Instruction: Write an article about: Latin America is on the frontlines of the US new cold war on China and Russia. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Avril Haines, Bolivia, China, Cold War Two, Cuba, Donald Trump, James Mattis, Joe Biden, Juan Gonzalez, Matt Gaetz, new cold war, Nicaragua, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine, Venezuela

Output:
The United States has turned Latin America and the Caribbean into a key battlefield in its new cold war on China and Russia, invoking the 200-year-old colonialist Monroe Doctrine to justify aggressive interventionist policies.

You can listen to a podcast version of this article here.

The United States has turned Latin America and the Caribbean into a key battlefield in its new cold war on China and Russia.
Washington’s hybrid war on Beijing and Moscow took shape in 2018, when the Pentagon published a National Defense Strategy identifying the two Eurasian powers as the biggest “threats” to US national security.
Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, the US government had shaped its foreign policy around a so-called “war on terror.” But Defense Secretary James Mattis announced in January 2018 that the Pentagon had changed its priorities, and “great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security.”
The US director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, echoed this perspective in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing this March. Summarizing the US intelligence community’s 2022 Annual Threat Assessment report, Haines said China and Russia constitute the top “threats” to Washington, and she emphasized that Beijing in particular “remains an unparalleled priority for the intelligence community.”
In this Cold War Two, Latin America has been caught in Washington’s crosshairs.
After Russia invaded Western ally Ukraine on February 24, the US military responded by threatening China and Venezuela.
On February 26, the US Navy sent a guided-missile destroyer warship through the narrow Taiwan Strait, in a move that the Chinese government condemned as an “adventurist” and “provocative action” seeking “to bolster the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces.”
Then on February 27 and 28, the US Navy held anti-submarine warfare exercises with the Colombian military, using a nuclear submarine for the first time ever. Making it clear that this was a threat aimed at Beijing’s leftist ally in Caracas, the exercises were held in the Caribbean Sea, near the border of Venezuela.
Colombia is the first and only special “partner” that the US-led NATO military alliance has in Latin America.

A post shared by U.S. Southern Command (@ussouthcom)

Washington’s economic warfare on Moscow has also targeted Latin America.
US President Joe Biden’s special assistant for Latin America, Juan S. González, revealed in an interview on February 25 that the devastating new sanctions imposed on Russia over its intervention in Ukraine also seek to hurt the economies of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba.
González, who serves as the US National Security Council’s senior director for the Western Hemisphere, stated clearly, “The sanctions against Russia are so robust that they will have an impact on those governments that have economic affiliations with Russia, and that is by design. So Venezuela is going to start feeling that pressure. Nicaragua is going to feel that pressure, along with Cuba.”
These three Latin American nations with socialist governments were demonized as the so-called “Troika of Tyranny” by John Bolton, the Iraq War architect and neoconservative national security advisor for former president Donald Trump.
The fact that Latin America is on the frontlines of Washington’s new cold war is also reflected in US officials’ increasing references to the Monroe Doctrine, an 1823 declaration that the United States considers the region to essentially be its colonial backyard.
Bolton invoked this two-century-old colonialist doctrine to justify Washington’s numerous coup attempts against Venezuela’s democratically elected socialist government.
Trump himself also cited the Monroe Doctrine in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in 2018.
“It has been the formal policy of our country since President Monroe that we reject the interference of foreign nations in this hemisphere,” Trump stated on the world stage. The US president was referencing Latin America’s bilateral relations with China and Russia, which he portrayed as “threats.”
Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of US oil giant ExxonMobil, likewise praised the Monroe Doctrine, while ironically claiming China is the one with “imperial” ambitions in the region.
When Argentina’s center-left President Alberto Fernández took a historic trip to China and Russia this February, to try to find ways around the $44.5 billion in odious debt that his country has been trapped in by the US-controlled International Monetary Fund (IMF), the hawks in Washington were furious.
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, a key Trump ally representing northern Florida, characterized Fernández’s trip as a sign of a “significant threat to our nation accelerating rapidly close to home,” fuming that “Argentina, a critical nation and economy in the Americas, has just lashed itself to the Chinese Communist Party, by signing on to the One Belt One Road Initiative.”
On the floor of the House of Representatives on February 7, Gaetz angrily described Argentina’s new partnership with China as “a direct challenge to the Monroe Doctrine.”
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, a key ally of Donald Trump, invoked the 200-year-old colonialist Monroe Doctrine on the floor of the Congress and called Argentina a "threat" to US "security" because of its alliance with China.
Read more here: https://t.co/aCiWQ7fGOc pic.twitter.com/xyVYkxfFT9
— Multipolarista (@Multipolarista) February 8, 2022

Yet this colonialist rhetoric is by no means limited to Republicans. The Democratic president has made similar comments.
At a press conference on January 19, Biden referred to Latin America as the US “front yard,” stating, “We used to talk about, when I was a kid in college, about ‘America’s backyard.’ It’s not America’s backyard. Everything south of the Mexican border is America’s front yard.”
For his part, Biden has continued most of Trump’s policies in Latin America, expanding illegal US sanctions on Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, while still recognizing unelected coup leader Juan Guaidó as supposed “president” (even as the Biden administration pressures Caracas to make up for sanctioned Russian oil).
Washington has strong-armed governments in Latin America and the Caribbean, pushing them to reduce or even cut off their ties with China and Russia.
While China has become the largest trading partner for many countries in the region, the United States has resorted to blackmail to desperately try to stop the expansion of Huawei 5G networks, even when nations don’t have suitable technological alternatives.
Right-wing opposition leaders in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia have joined Washington in demonizing Beijing, while vilifying Moscow too, demanding that their governments cut ties with the Eurasian powers and instead strengthen relations with (or rather subordinate themselves to) the United States.
In its Second Cold War, the United States sees Latin America and the Caribbean as especially strategic because it is one of the few regions of the world where countries still recognize the independence of Taiwan.
Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China, and 93% of UN member states recognize this fact – including the United States, at least on paper, although not in practice.
Yet 13 countries (plus the Vatican) consider Taiwan to be an independent state. All 13 are small, making up just 0.2% of global gross domestic product, but eight of them are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines still have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
These are all the friends Taiwan has left in the world https://t.co/DEnhigr0d0
— Bloomberg Next China (@next_china) December 10, 2021

US and Taiwanese authorities have used the carrot (favorable economic deals) and the stick (blackmail) to prevent these countries from normalizing relations with the People’s Republic of China.
The US government supports secessionists in Taiwan, and has sent military personnel there to train them to eventually fight a war with mainland China. The number of US troops in Taiwan has doubled under Biden.
Washington’s goal is to turn Taiwan into a neo-colonial outpost, hoping to build a large US military base there with nuclear weapons aimed at the mainland, as it had from the 1950s to the 1970s, at the height of the First Cold War.
Despite Washington’s intense pressure campaign, many parts of Latin America are deepening their integration with China and Russia – just as Beijing and Moscow are bolstering their own strategic partnership.
Cuba officially incorporated into China’s massive global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, this December. Nicaragua then followed suit in January. Venezuela had already joined years before.
The right-wing US-backed regimes that governed Nicaragua in the neoliberal era, from 1990 to 2006, had cut ties with the People’s Republic of China and formed a close alliance with Taiwan.
Nicaragua’s Sandinista government reversed this policy, re-establishing relations with Beijing this December, then promptly signing a series of important agreements for Chinese help in building public housing and infrastructure, including hospitals, renewable energy, roads, railways, and ports, as well as water and public health systems.
In addition to being part of the anti-imperialist Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA), Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Bolivia have joined China and Russia as key members of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations, a diplomatic alliance aimed at challenging imperialist hegemony and unipolarity.
This Group of Friends reflects a new political pole that is being developed to push back against the aggression of the US-EU-NATO imperialist bloc. This new cold war alignment was clearly reflected in the March 2 UN General Assembly vote on Russia’s military incursion in Ukraine.
The countries in Latin America with socialist and anti-imperialist governments – Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia – either abstained or did not vote for the resolution condemning Russia.
Other nations with socialist governments – China, Vietnam, Lao, and the DPRK – or which waged successful anti-colonialist revolutionary struggles – such as Iran, Eritrea, Algeria, South Africa, Angola, Syria, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique – likewise abstained or voted against the anti-Russian resolution, while the Western imperialist powers and their allies and proxies voted for it.
These are the fault lines of the new cold war.

Multipolarista editor Benjamin Norton discussed this subject at the March 19 event “21st Century Socialism: China and Latin America on the Frontline,” organized by Friends of Socialist China.
You can watch video of the talk below:


Instruction: Write an article about: Inside Nicaragua’s Sandinista Revolution: 43 years resisting imperialism. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Daniel Ortega, FSLN, imperialism, Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, Sandinistas, socialism, Socialism of the 21st Century

Output:
Benjamin Norton reports from inside Nicaragua on the 43rd anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution. This mini-documentary explores the Sandinista Front’s emphasis on social programs, popular participation, anti-imperialism, and internationalism.

Multipolarista editor Benjamin Norton reports from inside Nicaragua on the 43rd anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution. This mini-documentary explores the Sandinista Front’s emphasis on social programs, popular participation, anti-imperialism, and internationalism.

LYRICS: This is the war that can’t be held back, the ongoing war against the oppressor. What is the symbol? The people never give in. Never! What is the symbol? FSLN! (Sandinista National Liberation Front)
BENJAMIN NORTON: Hey everyone, I’m Ben Norton of Multipolarista. I am right now in the heart of the Nicaraguan capital, Managua. Today is July 19. It is the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution.
On this day in 1979, the socialist Sandinista Front overthrew the US-backed right-wing dictatorship of Somoza, here in this plaza behind me.
And President Daniel Ortega, who led the Sandinista Front in the revolution, and returned to power through democratic elections, he is going to give a speech today talking about the importance of the revolution years after it succeeded.
President Ortega emphasized the centrality of sovereignty and anti-imperialism for the Sandinista Front. He reflected on the long history of the United States meddling in Nicaragua’s internal affairs, trying to overthrow the Sandinistas and reverse their revolution.
DANIEL ORTEGA: Why does the United States behave in that way? And when we say the United States, we are speaking of the North American rulers. Because when they dropped the atomic bomb above Hiroshima, they did not ask the North American people if the bomb should be dropped.
And they did a count of how many thousands the bomb could kill. And the higher the number was, that they calculated that the bomb could kill, the happier and more excited they were.
And they went ahead and dropped it, and killed, in one blow, hundreds of thousands of civilians, children, adults, because they dropped it on a city.
Right there, they killed, murdered many more civilians than all of those who could have died now in this war that the empires have started to try to destroy the struggle that humanity is carrying out to bring about the end of hegemony, and to create multipolarity on our planet.
That is the battle that is being fought over there in Ukraine, where Europe and the United States don’t want — they don’t want to see China growing economically.
It is from there, it is the evil that those powers have shown throughout history, the powers that colonized Africa, Asia, Latin America, the powers that brought slaves from Africa to these regions, to sell like them animals in slave markets.
When you asked me, and when it was asked, why not reach an understanding? They [the US] are not prepared to reach an understanding. They are prepared for nothing more than imposing, imposing, occupying, bombing, killing, as they have done throughout history.
BENJAMIN NORTON: Behind me, you can see hundreds of activists from the Sandinista Youth. They are the lifeblood of the Sandinista Front.
They’re grassroots activists. They’re all volunteers. And they are motivated by their political ideology and the project of socialism and anti-imperialism.
And here, when President Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo speak, they’re always joined by the youth, representing how important the future of the country is for continuing the Sandinista Revolution.
On July 18, tens of thousands of Nicaraguans flooded the plaza in the middle of Managua, and partied all night, until the early hours of the morning on July 19, celebrating the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution.
In hundreds of humble barrios across the country, Nicaraguans held community block parties called vigilias to commemorate the revolution. This was a celebration held in the working-class neighborhood of San Antonio, Managua.
MUSICIAN: For more progress! For more houses for the people! For more free education! For more free healthcare! For more modern hospitals! For the best roads in Central America! For better technologies! For the subsidies for our peasants!
For peace, freedom, security, dignity! Long live Nicaragua! Long live the Sandinista Front!
BENJAMIN NORTON: Grassroots gatherings like these show that there remains massive popular support for the revolution, 43 years after the Sandinista Front first took power.
A June 2022 survey by the most respected mainstream polling firm in Nicaragua, M&R Consultores, found that President Daniel Ortega has a 77% approval rating, and 70% of people think he is leading the country in the right direction.
While the US government and foreign corporate media outlets constantly demonize Nicaragua, 73% of actual Nicaraguans say that Ortega is a democratically elected leader following the laws of his country, whereas just 20% agree with Washington’s claims that he is supposedly authoritarian.
Overall, 68% of Nicaraguans support the leftist Sandinista Front party, whereas 17% back the right-wing opposition.
The results of polls like these make total sense when you see the incredible enthusiasm that average working-class Nicaraguans show for the Sandinista Revolution. Everywhere you go, you see people driving with FSLN flags and wearing red-and-black clothing.
This support is especially strong in humble barrios, where low-income workers have benefited most from the social programs of the Sandinista Front, which has provided free socialized healthcare, high-quality education, and public housing projects.
The Sandinista government has drastically expanded access to electricity and clean water in impoverished areas that had been abandoned and ignored by previous right-wing governments. Today, Nicaragua has some of the best infrastructure in Latin America. And perhaps most important of all, it provides security and safety in a region that has been plagued by violence and organized crime.
At the 43rd anniversary celebration, Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo spoke about the ongoing legacy of the revolution. She also condemned US imperialism and emphasized the importance of anti-imperialism for the Sandinista Front.
ROSARIO MURILLO: Today we are walking in the path of that legacy, the legacy of everyone who physically is not here, or physically were not able to see the victory on July 19, 43 years ago, but they were there, and here they are, and they live on, because they are the ones who guide us, with their example, with their force of revolution, force of bravery, anti-imperialist force.
Because here, we have endured it (imperialism), but we have also expelled it, but we have also expelled it, and we have defeated it. at every moment.
Here, that yankee, the enemy of humanity, has met his match.
Here, no one surrenders. Here, we neither sell out nor surrender.
BENJAMIN NORTON: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega just spoke tonight alongside some of the most important allies of Nicaragua, including representatives from China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba.
He also dedicated the 43rd anniversary of the revolution to the prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves. And this shows the important alliance between countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
And it shows how Nicaragua and the Caribbean nations are helping and leading an effort to replace the US-dominated Organization of American States, the OAS, with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states, CELAC.
RALPH GONSALVES: When the revolution triumphed I celebrated in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Because the revolution in Nicaragua is our revolution.
I come from a small country in our hemisphere. But this small country believes in and subscribes to large principles: the defense of sovereignty and independence, non-interference and non-intervention in our internal affairs.
Now the empire doesn’t understand that. You have a country [the US] which is 350 million people. They are reputedly the strongest military force in the world. Nicaragua is 6.2 million people, a country in Central America seeking to develop itself and its people.
Why in God’s name, with a country so large, with so many resources, with such military strength, why would you want to pick on a small country like Nicaragua? I ask myself that question every day.
And know always, that with solidarity among the people and across our Latin American and Caribbean, and the world, no power, no weapon formed against the people of Nicaragua can ever prosper.
BENJAMIN NORTON: At the anniversary celebration, Ortega criticized those calling for him to hold a dialogue with the US government. He argued that Washington cannot be trusted, because it would be like negotiating with the devil.
DANIEL ORTEGA: And they [the imperialists] waged war among themselves, to take over the world. It was war between the European powers, before there was a European Union.
You know it, dear brother. England, France, Spain, wanting to dominate all Europe, and dominating all of Europe, later taking over Africa, Asia, all of the Americas.
A hegemonic mentality. A selfish mentality. A mentality that has nothing to do with being Christian, nothing to do with being Christian. And all of that, they did it with the blessing of the different churches that existed in that time.
When they asked Roosevelt, who was a good friend of Somoza, why he was so gracious and friendly with Somoza, Somoza being a criminal, Roosevelt responded, in English, “He is a son of a…” How do you say it? “He’s a son of a bitch.” Yes, that is how he replied. “But he is OUR son (of a bitch).”
Yes, “He is a son (of a bitch), but he is OUR son (of a bitch).” That was the cynical response of the yankee.
I’m answering why there is no dialogue. Dialogue is impossible. Impossible. Dialogue is for one person to put a noose on your neck, and you to put your neck in the noose.
Look, dear brother, what dialogue can you have with the devil? As Che said, the yankees, the imperialists, you can’t trust them even a little bit, not even a little bit. Because it will end you. It will end you.
BENJAMIN NORTON: At the celebration of the 43rd anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, President Ortega and Vice President Murillo were joined by representatives of some of the country’s most important allies, including China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba.
Also on stage at the anniversary celebration was a diplomat from the new left-wing government in neighboring Honduras. Vice Foreign Minister Gerardo Torres Zelaya explained why it is important for Honduras and Nicaragua to strengthen their relations.
GERARDO TORRES: Nicaragua and Honduras are neighbors. They are countries that have historically been brothers. We share our largest border with Nicaragua. And our relationship is respectful, fraternal, and one of cooperation.
We are here as a country, as a government, saying that the message is that Central America should integrate itself, grow closer together, and work for the common good.
BENJAMIN NORTON: I spoke to Edgardo García Aguilar, who leads a leftist peasant organization called the Association of Rural Workers, or ATC. The ATC is independent from the Nicaraguan state, but it strongly supports the Sandinista government and the revolution. Edgardo explained why.
EDGARDO GARCÍA: 43 years since July 19, we reaffirm the commitment of the generation of that time [1979], when the student youth protested, to tell Somoza that the situation was not fair, and that a change was needed.
There was no attention to the demands of the people, to the aspirations of the youth, to the plight of the peasants. There was no attention to the need for literacy. There was only support for the oligarchs.
Somoza said that he had a baton for the opposition, lead [bullets] for the rebels, and money for the oligarchy. And we insisted that we needed to have our rights.
We always have to be in the struggle. Because it is in struggle that we can lead to new times and changes. And the struggle against covid, the struggle against poverty, the struggle for work, the struggle for electrification, the struggle for social services, it is a constant struggle that is in the conscience of all the popular sectors, from the peasants, the Indigenous, the students, to the commercial sector, of small producers, and even some patriotic sectors of private businesses.
We know that we have that struggle to provide solutions, to meet people’s needs, to rise out of poverty, and to maintain anti-imperialism, because imperialism wants to crush us.
Long live the revolution on its 43rd anniversary!


Instruction: Write an article about: Burkina Faso’s new president condemns imperialism, quotes Che Guevara, allies with Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Burkina Faso, Cuba, Daniel Ortega, Fidel Castro, France, Ibrahim Traoré, Iran, Nicaragua, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, Roch Kaboré, Thomas Sankara, Venezuela

Output:
Burkina Faso’s new President Ibrahim Traoré has vowed to fight imperialism and neocolonialism. Pledging a “refoundation of the nation”, invoking revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, and quoting Che Guevara, his government has allied with Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba.

The new president of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, has vowed to fight imperialism and neocolonialism, invoking his country’s past revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara and quoting Che Guevara.
The West African nation has also formed close diplomatic ties with the revolutionary governments in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, as well as with NATO’s arch-rival Russia.
In January 2022, a group of nationalist military officers in Burkina Faso toppled the president, Roch Kaboré, a wealthy banker who had fostered close ties with the country’s former colonizer, France, where he was educated.
The military officers declared a government run by what they call the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), led by a new president, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
They pledged to seek true independence from French hegemony, condemning the neocolonial policies and economic, political, and military control that Paris still exercises over Francophone West Africa.
Burkina Faso ended its decades-long military agreement with France, expelling the hundreds of French troops that had been in the country for years.
The new president, Damiba, was initially popular. But support waned as he was unable to defeat the deadly Salafi-jihadist insurgents that have destabilized the country.
In September 2022, discontent led to a subsequent coup in Burkina Faso, which brought to power another nationalist military leader named Ibrahim Traoré. He was just 34 at the time, making him one of the world’s youngest leaders.
Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré
Traoré has pledged to carry out a “refoundation of the nation” and comprehensive “modernization”, to quell violent extremism, fight corruption, and “totally reform our system of government”.
The charismatic Burkinabè leader frequently ends his speeches with the chant “La patrie ou la mort, nous vaincrons!”, the French translation of the official motto of revolutionary Cuba: “Patria o muerte, venceremos!” – “Homeland or death, we will prevail!”
As president, Traoré has brought back some of the revolutionary ideas of Thomas Sankara.
Sankara was a Marxist Burkinabè military officer and committed pan-Africanist who ascended to power in a 1983 coup.
Sankara launched a socialist revolution, transforming the impoverished country through land reform, infrastructure development, and expansive public health and literacy programs.
Under Sankara’s leadership, Burkina Faso also challenged French neocolonialism and pursued an anti-imperialist foreign policy, forming alliances with revolutionary struggles across the Global South.
Burkina Faso’s revolutionary former President Thomas Sankara
These leftist policies were reversed in 1987, when Sankara was overthrown and killed in another coup, led by his former ally Blaise Compaoré – who subsequently moved hard to the right and allied with the United States and France, ruling through rigged elections until 2014.
Today, Ibrahim Traoré is drawing heavily on the legacy of Sankara. He has made it clear that he wants West Africa, and the continent as a whole, to be free of Western neocolonialism.
This July, the Russian government held a Russia-Africa Summit in Saint Petersburg. Traoré was the first African leader to arrive to the conference. There, he delivered a fiery anti-imperialist speech.
“We are the forgotten peoples of the world. And we are here now to talk about the future of our countries, about how things will be tomorrow in the world that we are seeking to build, and in which there will be no interference in our internal affairs”, Traoré said, according to a partial transcript published by Russian state media outlet TASS.
TASS reported:
In his speech, the Burkinabe head of state also focused on sovereignty and the struggle against imperialism. “Why does resource-rich Africa remain the poorest region of the world? We ask these questions and get no answers. However, we have the opportunity to build new relationships that will help us build a better future for Burkina Faso,” the president said. African countries have suffered for decades from a barbaric and brutal form of colonialism and imperialism, which could be called a modern form of slavery, he stressed.
“However, a slave who does not fight [for his freedom] is not worthy of any indulgence. The heads of African states should not behave like puppets in the hands of the imperialists. We must ensure that our countries are self-sufficient, including as regards food supplies, and can meet all of the needs of our peoples. Glory and respect to our peoples; victory to our peoples! Homeland or death!” Traore summed up, quoting the words of legendary Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara. The 35-year-old president of Burkina Faso was attired in a camouflage uniform and red beret during the summit.
On July 29, Traoré had a private meeting in Saint Petersburgh with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In their talks, the Burkinabè leader praised the Soviet Union for defeating Nazism in World War II.
Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburgh on July 29, 2023
The new nationalist government in Burkina Faso has also sought to deepen its ties with revolutionary movements in Latin America.
In May, the West African nation’s prime minister, Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla, traveled to Venezuela.
Tambèla met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who pledged to “advance in cooperation, solidarity, and growth… building a solid fraternal relation”.
Con el objetivo de avanzar en la cooperación, solidaridad y crecimiento de ambas naciones, me reuní con el Primer Ministro de Burkina Faso, Apollinaire Kyélem de Tambéla. Tengo confianza que con esfuerzo y voluntad, seguiremos construyendo una sólida relación fraterna. pic.twitter.com/5mEXzzXIec
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) May 12, 2023

In July, the Burkinabè prime minister traveled to Nicaragua to celebrate the 44th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution.
Tambèla attended the July 19 celebration of the revolution in Managua, at the invitation of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla speaks at the 44th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution in Managua, Nicaragua on July 19, 2023
Following the September 2022 coup in Burkina Faso, the new president, Traoré, surprised many observers by choosing as his prime minister a longtime follower of Thomas Sankara, Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla.
Tambèla was an ally of Sankara during the Burkinabè revolution. When Sankara came to power in the 1980s, Tambèla organized a solidarity movement and sought international support for the new leftist government.
Tambèla is a pan-Africanist and has been affiliated with communist and left-wing organizations.
Traoré said in a speech in December that Tambèla will help to oversee the process of the “refoundation of the nation“.
By appointing Tambèla as prime minister, Traoré tangibly showed his commitment to reviving the revolutionary legacy of Sankara.
In his remarks at the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, Tambèla discussed the historical legacy of solidarity between the revolution in Burkina Faso and that of Nicaragua.
Tambèla recalled that Sankara visited Nicaragua in 1986, and the Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega visited Burkina Faso that same year.
When he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in 1984, Sankara declared, “I wish also to feel close to my comrades of Nicaragua, whose ports are being mined, whose towns are being bombed and who, despite all, face up with courage and lucidity to their fate. I suffer with all those in Latin America who are suffering from imperialist domination”.
In 1984 and 1986, Sankara also visited Cuba, where he met with revolutionary President Fidel Castro.
Burkina Faso’s President Thomas Sankara with Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega
“For people of my generation, there are things that unite us with Nicaragua, Augusto César Sandino, the Sandinista National Liberation Front and Commander Daniel Ortega”, Burkinabè Prime Minister Tambèla said in his speech in Managua on July 19, 2023.
“We have learned to know Nicaragua. When the liberation struggle began, I was small, but we followed, day by day, the context of Nicaragua’s liberation. I went in July of ’79, and when they entered Managua we were happy, people of my age celebrated that”, he recalled.
“And then, when Thomas Sankara came to power, Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista Revolution was something happy for us; we as students studied a lot the history of Nicaragua, we followed its evolution”.
Tambèla added that Burkina Faso supported Nicaragua in its International Court of Justice case against the United States. Washington was found guilty of illegally sponsoring far-right “Contra” death squads, which waged a terror war against the leftist government, as well as putting mines in Nicaragua’s ports. (Yet, although Nicaragua won the case in 1986, the US government has still to this day refused to pay the Central American nation a single cent of the reparations that it legally owes it.)
“Nicaragua’s struggle is also that of our people”, Tambèla stressed.
In his July 19 speech, the Burkinabè prime minister also sent special greetings to the diplomatic delegations from Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran.
“We have very close relations with Cuba”, Tambèla added. “President Fidel Castro has been and was a very important person for the revolution in Africa; we have excellent memories, both of Cuba and of President Fidel Castro”.
The 44th anniversary of Nicaragua's Sandinista Revolution this July 19 was dedicated to Burkina Faso's former revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara
Burkina Faso's current PM spoke at the ceremony, reaffirming solidarity
Sankara visited Nicaragua during the US terror war in 1984 pic.twitter.com/Kkng2cENR3
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) July 20, 2023


Instruction: Write an article about: ALBA secretary: Summit of the Americas is ‘failure,’ US ‘empire is losing its power’. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: ALBA, Bolivarian Alliance, Bolivia, Caribbean, coup, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Sacha Llorenti, Venezuela

Output:
The secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA), Sacha Llorenti, discusses Latin America and the Caribbean’s rebellion against the US government’s exclusionary Summit of the Americas, and growing efforts at regional integration against imperialism.

Multipolarista host Benjamin Norton interviewed the secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA), Sacha Llorenti, about Latin America’s rebellion against the US government’s Summit of the Americas.
Presidents of eight countries in the region boycotted the conference, which opened in Los Angeles, California on June 6.
Llorenti discussed ALBA’s alternative summit in Cuba, efforts at achieving economic and political integration of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the importance of unity against imperialism.
“We don’t consider this a summit, nor of the Americas,” he said. Llorenti condemned the Monroe Doctrine, US sanctions, and the “superiority complex that runs through US foreign policy.”
“Things are changing,” he added. “What we are seeing is an empire which is losing its power.”
A transcript of the interview follows below. It has been lightly edited for clarity.

BENJAMIN NORTON: Hello everyone, this is Ben Norton, and you are listening to or watching the Multipolarista podcast. This is a very special episode. I have the great privilege today of speaking with the executive secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance, the ALBA.
The full name is the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America. It’s also an economic alliance, and the full name is ALBA-TCP, which is also a “Trade Agreement for the People.”
This is an economic alliance created by countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, to support independence from imperialism, sovereignty, and regional integration.
And today, I’m speaking with the secretary, the executive secretary of the ALBA, Sacha Llorenti. He is a former Bolivian diplomat and minister. He served as Bolivia’s ambassador to the United Nations, and as a minister under Bolivia’s former president, Evo Morales.
Today, we are going to be speaking about the ongoing Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California. This has been a diplomatic disaster for the U.S. government, which is hosting the summit.
At least eight countries in Latin America have boycotted – their heads of state have boycotted this summit, including the presidents of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Bolivia.
And Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba are not attending either. The U.S. government refused to invite them, but they also said that they don’t even want to attend this summit, which they do not consider legitimate.
There are also reports about members of the Caribbean and the Caribbean community, CARICOM, who said that they would potentially boycott the summit, which is going on right now. Today is June 8. It started on June 6, and is going on this week in Los Angeles, California.
So unfortunately, Secretary Llorenti does not have a lot of time today, so I’m going to go straight to him.
Secretary Llorenti, you are the the leader of the ALBA, the Bolivarian Alliance. Can you talk about what the ALBA’s position has been on the Summit of the Americas? And can you give a general response to how you think the U.S. government has managed this?
SACHA LLORENTI: Thank you very much. I want to thank you very much for the opportunity. First of all, we don’t consider this is a summit, nor of the Americas, because of the arbitrary decision of the host country, in this case the United States, to exclude some nations, countries of the Americas, of Latin America and the Caribbean, from this meeting.
The ALBA, just to give you some information about our organization, is a multilateral, subregional organization that gathers 10 countries from Latin America and also the Caribbean. It was established in 2004 by Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro. And then eight other countries joined our organization.
We held a summit of ALBA-TCP on May 27, just a few days ago. And in our declaration, we reject the exclusions and the discriminatory treatment in the so-called Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.
I think that, for any honest analyst, this meeting that was convened by the United States has failed already, not just because of the exclusions, but also because of the reaction of most countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
You mentioned a few. Everything started with the statements made by the president of Mexico, followed by the president of Honduras, of Bolivia. They have decided to take a strong position against this exclusion.
CARICOM, as you also mentioned, the Community of Caribbean States, had a meeting of foreign ministers a few weeks ago. And they also called the United States for everyone to participate in this meeting.
And also the president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states, CELAC, who is right now the president of Argentina, has said that he is going to participate in the so-called summit, but he will represent the voice of Latin America and the Caribbean, condemning the decision of the host country, the United States, to exclude these three countries.
So it is a failure, not just because the reaction that it has caused in the region, but also because I think that everyone realizes that the United States government is not interested in integration. It’s not interested in human rights, nor democracy.
What they do is they try to use every single venue, every single opportunity, in order to help their hegemonic interests instead of integration. This is a good example of what we are facing these days.
And another thing that I want to also underline is that it is not just the discrimination against these three countries, but also against many representatives of civil society from different countries.
So it shows really how the United States government considers our region. They continue to consider Latin America and the Caribbean as their backyard.
A few days ago, Joe Biden said, “It’s not our backyard; it’s our front yard.” They don’t realize that we are not anybody’s back or front yard at all.
And I think it’s a mix of not understanding what’s happening, but also this superiority complex that runs through the U.S. foreign policy towards Latin American and the Caribbean.
BENJAMIN NORTON: Ambassador Llorenti, I would like to speak also about the countries that are attending.
I mentioned the boycott by the presidents of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador; and Honduras, the new left-wing president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro; and the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce; and also the president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, for different political reasons – he’s more conservative. But those are the presidents who are boycotting this summit.
Also the governments of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua. Together, these countries represent over 200 million people.
I should also mention mention that there are reports that the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, is reportedly not attending.
So together, that’s more than 200 million people. In the region that is more than one-third of the population.
And the leaders who are attending are some of the leaders that are the most notorious for violating human rights.
I’m talking about Ivan Duque in Colombia, who is closely linked to drug trafficking. I’m also talking about the extremely right-wing president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who has threatened sitting politicians, who has praised the Pinochet dictatorship.
So what do you think this says about the fact that the progressive governments in the region are, at least their heads of state are, refusing to participate, but some of the most reactionary elements, that violate human rights and do not respect popular democracy are participating in this summit?
Along with, I should mention, the country of Spain, which was invited, which is very much not in the Americas. The last time I looked, Spain is in Europe.
So what do you think that says about this this summit that’s being organized by the U.S. government?
SACHA LLORENTI: As I said before, it’s a failure. It’s the way they look at our region.
But it’s part of a plan. It is not something that comes out of the blue. The United States has a clear policy of trying to dismantle, to destroy, every single attempt at genuine, authentic integration.
What happened in South America with UNASUR, the unity of nations of the South. It was destroyed by right-wing governments. And of course, everyone also understands that the hand of the State Department was behind that.
Also the privatization of CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, I mean, until Mexico took over the presidency.
So it is part of a plan. They don’t want a proper unity or integration of Latin American and Caribbean states.
That’s why, what they are trying to do is to have the OAS and its secretary general to be, like it was pointed out by Cuban revolutionary Che, the Ministry of the Colonies.
And I think it even goes even beyond that. I think that we have to understand that Latin America and the Caribbean has a different agenda, has different interests, has even a different doctrine than the United States.
This is the confrontation that we have now. It is a two-centuries-old confrontation.
The Monroe Doctrine, that was published in 1823 – it’s going to be 200 years old next year – and the Bolivarian Doctrine, that is also 200 years old.
Those two doctrines are in confrontation, because of the incompatibility of their interests for 200 years.
And of course some countries of our region align themselves to the Monroe Doctrine, and some others to the Bolivarian Doctrine.
I believe that our venue for integration is not the Summit of the Americas. I believe that the true, authentic venue for us to get together is CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
And a proposal has come out in the summit of ALBA. The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, and also President Maduro recently reiterated the proposal of having meetings with the United States, of course, and Canada, but in another kind of format.
CELAC has regular meetings with China, with Russia, with different countries. And I think that this kind of format could be established with the United States and Canada.
But we need some venue in which things are run by Latin America and the Caribbean countries and interests, not the US interests. Because, as I said, they are not aligned.
And just another thing on who is going on and who is not going. What I believe is that most of the leaders or representatives that are that are going are going to protest the situation.
And the ones that are not going, of course they are not going in protest of the decisions of the United States.
The summit is a failure. But I think that we have to understand that the integration will not be achieved through the Summit of the Americas.
Because from the beginning, from 1994 when the first summit was held, the purpose of the United States was to have a free market area in America.
And of course that failed. In 2005, in the summit held Mar del Plata in Argentina, when leaders such as Néstor Kirchner, Tabaré Vázquez, Lula da Silva, Hugo Chávez, had a strong position against the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
The main interests of the United States is to have control of Latin America and the Caribbean’s natural resources. That’s the first interest.
The second one is for the region to be the market for U.S. products, or companies, or multinational corporations.
Also, they want our workers for cheap labor.
And the whole reason of their interest is for them to control all the commercial, international commercial routes. That’s why the Panama Canal is so important. That’s why they did everything that they could in order to stop the project for the canal in Nicaragua.
And the fifth reason is for them to to punish everyone who does not obey their commands.
But things are changing in Latin America and the Caribbean. And the dignity which most of the countries are expressing in their rejection of the U.S. decisions is going to be the main and most important issue that will be discussed, or is being discussed in Los Angeles right now.
BENJAMIN NORTON: Secretary Llorenti, you mentioned that, just a few weeks ago, there was a summit held in Cuba of the members of the ALBA. These are countries in both Latin America and the Caribbean.
Can you talk about what was discussed in that summit and the final declaration that was published?
SACHA LLORENTI: Well, the declaration was a very important one. As I mentioned before, ALBA brings together the 10 countries. Allow me to mention them, because I think it’s important. It’s one-third of the whole Latin American and the Caribbean region.
It’s Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Those 10 countries gathered in Havana. And the first point that they adopted was the rejection of exclusions and the discriminatory treatment in the so-called Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.
They pointed out that genuine regional integration should be made by the CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. And the underlined the the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace.
That’s why the presence of US military bases is an aggression to this proclamation of our region as a zone of peace. Also the presence of NATO goes against this this proclamation.
So that’s that’s another point that was underlined in our summit.
The other thing is the the support for the right of all countries of the continent to be not just invited but also to participate in meetings such as the so-called Summit of the Americas.
Also, the ALBA has denounced the discriminatory treatment by the United States as the host country of the so-called Summit of the Americas against numerous representatives of the genuine civil society of our continent.
And also we rejected the unilateral coercive measures that the United States imposes against countries of our alliance. This goes against the principles of the UN Charter. It goes against international law, and against the principles of multilateralism as well.
We have to repeat every single time that the United States imposes a blockade, an embargo, against Cuba for more than six decades. That’s a crime against humanity. Also against Venezuela and Nicaragua.
And this is, I think, something that we should should always remember, that the United States government used the [Covid-19] pandemic as a weapon. They weaponized the pandemic against not just these three countries, but some others in the world. Because instead of trying to lift some of these illegal measures against the peoples of these countries, they used the pandemic in order to strengthen these illegal, unilateral coercive measures.
So the [ALBA] summit based itself in the principles and purposes of the United Nations charter, that the United States has committed itself to uphold, the same thing with international law.
BENJAMIN NORTON: Ambassador Llorenti, you mentioned that the U.S. government has gone out of its way supporting coups to try to prevent countries from integrating into the Bolivarian Alliance.
For instance, Honduras under President Manuel Zelaya was a member of the ALBA. There was a US-backed coup in 2009, and Honduras was removed from the ALBA.
Similarly, Ecuador had been part of the ALBA, and there was this betrayal, a kind of internal soft coup by Lenín Moreno against the former president, Rafael Correa. And he withdrew Ecuador from the ALBA.
And I would say, from studying this, that one of the main reasons that Washington has been afraid of the ALBA is that it proposes an economic alternative for the region, based on regional integration, based on bartering, and based on the creation of a new currency.
The ALBA did create a new currency for trade in the region, called the Sucre.
And we saw recent comments from the former president of Brazil Lula da Silva, who said that if he wins the October election, that he plans on creating a new currency in Latin America and the Caribbean for trade called the Sur.
Can you talk about attempts in the region to create a new currency, to integrate the economics of the region, and to create more independence from the U.S. dollar and U.S. hegemony?
SACHA LLORENTI: Yes, first of all, you mentioned many of the the countries in which the United States was part of a coup d’etat. I have to add Bolivia to that list.
What the OAS and the United States supported was a dictatorship in my own country. And, I mean, what happened in Bolivia was, of course, one of the latest examples of how the United States does not care about democracy.
They talk about democracy, but what they do is they organize and finance not just coups d’etat, but also the political instability in our countries.
We we have to ask ourselves for instance, who funded, who is funding the opposition in countries such as Nicaragua, or Cuba, or Venezuela? Through NGOs, directly, is the United States.
So they are the last ones to try to teach lessons on democracy or human rights.
Our countries, our peoples, know exactly what they have done for decades and decades in Latin America and the Caribbean.
And you mentioned the efforts in order to achieve a different kind of relationship in terms of economics or finances. That’s one of the goals of ALBA-TCP.
We have made tremendous advances in terms of having an economic relationship based on solidarity, not just profit. Petrocaribe is another example, in which the solidarity of Venezuela has been shown all over the region, in terms of providing energy in an affordable way for different countries.
The idea of having our own currency is, of course, one of our goals. And we were pleased by the declaration made by Lula da Silva.  That’s an effort that we have to continue working on.
Because imperialism is not just the political control; imperialism is not just territorial control; imperialism is also very, very much linked to natural resources, to the financial system, to how the debt system works; it is very much related to the World Bank, to the International Monetary Fund, the way in which the dollar imposes its will on the whole world.
And things are changing. Things are changing, not just in Latin America and the Caribbean, but also in Asia and Africa.
So what we are seeing is an empire which is losing its power. And I think that this century will be a century in which we will see the decay U.S. imperialism.
BENJAMIN NORTON: Secretary Llorenti, in addition to being the executive secretary of the ALBA, you were previously a Bolivian minister under President Evo Morales, and Bolivia’s ambassador to the United Nations.
You mentioned the US-backed coup in Bolivia in 2019 against Evo Morales. The people of Bolivia were able to overthrow, democratically, that coup, defeat the coup regime at the ballot box.
And the current government, led by the Movement Toward Socialism party and President Luis Arce, the government – the judicial system has just said that the former dictator, Jeanine Áñez, faces 15 years in prison.
I’m wondering if you can comment on the process of defeating the coup in Bolivia and the restoration of democracy in your country.
SACHA LLORENTI: Well I believe that the Bolivian people have written one of the most heroic, epic pages in the history of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Because if we compare similar processes in some other countries, we will find that there are very, very few examples in which the people itself recover democracy after a short period of time.
I mean, it took in some cases 10 or 15 years before the people would get back to power. In the case of Bolivia, it took one year.
But at a very high cost. There were two massacres in Bolivia. Almost 40 people were killed. People were persecuted and were jailed. Many of us had to go into exile.
But the people itself recovered democracy, democratically. And now what has happened in Bolivia, they are of course people who took power illegally, and are being prosecuted. And we hope that all of those responsible will be rightfully and lawfully punished.
I think that will send a clear message not just to Bolivians, but also to all Latin Americans and Caribbeans, that coups d’etat should be part of the past.
But we also understand that the right-wing interests, the oligarchy, or the U.S. interests do not support democracy. When democracy does not fit their interests, they go and do these things that they have done, not just in Bolivia; they also tried to do that in Nicaragua in 2018.
They tried to do it in Venezuela. The latest revelations of what they were organizing in Venezuela are really, really scary. Not just mercenaries, not just the discussion of military intervention, but also they tried to kill President Maduro.
So we have to be aware. We don’t have the luxury of being naive. We have to be alert 24/7. Because the rights of the people, the benefits of this revolutionary process, are not safe if we are naive.
BENJAMIN NORTON: Secretary Llorenti, I know that you are a very busy man, and I know we have to wrap up the interview. I just want to conclude with one final question.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that, in Los Angeles right now, outside of the US government-sponsored summit, there is an alternative summit called the Summit of the Peoples, the People’s Summit for Democracy.
This has been organized by social movements across the Americas, including social movements in the United States and Canada, but also social movements in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
And one of the co-conveners of this People’s Summit for Democracy that’s going on in protest, is ALBA Movimientos, the social movement arm of the ALBA. I believe it’s independent from ALBA, the body that brings together the countries.
But I’m wondering if you can just speak about the People’s Summit for Democracy that’s going on to protest the US government-sponsored, exclusionary summit.
SACHA LLORENTI: I believe that’s a real summit, the People’s Summit. Because the policy of exclusion of the United States has made clear what’s at stake.
There are global and regional threats. We are missing the opportunity for governments to talk about health, to talk about climate change, to talk about debt, to talk about the real challenges that our peoples face.
So we are looking forward to the conclusions of the People’s Summit. We are going to participate. I will participate virtually on the last day of the summit.
And we we believe that they were also victims of this discriminatory policy. Because, as I pointed out, many representatives of civil society of our countries were excluded from the participation of the Summit [of the Americas], because the US government didn’t provided visas for these people.
So we look forward to the conclusions of the summit. I think that this is going to be a milestone on the long process for hope for our peoples to get together and to struggle against our common threats.
And our common threats are imperialism, capitalism, colonialism, and, of course, patriarchy as well.
So that’s my point of view. And I really thank you very much for this opportunity.
BENJAMIN NORTON: I want to thank you, Secretary Sacha Llorenti, the executive secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance, the ALBA.
For people who want to find more information about Secretary Llorenti and the ALBA, you can follow him on Twitter at @SachaLlorenti. And you can also follow the ALBA at @ALBATCP.
Again, I want to thank you, Secretary Llorenti. I know you’re a very busy man. It was a real pleasure speaking with you.
SACHA LLORENTI: Thank you. It was my pleasure, Ben.


Instruction: Write an article about: Russia strengthens ‘military-technical cooperation’ with Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba amid US threats. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Cuba, Daniel Ortega, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Nicaragua, Nicolás Maduro, Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vladimir Putin

Output:
Russia said it is expanding “military-technical cooperation” with Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, after Putin had phone calls with the presidents of the three socialist governments, which have been targeted by illegal US sanctions and coup attempts.

Russia is strengthening its alliance with Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, as the United States accelerates its campaign to isolate all four countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his country’s parliament, the Duma, that Moscow was expanding its cooperation with the three socialist Latin American governments in all areas, including “military-technical cooperation.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin had friendly phone calls with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel between January 18 and 24, reaffirming Moscow’s “unwavering support.”
The Donald Trump administration dubbed Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba the so-called “Troika of Tyranny,” in comments made by neoconservative former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
The United States has imposed unilateral economic sanctions, which are illegal under international law, on all three. Venezuela is suffering under an unlawful US embargo, and Cuba has been crushed by a US blockade for six decades – while more than 95% of the members of the United Nations General Assembly have voted to condemn this blockade annually for 29 years.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov explained that, in recent talks with the leaders of these three Latin American countries, “Ways to deepen our strategic association were looked at in all areas, without exception.”
“In terms of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, we have very close relations and strategic cooperation in all areas: in the economy, culture, education, and military-technical cooperation,” he said.
“Our partnership with Latin American countries is deepening,” Lavrov added, calling them “three friendly states close to us.”
While Russia strengthens its alliance with Latin American leftists, Joe Biden has resorted to neocolonial rhetoric. In a January 19 press conference, the US president referred to Latin America as Washington’s “front yard,” declaring, “Everything south of the Mexican border is America’s front yard.”
These diplomatic moves come at a point of historic high tensions between Washington and Moscow.
The United States and Britain have provoked a crisis in Russia’s neighbor Ukraine, sending weapons and encouraging a military buildup that could spill over into war.
This follows years of instability caused by a violent coup in Ukraine in 2014, which was sponsored by the US and the European Union in order to install a pro-Western and vehemently anti-Russian government in Kiev.
Washington and London have insisted, without presenting any evidence, that Russia will soon send troops to take over Ukraine – although top officials in Kiev have publicly denied that Russia plans to invade their country.
Russia has demanded that the United States pledge not to expand NATO further and not to deploy more weapons and soldiers to the nations on its borders.
Washington and Moscow held talks in Geneva, but they broke down on January 13, because the US refused to make any concessions.
Faced with the diplomatic dead-end, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told a Russian media outlet that Moscow could not rule out the possibility of sending a military deployment to Venezuela or Cuba.
Russia’s alliance with Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba was reaffirmed in recent conversations President Putin had with the leaders of the three socialist Latin American states.
Putin called Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on January 18, congratulating him on his re-election and January 10 inauguration.
According to the readout from the Foreign Ministry, Putin “reaffirmed Russia’s unwavering support for the efforts of the Nicaraguan Government to ensure national sovereignty and its commitment to continue facilitating the republic’s socioeconomic development.” They also “reaffirmed the importance of continued close cooperation in the international arena in keeping with the strategic partnership between Russia and Nicaragua.”
On January 20, Putin called Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The Foreign Ministry used very similar language to describe the call: the “leaders reaffirmed their commitment to close coordination in international affairs in keeping with the principles of strategic partnership that underlie bilateral relations,” and “Putin expressed his unwavering support for the Venezuelan authorities’ efforts to strengthen the sovereignty of the country and ensure its socioeconomic development.”
Then on January 24, Putin called Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Moscow said the “presidents discussed further coordination of Russia’s and Cuba’s actions in the international arena in line with the principles of strategic partnership and the traditions of friendship and mutual understanding.”


Instruction: Write an article about: Peru’s President Pedro Castillo at UN: Healthcare, education, housing, jobs are rights, must be guaranteed to all. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: education, healthcare, housing, Pedro Castillo, Peru, UN, United Nations

Output:
In his first United Nations address, Peru’s President Pedro Castillo called for a “social transformation” that guarantees “economic rights,” while reducing hunger, poverty, and inequality

Peru’s new leftist President Pedro Castillo delivered his first address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 21.
He used the platform to call for a “social transformation” that guarantees not just civil and political rights, but also economic and social rights to healthcare, education, housing, and dignified work.
“Health, education, water, and sanitation cannot be for-profit business; they are fundamental human rights that we must guarantee,” Castillo emphasized.
Noting that he is the first rural school teacher to ever lead Peru, Castillo stressed the need to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger, while reducing poverty and inequality.
He also prioritized protecting the environment, and said his government is going to declare a “climate emergency.”
Notably, there was a major issue completely absent from his speech: Castillo very clearly steered away from international affairs, and did not comment on any conflicts in Latin America.
His government’s foreign policy has been quite inconsistent, and Castillo’s anti-imperialist foreign minister, Héctor Béjar, was forced by the military to resign, mere weeks after being appointed.
Béjar warned the forced resignation was “a soft coup, or the beginning of it.” He added, ominously, “Castillo is an excellent person,” but “this is a weak government; I am not going to deny it.”
There are a lot of internal contradictions in Castillo’s government, and it is not very stable. The right-wing opposition still dominates many Peruvian state institutions, including the Congress, and is committed to impeaching him as soon as possible.
Castillo is also leading a country that has had five presidents in just five years, including three different heads of state in one chaotic week.
Nevertheless, his address at the UN gives us a glimpse into the social issues Castillo is prioritizing in his new government.
Translated highlights of the Peruvian president’s speech follow below.
Peru's new leftist President Pedro Castillo used his first ever speech at the United Nations to call for a "social transformation" that guarantees not just civil and political rights, but also economic and social rights to healthcare, education, housing, and dignified work pic.twitter.com/YZpbSbI7t6
— Benjamin Norton (@BenjaminNorton) September 24, 2021

“A social transformation is needed, which allows all Peruvians to enjoy their economic and social rights, in addition to fundamental freedom to civil and political rights — a transformation that takes place in the homes of every family.”
“Their rights to education, to health, to honest work, to a dignified salary, to social security, to housing, and to access to an individual, economic, and collective life, while respecting the rights of Mother Earth.”
“It is the first time in the history of my Peruvian people that a school teacher from a rural area is leading this country.”
“And that responsibility obligates me to serve the poor, the marginalized, the vulnerable populations, the small businesses, the middle classes who have suffered through the pandemic, and of course, all Peruvians without exclusions.”
“Peru is the cradle of many great civilizations that have contributed to the history of humanity. It is a multicultural and multiethnic country.”
“My government is counting on building a society and a state with popular roots, with social inclusion, which eliminates inequalities, injustices, the unfair distribution of wealth, to build a solid democratic society in which freedom and civil rights are guaranteed by a democratic and representative state that inspires the participation of the population and the sub-national, regional, and local governments in all of the processes of decision-making that concern their futures and lives.”
At the UN, Peru’s President Castillo insisted “health, education, water, and sanitation cannot be for-profit business. They are fundamental human rights that we must guarantee”
He also emphasized the need to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger, and reduce poverty and inequality pic.twitter.com/Hh54C28a1Z
— Benjamin Norton (@BenjaminNorton) September 24, 2021

“Health, education, access to water, and sanitation cannot be for-profit business. They are fundamental human rights that we must guarantee, assuring universal, high-quality access, without any kind of discrimination.”
“We are equally committed to a policy of social development that allows Peru to complete the goals of the millennium, especially concerning access to water, to health networks, reduction of poverty, elimination of extreme poverty, reduction of infant mortality, full access to the health system, guaranteeing inclusive high-quality education, attaining gender equality, and especially creating jobs and improving informal work. Dignified work is the only long-lasting antidote against poverty.”
“The goal of zero hunger must be what the international community focuses its resources on. It is imperative to double our actions to meet the immediate food needs of all vulnerable populations, to strengthen programs of social protection, to maintain and increase global trade of food.”
“A new social contract is being built in Peru, a new social contract that assures democratic governance with peace and social cohesion, and that is able to drastically reduce poverty and eliminate extreme poverty, that reduces inequalities and ends exclusion and racism as obstacles to equal treatment by the state and the market.”


Instruction: Write an article about: China ‘counters US dollar hegemony’ with gold reserves, Argentina yuan currency swap deal. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Alberto Fernández, Argentina, Brazil, China, currency swap, de-dollarization, gold, Lula da Silva

Output:
Advancing global de-dollarization, China’s central bank is boosting its gold reserves while signing currency swap deals in yuan with countries like Argentina, encouraging the use of renminbi instead of US dollars.

China’s central bank has taken a series of steps to accelerate the global drive toward de-dollarization, challenging the hegemony of the greenback.
The People’s Bank of China is increasing the share of gold in its foreign-exchange reserves, bucking the US dollar, which has for decades been dominant in international central bank holdings.
This January, China also signed an agreement with Argentina’s central bank for a currency swap deal, in which Beijing will provide 130 billion Chinese yuan (roughly $19 billion USD) to help Buenos Aires stabilize its currency and economy.

The South American nation said it is “committed to deepen the use of the RMB [renminbi] in the Argentine market for bilateral exchange”. (Renminbi is the official name of the Chinese currency, and is often used interchangeably with yuan, which is the unit of account of that currency.)
China’s semi-official newspaper Global Times commented that the deal makes it “likely that more Latin American countries will increase the use of Chinese yuan in order to counter the US dollar’s hegemony, and strengthen economic ties with China”.
These moves show how China is responding to the new cold war that the United States is waging against it.
Concerned that the aggressive sanctions that Washington has already imposed could expand into an all-out economic war, Beijing is decreasing its holdings of dollars in reserves and encouraging the use of its currency in trade with other nations – thereby chipping away at the global reserve currency.
Meanwhile, Russia’s central bank has pledged to buy yuan in the foreign-exchange market to hold in its reserves. And Beijing is already purchasing oil from Moscow in its national currency.

In December 2022, the People’s Bank of China publicly disclosed for the first time in three years that it was increasing the share of gold in its foreign-exchange reserves.
Bloomberg noted at the time that “China’s purchases may be part of a plan to diversify its reserves away from the dollar“.
In January 2023, Bloomberg followed up indicating that the People’s Bank of China had again boosted its gold reserves.
The media outlet speculated that Russia is filling its reserves with gold as well.
China and Russia are not alone. Bloomberg reported that central banks around the world are buying gold, reaching a record of close to 400 tons in the third fiscal quarter of 2022, compared to 241 tons in the same period in 2018.
Central banks in many countries are increasingly worried that they could be targeted by unilateral Western sanctions.
The United States and European Union have frozen or seized hundreds of billions of dollars and euros from the foreign reserves belonging to the central banks of Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Afghanistan.
This has pushed many nations to look into diversifying their foreign reserves – not only governments targeted by the West for regime change, but even long-time allies such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Türkiye.
Central banks look to China’s renminbi to diversify foreign currency reserves https://t.co/skJm1aKmmW
— FT Economics (@fteconomics) July 1, 2022

The Financial Times reported in June 2022 that central banks across the planet “are looking towards the renminbi to diversify their foreign currency holdings, in a sign that geopolitical flare-ups could chip away at the dollar’s dominance”.
A staggering 85% of central bank reserve managers have expressed interest in investing or already are invested in renminbi, the newspaper noted.
It quoted the head of strategy for global sovereign markets at top Swiss bank UBS, Massimiliano Castelli, who said: “We’re seeing a gradual erosion of the dollar… The picture that emerges is one of a multipolar currency system”.
The newspaper added, “Four-fifths of the central bankers surveyed said they believed that a move towards a multipolar world — away from a US-centric system — would benefit the renminbi”.
The US-dominated International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made similar warnings. In March 2022, it published a research paper on the “stealth erosion of dollar dominance“.
The US-dominated International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned of an “erosion of dollar dominance”
Use of Chinese yuan in global central bank reserves is increasing
And Western sanctions on Russia could weaken the dollar, strengthening other currencieshttps://t.co/weF255asil
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) March 31, 2022

The financial institution observed a marked rise in the use of “nontraditional currencies” in global central bank reserves. The Chinese yuan has driven this increase.
From 2000 to 2021, the percentage of foreign reserves held in US dollars dropped from a bit over 70% to just under 60%.
Thus far, the shift has been slow. But as the United States escalates its new cold war on China, the ensuing geopolitical conflict is likely to accelerate the move toward de-dollarization.

Argentina has struggled for centuries with odious debt owed to colonial and neo-colonial powers.
Today, the South American nation is trapped in $44 billion in dollar-denominated debt with the IMF.
Seeking to fortify its sovereignty and weaken US control, Argentina has strengthened its relations with China and Russia.
China is already Argentina’s second-biggest trade partner, after Brazil, and the ties between the countries are growing.
In February 2022, Buenos Aires joined Beijing’s massive global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative.
Argentina has also applied to join the expanded BRICS+ bloc, alongside Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
This January 8, the president of Argentina’s central bank met with his counterpart from China.
The Argentine central bank reported that the two countries “committed to deepen the use of the RMB [renminbi] in the Argentine market for bilateral exchange”.
The swap offers 130 billion in Chinese yuan (roughly $19 billion USD), with an additional “special activation” of 35 billion yuan (approximately $5 billion USD) for interventions in the foreign-exchange market.
The president of Argentina’s central bank, Miguel Pesce, meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Yi Gang
Argentine President Alberto Fernández had met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in November 2022, where they discussed the currency swap.
The Argentine central bank has an account in its own currency, the peso, at the People’s Bank of China. China’s central bank has an account in yuan at Argentina’s central bank. Buenos Aires must pay Beijing back the 130 billion yuan, with interest. But the advantage is that dollars are not involved.
According to the Argentine central bank’s most recent report, from November 2022, its total reserves sum to $38 billion USD.
This means that the yuan currency swap represents roughly half of Argentina’s reserves. This will have a massive macroeconomic impact.
The newspaper Global Times, which is linked to the Communist Party of China and has a nationalist perspective, explained the thinking of some officials in Beijing, arguing that the currency swap deal “help the Latin American country hedge against shocks brought about by the US’ financial policy tightening while promoting its own industrial development”.
“It is likely that more Latin American countries will increase the use of Chinese yuan in order to counter the US dollar’s hegemony, and strengthen economic ties with China”, the semi-official media outlet added.
#China-Argentina currency swap expansion reflects Latin American country's determination to seek closer cooperation with China: experts say.https://t.co/gz1YAp9sn0 pic.twitter.com/g0Ra0XA1dn
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 9, 2023

Argentina is a significant agricultural producer, and its top exports include corn, soy products, and wheat.
Two-thirds of Argentina’s exports to China consist of soy beans, with an additional 7% of soy oil. Argentina also exports to China smaller amounts of beef, crude petroleum, and shrimp and prawn.
Most of what China exports to Argentina is various forms of advanced technologies, including phones, TVs, and machines.
Exports, especially from the agricultural sector, are one of the only ways Argentina can get access to foreign currencies – or more specifically dollars, which it needs to service its dollar-denominated debt with the IMF.
Normally, if a company in a country like Argentina needs dollars, or if a bank needs foreign currency for a loan, these firms would buy it on the foreign-exchange market. In contrast, swap lines cut out the middleman and create direct relationships between the central banks of countries.
The Chinese swap line deal could help Argentina hold on to dollars to service its debt, while using yuan to buy products from China.
Perhaps even more importantly for Buenos Aires, which suffers with high rates of inflation, it could also use yuan instead of dollars to stabilize the ever-weakening Argentine peso by intervening in the foreign-exchange market.
China began conducted currency swaps with Argentina back in 2009, under left-wing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Deals have been repeatedly renewed since then.
But the South American nation is not the only country that has worked out a system like this with the East Asian giant.
In December, the Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing’s central bank is using an “unusual channel”: “currency-swap lines to support governments that borrowed heavily from Chinese banks”.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has given hundreds of billions of dollars worth of yuan to dozens of countries in exchange for their domestic currencies, the newspaper reported.
Among these recipients are Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Argentina, and Laos — all nations that struggle with external debt, much of it denominated in US dollars.
Hungry for foreign currency to shore up their dwindling reserves, some countries have turned to an unusual source of funds: The People's Bank of China https://t.co/QgmRnRdewt
— WSJ China Real Time (@ChinaRealTime) December 12, 2022

The Wall Street Journal explained, “By replenishing other countries’ reserves, the PBOC may be helping some of the world’s most indebted countries avoid rising borrowing costs”.
While the newspaper portrayed this as a cynical effort by China to “prop up” members of its Belt and Road Initiative, the media outlet acknowledged that Beijing is also using the currency swaps to accelerate the de-dollarization of the international financial system.
“The PBOC says the swap lines are there to help grease the wheels of international trade, ensure financial stability and further the adoption of the yuan in a world where trade and finance are dominated by the U.S. dollar”, the Wall Street Journal wrote.
It added: “The PBOC’s swap network is the largest of its kind, according to the World Bank. The PBOC said in a 2021 report that it has swap facilities with 40 countries with a combined capacity of almost 4 trillion yuan, or about $570 billion”.
While Buenos Aires is collaborating more closely with Beijing (its second-largest trading partner), Argentina has simultaneously pushed for stronger ties with Brazil (its largest trading partner) and economic integration of Latin America.
Brazil’s left-wing President Lula da Silva returned to power on January 1.
Two days later, Argentina’s Ambassador Daniel Scioli met with Brazil’s Economic Minister Fernando Haddad.
Scioli said his government’s top priority was “the agreement on deep Argentina-Brazil integration” that the countries’ Presidents Alberto Fernández and Lula da Silva are due to sign at the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Buenos Aires on January 24.
???? | Avanzamos con el nuevo ministro de Economía de Brasil, @Haddad_Fernando, en 3 temas prioritarios de la agenda bilateral:
1⃣ El acuerdo de integración profunda Argentina-Brasil que firmarán @alferdez y @LulaOficial en la próxima reunión de la CELAC en Buenos Aires. pic.twitter.com/T0ZbawtCnJ
— Daniel Scioli ?? (@danielscioli) January 3, 2023

The Argentine ambassador likewise revealed that his government is in talks with the state-owned Brazilian Development Bank to receive financing to advance construction of a pipeline, named after former President Néstor Kirchner, which will provide a steady supply of gas to Brazil.
Argentina has the world’s second-biggest reserves of shale gas and the forth-biggest of shale oil.
Scioli added that Argentina and Brazil look to increase their exports and trade with each other, “conserving the reserves of both countries in the framework of the system of local currencies”.
3⃣ El financiamiento del BNDES a las próximas etapas del gasoducto Néstor Kirchner, que permitirá el abastecimiento sustentable de gas a Brasil y equilibrar nuestra balanza comercial.
Más integración con Brasil es más crecimiento, trabajo y divisas para la Argentina.
— Daniel Scioli ?? (@danielscioli) January 3, 2023

Scioli’s hint that Argentine-Brazilian trade will be done with local currencies led to international speculation that the countries are moving forward with Lula’s proposed plan to create a sovereign Latin American currency for regional trade.
This frightened some foreign investors, and was reported in the financial press with a heavy dose of concern – and condescension.
Haddad downplayed the reports, saying, “There is no proposal for one currency for Mercosur”. But his words were careful: The Brazilian economic minister said there was not yet a proposal; he didn’t deny that the potential currency was discussed.
It was likely that Haddad was merely trying to reassure foreign investors.
In his inauguration speech, Lula pledged more robust social spending to fight poverty and hunger and vowed to reverse the privatizations carried out by previous far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
These policies are overwhelmingly popular among the Brazilian people, but they scared some investors in Brazilian stocks, who sold off shares, leading to market instability and a slight drop in the value of the country’s currency, the real, against the dollar.
Recebi do vice-presidente China, Wang Qishan, uma carta do presidente Xi Jinping com seus cumprimentos e vontade de ampliarmos a cooperação. A China é nosso maior parceiro comercial e podemos ampliar ainda mais as relações entre nossos países ????
?: @ricardostuckert pic.twitter.com/Z8FAmn4yyW
— Lula (@LulaOficial) January 2, 2023

In the mean time, Brazil’s new government, like that of Argentina, has vowed to deepen its alliance with China.
On the day after his inauguration, Lula met with China’s Vice President Wang Qishan. The statesman gave the Brazilian leader a letter from President Xi Jinping, which called to boost Chinese-Brazilian ties.
Lula tweeted, “China is our biggest trading partner, and we can even further expand the relations between our countries”.