russia becomes China’s little sister, what happens to Mongolia then?” 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Zorral

[polishgenius]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/dec/11/donald-tusk-poland-prime-minister-confidence-vote-europe-live

 

[3CityApache]

Yup, it was eight fucking long years, but the new, progressive and proeuropean government will be officially appointed tomorrow.

Now the point is how to make it actually rule, against the will of the conservative president, whose veto can't be overruled by the coalition. Worst case scenario: they won't be able to change shit until the next presidendial election in two years.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

On 12/6/2023 at 1:45 PM, Corvinus85 said:

In totally unrelated news, the US military is brushing up on jungle warfare tactics and strategies.

You’d be cool with doing nothing if Maduro invades Guyana?

[Darzin]

On 12/11/2023 at 3:53 AM, kissdbyfire said:

 

Sure, Maduro is a disgusting dictator, but this is basically what every rich western country has been doing all over the world since forever. 

I bet America steps in and "protects" Guyana though, if only b/c of all the oil. 

When was the last time a Western country declared war to steal a resource and annex territory?

Guyana is a democracy America would be protecting them why the quotes? And furthermore the US is not going to let anyone change borders in North or South America through force. I really don't get all the cynicism here. The US has done a lot if bad things but it is actually pretty good about supporting territorial integrity and being against wars of conquest. Shouldn't we want America to put the kibosh on Venezuela invading Guyana？