By Franklin D. López
Former United Press and The Associated Press Writer
@Trueblue51, Facebook/ FuerzaEstadista, Instagram , Pinterest, Medium
The worst phrase a policy maker wants to hear from colleague is “I Told you so!”- Anonimous
During the past decade China has been filling the vaccum of the United State benign neglect with its Latin American neighbors. During the Clinton administration I tried hard to push for the creation of a Latin America FHA guarantee program to promote the ownership of homes for low income housing. The property ownership has a very effective effect on the home owners and creates a conservative and stable population block! It is a game changer. If the program would have been instituted we may not be experiencing the population influx from Central and South America during the past 10 years. The Maduro regime is at the brink of collapsing and is desperate looking for air to breathe! A bad eco-system to put into practice wild policies and implanting easy and fast solution provided by Putin or President Xi, destabilizing the region further!
China’s foreign policy makers filled the absence of United States interests in Latin Amrica with “the an open wallet policy,” of giving billions of dollars in loans and grants to cash stripped and desperate Latin American governments. Evidence of this is that during the five-year period between 2015 and 2019, China’s President Xi Jinping set ambitious goals for exchange with the Latin American and Caribbean region (LAC): $500 billion in trade and $250 billion in direct investment. The pledge was made in January 2015 at the first ministerial meeting of the Forum of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which was held in Beijing.
On November 8, 2017 the New York Times Clifford Frauss wrote ”
Russia provided technical assistance to the Venezuelan military to build an AK=-47 assembly plant! A country whose population is starving and dying
“With Venezuela on the edge of default, Russia has thrown it a life preserver.
The Russian finance minister, Anton Siluanov, announced on Wednesday that the two countries had agreed to the restructuring of roughly $3 billion in Kremlin loans.
The amount is tiny compared with Venezuela’s crushing $120 billion debt, but it may help President Nicolás Maduro’s government make hundreds of millions of dollars in payments over the next few weeks to other creditors and help reassure bondholders that a default is not imminent.
‘It has been a scramble for Venezuela to make a $1.2 billion payment on a national oil company bond due last Friday, mostly principal, which had no grace period. Early Wednesday, investors and financial analysts were beginning to fear that Venezuela would not come up with the money it had promised to pay.’
‘By midday, overdue transfers to bondholders began. Still, over the last month Venezuela has delayed payment of more than $350 million in interest on various bonds, with grace periods ending over the next few weeks.
China has been holding secret conversations with the Maduro’s govenrment to lease an island off the coast of Venezuela in the Caribbean disguised as port facilities for the allege export of PDVESA oil products.
OnMay 18, 2017 Wall Street Journal news writers Jay Salomon and Bradley Olson wrote thet the United States was examining Russia’s grip on CITGO’s assets because was at the brink of controlling because it defaulted on loans made by Russia’s state owned giant ROSNEFT. Last week several defense web portals published the presence of Russian long range bombers in a Venezuelan Caribbean Island named Salomon and Olson wrote” Officials and lawmakers are concerned that Rosneft, a major creditor to Citgo’s parent firm, could end up owning key energy infrastructure in the U.S.” This would create a beach head to the United States National Security! Chinas hes been expading it military presence in key strategic areas including the China. seas sin 2016. Even cretaing artificial Islands!
Now Russians send two T-160 strategic long range Russian bombers to Venezuela sincronized with the Trump administration new sanctions of the Maduro’s dictatorial regime. Has the Monroe doctrine been abolished by the Trump Administration. AFter these overture by the two principal super powers trying to fill the leadership vacum and absence in the region of the Trump administration .
,The U.S Navy should look at the re-taking of Roosevelt road before it is dismembered and leased by the Territorial government to investors looking to make a fast buck there. The 8,860 acres facilities was built at a cost of billions of dollars. It has deep water port facilities for submarines and an enormous airports facility and more. This foreign military presence and threat is fueling further massive population exodus from Puerto Rico to the lower 48! It is time for action to deter the expansionist Chinese and Russian interests in the region! It is a matter of National security!
The United States under the Obama administration is responsible for the Russian incursion in the Caribbean. Roosevelt Roads urgently needs to be activated. PR governors PNP and PPD sided with the independentistas on the military use of Vieques by justifying with Ruben Berrios so called incursion in Vieques. It is a time for decision, we either support the United States or ask for independence.
Congratulations, Franklin.
Seems that you are the only media commentator concerned about the Russian/Chinese/Venezuela hookups. It easily can escalate to another Russia/Cuba/U.S. confrontation….same game, different ballpark. Sherman
I distribute d an edit d version in Washington DC Merry Christmas! Sherman!
The Mastter of National Security Come Back Again. I’m Sure; Wanda Beltran MD