October 16, 2019

US Withdrawal From Syria a Betrayal of Kurds and Bad Policy

The presence of American troops in Northern Syria constituted a deterrent factor against ISIS and against Turkish aggression against our allies. The Kurdish militias gave their soul and their lives to fight ISIS. By appealing to the principle of “ending the endless wars,” the United States gives the appearance of being fearful of military confrontation. If we decide, as the major superpower in the world, to abandon our allies and withdraw from world affairs, the Russians and the Chinese will step in. the U.S. isolationist approach will have repercussions not only in the Middle East but in other places such as Asia and Latin America. “Patriotism over globalism,” “America First,” and “Ending the endless wars” could mean precisely the opposite and this is dangerous for our image, for our national security, and for our domestic and national well-being.

Venezuela Crisis Has Major Regional and Hemispheric Consequences

The crisis in Venezuela is already having major regional consequences. Two events highlight the drama. the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the Colombian guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN), The second event is that is the ratcheting up of repression by Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega who refuses to accept the demands of protestors. The files indicate that these guerrilla groups would play a dual role. First they would operate as an asymmetric force to protect the regime, namely as a para-military group. The other is that such groups would help expand the revolution abroad. The FARC dissidents, the ELN, and Hezbollah operatives in Latin America may increase their role in determining the future of the region by protecting and encouraging rogue regimes that also support their drug trafficking and criminal activities. The Western Hemisphere, the neighborhood in which we live, is becoming a more unpredictable and dangerous region. The first step to fight this is to secure the downfall of Mr. Maduro and his rogue regime. The more this step is postponed, the more problems will multiply.

On Generations and Statesmanship

Henrique Salas Römer decided to take challenge and wrote  El futuro tiene su Historia ( The Future has History) a book that resorting to generational theory aims at  explaining Latin Americans the nature and content of recent changes that have taken several countries several decades or even a century back as seems to be the case of his home country Venezuela. Henrique Salas Römer’s book adds to generation theory the figure of the Black Swan. This are what could be described as the leaders of counter history. That is to say,  the unexpected leaderships that turn the course of history. Blacks Swans announce the end of an era, but they do not build the subsequent structure. Clearly his country Venezuela is living those days that see the Black Swan but not yet the ascent of a new cycle. And while the region awaits this development it can use the book as roadmap.

ECUADOR UNDER CASTRO CHAVISM’S TERRORIST ATTACK.  WHO IS NEXT?

The attack that is taking place against the people and the government of Ecuador is not a matter of internal politics, it is a transnational attack perpetrated by the most dangerous group of organized crime that holds political power in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, a group that for ten years, oppressed Ecuador with Rafael Correa as dictator. CastroChavism is “the Transnational Organized Crime’s system that usurps political power that must be dealt with as an organized crime’s structure and not as a political process. The crisis in Ecuador unleashed by Castroist Chavist terrorism has the conditions to last a few weeks longer, but it is already defeated because it is a foreign attack and has awaken the peoples’ indignation. Through blood, sweat, and tears, Ecuador will defeat Castro Chavism’s attack and the government will come out of this strengthened, but for the organized crime’s group that threatens Americas’ democracies, it will continue with attacks, violence and crime.  The questions are; until when? and who is next?