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23 May, 5 tweets, 2 min read
The situation in El Salvador is interesting. President Nayib Bukele at first followed US orders, backing Venezuelan puppet Guaidó and attacking his neighbor Nicaragua

But gradually Bukele has distanced himself from the US and is instead allying with China
eluniverso.com/noticias/inter…
The US government is now even threatening sanctions on its ally El Salvador. Why? Because its former puppet Bukele has become increasingly independent and is no longer obediently following orders like before, and he just signed an agreement with China
cnnespanol.cnn.com/2021/05/18/buk…
El Salvador's leftist former FMLN gov't broke ties with US colony Taiwan, recognizing China. During his presidential campaign, Bukele criticized China, saying he would reexamine ties.

But in the past two years he has done a 180, growing closer to China
laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/Buk…
The US empire accepts nothing less than total obedience and subordination from "allies," especially in Latin America.

Panama's Manuel Noriega was a longtime CIA asset. But when he became too independent, the US invaded, killed thousands, and overthrew him
eldiario.es/internacional/…
After initially attacking his neighbor Nicaragua and demonizing its elected Sandinista government as a "dictatorship," El Salvador's President Bukele has been repairing diplomatic relations, and just this week received greetings from Nicaragua's ambassador
el19digital.com/articulos/ver/…

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More from @BenjaminNorton

Ben Norton Profile picture
24 May
Corrupt, extremely right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso takes power as Ecuador's new president today

Attending his inauguration is a who's who of Latin America's far-right:
-Brazil's Bolsonaro
-Colombia's Duque
-Chile's Piñera
-Venezuelan terrorist Leopoldo López

Also Spain's king ImageImage
Ecuador's new banker-turned-President Guillermo Lasso is an ultra-conservative, filthy rich oligarch known for stashing millions in offshore bank accounts.

He helped destroy Ecuador's economy as "super economic minister" during a financial crash in 1999
cepr.net/tens-of-millio…
Also attending the inauguration are:
-Honduras' drug-trafficking dictator JOH (installed after a US coup)
-Haiti's US-backed dictator Jovenel Moïse
-Colombia's right-wing ex-President Pastrana (a Jeffrey Epstein associate)
-and of course a top US diplomat
Read 4 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
19 May
The UFO stories all over corporate media are being pushed heavily by the US military & spy agencies.

Looking back at history, this looks like a psyop to hide new experimental technology and/or manufacture consent for increased military budgets & a new arms race with China/Russia
After the end of the first cold war, the CIA admitted that the US military lied about its experimental spy planes and promoted fake stories to make people believe they were UFOs.

In reality they were used to spy on the USSR and Socialist Bloc countries
nytimes.com/1997/08/03/us/…
Look how the Pentagon is pushing the "UFO" story: a supposed "intelligence failure"

Translated: We need to shovel trillions more tax dollars into the blackhole of the Military-Industrial Complex

Wait until they claim UFOs could be Chinese/Russian tech and thus a "natsec threat"
Read 5 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
30 Apr
Economist Michael Hudson is one of the most brilliant, clear-eyed analysts of imperialism: "Today’s Cold War 2.0 aims to deter China and other counties from socializing their financial systems, land & resources, and keeping infrastructure utilities public"
michael-hudson.com/2021/04/americ…
"In today’s New Cold War the mode of destruction is largely economic, via trade and sanctions such as the US has imposed on China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela... The idea is to deny them key inputs, raw materials, and access to bank and financial connections" michael-hudson.com/2021/04/americ…
"The U.S.-China confrontation is not simply a national rivalry, but a conflict of economic and social systems... [It] is to be found in the prospect of socialist control of... money and banking, land and natural resources, and infrastructure monopolies."
michael-hudson.com/2021/04/americ…
Read 4 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
23 Apr
This should be getting more attention: A terrorist attack in Pakistan's Balochistan province targeted the hotel where China's ambassador was staying, narrowly missing him.

Extremists have also been attacking Chinese infrastructure projects in Pakistan
abc.net.au/news/2021-04-2…
Some American neocons (like US Army officer Ralph Peters, who drew this map) fantasize about carving up West/South Asia on ethnosectarian lines, making an independent Balochistan

As Pakistan grows closer to China, Balochi separatists are launching more attacks on infrastructure
The multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a key part of the Belt and Road Initiative, transforming trade by linking China's Xinjiang province with Pakistan's southern Gwadar port.

This has made it a top target of terrorist attacks
scmp.com/news/asia/sout…
Read 5 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
22 Apr
Says everything about how reactionary Canada's bipartisan politics are:

Conservatives worked with far-right grandchildren of Nazi collaborators to make a memorial to the "Victims of Communism."

The (neo)Liberals happily agreed, just added "Land of Refuge
geist.com/fact/columns/v…
The only difference between Conservatives and Liberals in both Canada and the USA is marketing

They both pursue the same policies of endless imperialist war and ruthless capitalist exploitation, but the Conservatives love being cruel whereas the Liberals dress it up with woke PR
Conservatives want imperialist war, child-starving sanctions, neoliberal austerity, and murderous anti-communism.

Liberals want imperialist war, child-starving sanctions, neoliberal austerity, and murderous anti-communism -- but they want you to know they love (making) refugees!
Read 4 tweets
Ben Norton Profile picture
21 Apr
Bolivia's ex-President Evo Morales: The head of the US military's Southern Command recently visited several South American countries, "to build a coalition against China & Russia, and allies to intervene in Venezuela. The empire does not accept that people decide to be sovereign"
The extremely hawkish head of the US military's Southern Command, Craig Faller, is in the Dominican Republic right now for a Caribbean "security conference" to try to pressure countries to join Washington's new cold war on China/Russia and weaken Venezuela
Warmongering Southcom Commander Craig Faller also recently visited Argentina's top military leaders to try to get them to unify with Washington against China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, etc.
Read 4 tweets

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