Bolton unveils extreme foreign policy changes in Central & South America days after autocrat Bolsonaro takes power in Brazil

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/11/01/john-bolton-announces-aggressi.html

4 Likes

Of course nothing about the asshole who became president in Brazil… so yeah.

18 Likes

The Cubans have very little to lose in this area, this is not an effective measure.

Maduro surely doesn’t give a shit about any prisoners, this will also go nowhere.

Ooooh a stern talking to :roll_eyes:

This whole speech was nothing but hot air and dog whistles. “Look at me! Look at me!”

12 Likes

For the regime it’s all about making enemies, new and old. Isolationist and protectionist authoritarian nation-states constantly squabbling with each-other is good for those in charge of them.

17 Likes

I was hoping against hope that Trump hasn’t declared and begun an official war yet because he doesn’t quite have the stomach for it. Yeah, another instance of hoping he’s not actually as bad as he seems to be, likely to be proven wrong like so many other hopes (against hope) about him.

Now it’s looking like his open war could well happen in a place I wasn’t expecting it, South America. But then, I suppose he might rather be content with selling arms to another autocrat? Wait, no, it’s not like Brazil has the money that S. Arabia does… :thinking:

11 Likes

Is a modern day “Axis of Evil” speech the Axis of Evil speech? It was like 15 years ago, this isn’t a new era - especially since Bush and Trump are both strongly modeled after Reagan. We already have not always been aggressively meddling in those countries, we just have an asshole with a mustache saying it this time.

Also triangle of terror? Really? Just calling them commies doesn’t make them terrorist or make that particular alliteration sound and less silly.

12 Likes

Tennessee Tuxedo strikes again.

2 Likes

Trump creating major distraction again and knowing that his base will give him a pass because… hey… brown people. I can see him buddying up with some Trump-friendly autocrat who’d proxy actions and conflicts down there that would (by just plain coincidence) draw in the US cavalry to “save the day”.

4 Likes

Surprised Bolton didn’t praise him to be honest.

6 Likes

I see we need some translation in the headline.

aggressive

Same

New

Old

Not everything the Trump administration does is aberrant relative to its predecessors or alternatives.

7 Likes

Nice guy. /s

9 Likes

tumblr_inline_ph3a9jW8281rc9268_500

15 Likes

They have a lot of oil and other natural resources, and Bolsonaro is going to privatize all of it. That means lots of money, and lots of thundersticks and other bang bang toys for him to play with on his own people. They will all enjoy it immensely.

10 Likes

"…basic human decency in our region.”

Trump has much to teach the world about decency. A veritable Gandhi, that guy.

6 Likes

Why Cuba?

4 Likes

It’s all theater and they’ve been assigned a role. Trump and his gang needed a foil, and look, there’s Cuba…

11 Likes

Yeah. And a lot of rainforest to clearcut too. Fuuuuck

13 Likes

Florida I suppose? There are probably some ancient Cubans at Mar a Lago still hoping to get their plantations back or whatever.

7 Likes

The properties that their families stole fair and square under Batista.

14 Likes

Cuba is an age-old conservative boogeyman. A communist country that’s 90 miles from Florida, that’s resisted US influence for sixty years, that overthrew a friendly and correctly-corrupt, rich-serving dictatorship and that persists in denying business interests to take over and hand away the country’s resources (ie. incorrectly-corrupt). This is old-school Red Menace anti-communist stuff. Also, about the only Latinos who vote conservative on a regular basis are the Cuban exile community, and that’s a valuable voting bloc.

14 Likes