Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Russia clawing for influence


AP: "Monday's joint maneuvers with Venezuela, which brought the Admiral Chabanenko and the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Peter the Great across the Atlantic along with two support ships, were widely seen as a show of Kremlin anger over the U.S. use of warships to deliver aid to Georgia after its August war with Russia.

Russian warships tailed U.S. ships in the Black Sea, where Russia borders Georgia, on that mission.

The Russian squadron's voyage to Venezuela was Russia's first such deployment to the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War era, aimed to showcase the Kremlin's global reach and reassert its claim to great-power status. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is a staunch U.S. foe.

The voyage coincided with a trip to Latin America late last month by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who visited four nations in what he acknowledged was an effort to raise Moscow's profile in a region he said it has long neglected.

U.S. officials have mocked the Russian show of force, saying that the Russian navy is a shadow of Moscow's Soviet-era fleet and suggesting that the U.S. retains far more influence in the region than Russia.

"Are they accompanied by tugboats this time?" U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack joked to reporters in Washington last week ahead of the Russian ships' arrival off Venezuela."


Here's how South America will break up in the coming years:
Those who enjoy trade and good relations with the US will shore up their Americana stances.
Those who decry the freedoms of the bourgeois will grasp desperately for other allies.

Still fun to watch though. Really what it boils down to in diplomatic terms is that the US isn't afraid of Russia, and still considers the Putian run Russian nation to be a friend, if not an ally.

3 comments:

Sra. Madera said...

I agree, it is fun to watch as the constant change of guard in South and Central America continues on. The people will grow weary and overthrow any government with which they are unhappy as they have in the past. Chavez is a corrupt power hungry communist who will overstep his bounds and be overthrown. My guess is the drug cartels will have something to do with it eventually.
BTW: Putian is where the Burgii live in China, Putin is the Prime Minister (Czar) of Russia.

Solameanie said...

That depends on how bloodthirsty the communist government is in the respective country. Remember Tiananmen Square in China.

RobertDWood said...

Joel, I'd toss Cuba in that mix as well.

But Brazil is a nice example of freedom in action in South America.