Putin Goes to Latin America: US Creates Wars – Russia Extends a Hand of Cooperation
by Lada Ray
Who would you pick as your friend?
The country that bombs into oblivion whoever gets in its way – like Afghanistan, Iraq, Serbia, Libya, Vietnam, Korea, Japan (with nukes); the country that spies on its friends, such as the newest in a barrage of NSA/CIA scandals of the US spying on Germany; the country that manipulates the whole world into submission with sanctions and threats?
Russian President Putin meets French President Hollande in France
OR: The country that comes in peace and helps develop infrastructure, trade and mutually beneficial relations; the country that doesn’t start wars and works tirelessly to preserve peace for all, despite desperate attempts of some to start WWIII?
The answer should be clear even for the brainwashed, zombified and intimidated population of the West… I think it was always clear for Cubans.
I had been to Cuba, and met Fidel Castro, when I was barely 20. It’s a wonderful country with warm and hospitable population, romantic feel and the old world/new world charm. Due to the long-term extraction of the Cuban wealth by the US and later crippling embargo, Cuba is very poor. But Cubans never fret, making do with what little they have. One of their achievements is the exemplary FREE medical care. Another one, the best education system in Latin America. See my interviews, where I talk about Cuba: Feng Shui, Fidel Castro and Fascinating Predictions: Interview with Lada Ray AND The Earth Shifter, New Earth & Alternative Economy: Thought-provoking Interview with Lada Ray.
La Habana, Cuba: Clockwise from top left: El Capitolio, Museum of the Revolution, view of Malecón, lighthouse at El Morro, Havana Cathedral, Plaza Vieja and the Great Theatre of Havana
I am looking at the footage of #Havana today (on video below) and see that, sadly, Cuba has become so much shabbier and poorer since I was there 20+ years ago. Cuba has great potential and it needs a leg up. This leg up comes in the form of a visit by the Russian President Vladimir #Putin. Cuba, where he has met with Raul #Castro (Fidel’s brother and the current head of the country) is the first stop on Putin’s extensive, week-long tour of Latin America.
Raúl Modesto Castro Rus
During the Cuban stop by Putin, Russia will write off 90% of Cuban debt, or $32bln of the total of $35bln. This is huge for a small, poor country like #Cuba. The rest of the debt will be invested in Cuban economy, which will give it a much-needed boost.
After this, Vladimir Putin will visit #Argentina where he’ll sign energy-related and trade expansion deals. Next is #Brazil, where he’ll watch the World Cup final, participate in the #BRICSbank creation, and discuss the information and security deals between Russia and Brazil with President Dilma #Rousseff. Rousseff joins the long list of heads of state-victims of the NSA wiretapping. In Brazil, Putin will also meet with a number of other Latin American heads of state to discuss various energy and investment deals.
Brazil President, Dilma Rousseff
Video report from RT:
Analysis
Russia on the move!
The worldwide revolt against USA – the empire gone berserk – is mounting. USA, with its idiotic, arrogant, and belligerent policies, has angered pretty much everyone on the face of the Earth, and beyond. USA not only bombs anyone they don’t like into oblivion, it not only tries to strangle economies of countries it wants weakened or intimidated, but it spies even on staunch allies like Germany.
In Europe: #NSA spying on #Merkel and every German, plus the latest two German #CIA spy scandals, are just a tip of the iceberg. US has many more ‘assets’ in #Germany, and Germans are naive if they think they are in the clear. Outraged Germans announced that they will lift a ban on spying on Americans. Can you believe it – they actually had such a ban! Talk about one-way street!
Angela Merkel
With one stroke USA just destroyed BNP #Paribas, the leading bank of another European ally, #France. All because France refused to destroy its economy and business credibility by forfeiting its scheduled 2 Mistral carriers delivery to Russia (as USA demanded), and the Russia-France banking deal that was in the works for years. US fined BNP Paribas $10bln for violating US sanctions regime against Russia, which essentially bankrupted the bank. In addition, US blocked France’s ability to use the international dollar exchange mechanism. In response to all that, the outraged France Finance Minister announced that his country will be seeking to trade outside of the US dollar, and will do everything to convince its partners in the EU to do the same.
In Russia, Siberia, Asia: Putin just announced that Russia would be investing $150bln in the ambitious construction of the new leg of the Baikal-Amur Railroad (BAM), taking this money off the table for US Treasury investment. See Russia’s NEW Ambitious Anti-Dollar Move: $150 bln Investment in Baikal-Amur Railroad. After US attempted to impose sanctions on Russia, Russia sold off most of its US Treasuries, which prompted the Belgian bond scandal. Pretty much everyone misinterpreted what happened when suddenly small #Belgium “purchased” US Treasuries for the amount that was bigger than its GDP. I solved the mystery and will have an article about that very soon, so stay tuned.
Putin also made a very successful pitch at the Bali Investment Conference, where he invited #Japan and #China to invest in the infrastructure development in #Siberia and the Far East. The interest is HUGE and Russia expects lots of money flowing in from China and Japan via Russia Direct Investment Fund.
And back to Europe. South Stream – (Russian: Южный Поток): Russia just signed a deal with #Austria regarding the #SouthStream gas pipeline construction. #Hungary and #Italy reconfirmed their commitment to South Stream. This comes on the heals of “uncle” #McCain twisting poor #Bulgaria’s arm to say ‘no’ to South Stream going through Bulgarian territory, thus shooting itself in the foot. More about that here: ‘Gave Americans a Blow Job For Nothing?’ Polish FM Sikorski Leaked Tape Scandal.
But wait, seeing that everyone’s signing up for South Stream, Bulgaria has already managed to do a 180 degree flip! Now Bulgaria swears that they didn’t mean they didn’t want South Stream – turns out they meant they needed to consult with the EU to make sure everything was legal. And this is precisely why they needed to talk to US senator and the world’s biggest Russia-hater McCain, undoubtedly because he is the best expert on EU policy. Grotesque? Pitiful? All the above!
Russian FM #Lavrov just met with his counterpart in #Slovenia to sign the South Stream deal. Slovenian FM admitted that US put pressure on Slovenia not to sign the South Stream deal. US ambassador to Ljubljana even pressured Slovenian leadership not to receive Lavrov at all! This is the first admission of US pressure by a EU official.Despite that, #Slovenia signed up for South Stream. The neighboring #Serbia has already signed the 2.1 bln euro deal for building South Stream on its territory.
South Stream gas pipeline, designed to bypass #Ukraine, will take the capacity to blackmail Russia and EU away from the Kiev US stooges. It will increase the diversification and security of gas transit to Europe.
Proposed South Stream route
Gas transit/Russia/Ukraine Prediction: I said this before and I will reiterate: Russia will eventually phase out Ukraine as a transit artery for Russian gas to Europe. Ukraine proved to be an extremely unreliable transit country, prone to the outside manipulation, violence and outright theft. It will be a matter of time. After Ukraine no longer is a meaningful transit country, US/Kiev/EU will not have as much capacity to blackmail Russia on the gas front. At that point Ukraine will become uninteresting to the US and it will be simply abandoned like a used-up lemon. What the West is trying to achieve before they abandon Ukraine is destroy its economy. They are partially succeeding. How far they will get in the Ukraine economy destruction depends on how quickly Ukrainians wake up to the fact that they are being raped. More about Russia, Ukraine, USA, and other countries in PREDICTIONS.
Vladimir Putin’s trip to Latin America is very meaningful. He will meet with different leaders to discuss bilateral trade outside of the dollar system; creation and financing of the BRICS Bank to be juxtaposed to the rotten #IMF and World Bank system; energy and security projects; oil and gas field development.
To say that Putin’s visit to Latin America has to do with the blatant US meddling in Ukraine, is to say nothing. Cubans, Venezuelans, Argentinians, Bolivians and other Latin Americans are so fed up with the US always IMPOSING something on them that they had been begging Russia for years to have tighter ties with them. Russia finally decided to take decisive steps to properly diversify its huge currency reserves away from the dying dollar. Russian currency reserves are around $450-500 bln. This is the third largest currency reserve in the world.
Instead of buying worthless US dollars or euros, investing these in the infrastructure projects inside the country, as well as in various infrastructure, development and natural resource projects in Latin America, Europe and Asia is THE WISE thing to do.
Russia is also considering reviving its military bases in Cuba, and that’s 100 miles from the US shore. Russia abandoned her bases pretty much everywhere in the world after Gorbachev came to power, but the US shameless interference in Ukraine and persistent attempts to drag #Georgia, #Moldova, and now Ukraine, into #NATO prompt Russia to rebuild her defenses against the super-bully of the world.
I am looking forward to seeing how Americans will enjoy having Russian military bases within 100 miles of their shores. Rest assured that Cuba isn’t the only country that would love to host Russian bases: #Venezuela, Argentina, #Bolivia and #Nicaragua all have issued a standing invitation.
Predictions
I. Russia is giving an example of how to conduct her global affairs peacefully and cooperatively. But I seriously wouldn’t recommend the US and EU to continue stepping on Russia’s toes. The result is always the same: every aggression against Russia turns into a humiliating defeat and long-term disaster for the aggressor (think German aggression in 1941; think Napoleon aggression in 1812). I have to say the US is legendary for its survival instinct. This is precisely why they will never dare attack Russia directly. This is precisely why they always use proxies to do the dirty job for them. But someone who betrayed once, will betray again. US proxies eventually turn against them: think US-trained/financed Al-Qaeda & Taliban. And this is what will eventually happen with Ukraine and various US allies in the EU.
II. Expect Russia to create a new investment and business climate both inside the country and abroad, which will eventually result in a global shift of how things are done internationally. China is also working on same. COOPERATION, as opposed to confrontaion, is the word that comes to mind.
#BRICS will slowly but surely fully develop the BRICS Bank, which will create a much more humane and forward-looking alternative to the existing rotten IMF/World Bank system.
The crumbling US dollar system will continue being undermined both inside and out by the idiotic actions of the US, and by the fed-up population of our planet that is gradually rebelling against the dollar slavery.
III. All of the above mega deals and projects will be financed outside of the dollar. This effectively means that less and less money will be fed to the US Treasuries, thus undermining the fake financial backbone of the US empire. These moves will gradually take away the US dollar status as reserve currency.