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Wednesday, March 30, 2022

R-E-S-P-E-C-T ...Find Out What It Means To Me.....

 


We will have to be paying more attention to expert analysis and their projections on the AMLO-Putin relationship. Will it turn out to be a gigantic fumble in the long term, a  complete collapse and  failure? Let's take a look:

 

 ~ From Zeta: 

AMLO Tiene "Mucho Respeto" a Putin; EU Debe Probar Si Hay Espias Rusos en MX, Reta Ebrard 

 

 Destacados -   -  miércoles, 30 marzo, 2022 11:37 AM

 

"President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said, this Wednesday, March 30, that he had a lot of “respect” for his Russian counterpart Vladímir Vladímirovich Putin, whom he only considered “a leader”, like any other in the world.

“He is a leader, I do not qualify anyone, it is not Mexico's policy to insult anyone, any foreign people or government. We have a lot of respect for the president of China [Xi Jinping], of Russia, for the president [Joseph] Biden of the United States,” said the Mexican president.

"Mexico is respectful of all peoples and is not a colony of Russia, or China, or the United States, it is a free, independent and sovereign country, it makes me very proud," said the head of the Federal Executive Branch.

During his morning press conference, the Tabasco politician again condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but assured that Mexico cannot assume a leading role that goes beyond the neutrality embodied in the Constitution.

"We condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as we condemn all invasions, but we cannot carry out a leading role that goes beyond what is prudent to maintain our neutrality," argued López Obrador.

“That an agreement be reached, that peace be achieved, that people do not suffer, that human lives are not lost, is what I wish. and if there is a way, that they reach agreements. It is not only about confrontations of the peoples, who are always oblivious to the decisions that are made in the leadership and that provoke the rules, it is a matter of being arranged upstairs, ”he added.

“Yesterday I was very pleased that it seems that the agreement between the United States and Venezuela is on the right track, after so many things that have been said. Why the fix? due to the situation in Ukraine, the increase in oil prices”, she added.

“It is convenient for the United States that it can be supplied with oil from Venezuela, and they have already authorized a US oil company, Chevron, to extract a million barrels a day from Venezuela, and this will surely help relations,” he stressed.

EU DOES NOT DICTATE LINE TO MEXICO REGARDING RUSSIA AND UKRAINE, SAYS EBRARD

Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), denied that the United States Government, headed by President Joseph Biden, dictates a line to Mexico in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“It is in his role, but it is a decision that corresponds to the Mexican Congress,” said the Mexican foreign minister, regarding the statements of the United States ambassador to Mexico, Keneth Lee Salazar, that Mexico's relationship with Russia cannot be close

"No, the line that Mexico has taken can be found in the positions in the Security Council of the United Nations Organization," replied the federal official, interviewed by the newspaper El Universal, prior to his participation in the World Summit of Governments (World Government Summit).

“Last week Mexico had an important advance with the resolution of the General Assembly of the [United Nations Organization] UN, with 140 votes. It is the Mexican diplomacy, together with France, so that there is a cessation of hostilities, between humanitarian aid and negotiations begin”, insisted the head of the SRE.

Ebrard Casaubón also pointed out that Glen D. VanHerck, commander of the US Northern Command, must present evidence that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU, for its acronym in Russian), has deployed in Mexican territory more officials than in any other country in the world, with the aim of influencing the United States.

UNACCEPTABLE FOR THE US TO TRY TO INFLUENCE RELATIONS WITH MEXICO, SAYS RUSSIA

"We consider that it is unacceptable when the United States tries to influence the activity and decisions of the Government of Mexico," the Russian Embassy said on March 25 through its account on the social network Twitter.

The Russian embassy rejected Salazar's statement to the effect that Mexico has no friendship with any other nation like the one it has with the United States.

“Do you take into account the annexation by the United States, Mexico's 'best friend', of half of its national territory in the 19th century?”, added the Russian Embassy.

The Russian diplomatic representation added that the purpose of US propaganda is to isolate Russia and diplomats from that country from around the world, through false news, as was the case with the number of spies from that country in Mexico.

“In this context, we would like to address Mr. Salazar asking him in the most friendly way the following question: Who are the more than a thousand US diplomats who work at the US Embassy in Mexico?” they asserted.

EU AMBASSADOR REPROACHES FRIENDSHIP GROUP OF RUSSIA AND MEXICO IN SAN LAZARO

Keneth Lee Salazar, head of the United States Embassy in Mexico, criticized, on March 24, the installation of the Mexico-Russia Friendship Group in the Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union, which was attended by the Russian ambassador Víktor Koronelli .

During the installation of the United States-Mexico Friendship Group in the Lower House, the US diplomat pointed out that his Russian counterpart made "noise" about an alleged relationship between Mexico and Russia.

Likewise, Salazar reminded the Mexican federal deputies that Mexico and the United States united "for freedom" in World War II against the intentions of Adolf Hitler and the Axis Forces.

"We have to be in solidarity with Ukraine and against Russia. It seems to me that the Russian ambassador was here yesterday making a noise that Mexico and Russia were so close, and that, sorry, can never happen, can never happen," he declared. the American ambassador.

“We can no longer say that this is happening on the other side of the world because it can affect us here in Mexico. What [Vladímir] Putin and the Russians are doing is something that I thought I would never see,” Salazar stressed.

“What Russia did by attacking Ukraine is an attack on the freedom and way of life of all of us. When the family is attacked, if someone threatens it, the whole family joins. Here we are talking about a Friendship Group between Mexico and the United States, there can be no differences, we have to do the same”, emphasized the American diplomat.

On March 23, despite the rejection of the deputies of the parliamentary groups of the National Action Party (PAN) and the Citizen Movement (MC), the Mexico-Russia Friendship Group was installed in the Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union.

Alberto Anaya Gutiérrez, deputy of the Labor Party (PT) parliamentary group and who presided over the installation of the Group, reiterated that the Government of Mexico determined not to issue any sanctions against Russia and welcomed their relations.

"Due to this conflict between Ukraine and Russia, we are going to be in a situation of peace and neutrality, relations are welcome," said the deputy before Viktor Koronelli, head of the Russian Embassy in Mexico.

"Our votes are for this conflict to have a diplomatic solution, a peaceful solution, where the parties agree to end this conflict so that this region of the world finds peace again and this conflict does not escalate," insisted Anaya Gutiérrez.

At the Group's installation, the Russian ambassador in Mexico, Víktor Koronelli, maintained that Russia did not start "this war", referring to his country's invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

The Russian diplomat described the war as an operation to demilitarize Ukraine, and thus put an end to the "extermination" of the Russian community in Donbas by the Ukrainian Army, which, according to him, has lasted 8 years.

On the other hand, Koronelli recognized the position of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), of not joining the sanctions against Russia and rejecting Ukraine's request to send weapons.

“We greatly respect the position demonstrated, already several times, by the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador; by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, that Mexico will never join the anti-Russian sanctions and that it will never, despite the requests of the Government of Ukraine, ever supply Ukraine with weapons, ”he said.

"I want to assure you that I have no doubt that what is happening these days is not going to affect Russia's relations with Mexico in any way, which continues to be one of our oldest and most important partners in the Latin American region," the Russian ambassador said.

“In 2021 alone, despite COVID and all restrictions, our trade more than doubled compared to 2020, reaching a record $4.8 billion,” added Koronelli.

The diplomat quoted the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who a few days ago said that: "Today in the world there are countries like China, India, Mexico that will never answer and do anything at the order of Uncle Sam."

Separately, the MC parliamentary group demonstrated for the installation of the Mexico-Russia Friendship Group, with signs that said "No to war." While the PAN caucus demanded a ceasefire and a solution to the conflict based on International Humanitarian Law.

“For no reason do we agree with being part of the recklessness and lack of sensitivity of the situation that Ukraine is going through with the invasion of Russian troops in its territory, which has resulted in 2,421 civilian victims and more than 6.5 million displaced people”, stated the PAN parliamentary group.

“WE ARE NOT A COLONY OF RUSSIA”, AMLO RESPONDS TO THE EU FOR ALLEGED RUSSIAN SPIES IN MEXICO

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador responded, on March 24, that Mexico "is not a colony of Russia", after Glen D. VanHerck, commander of the US Northern Command, stated that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU, for its acronym in Russian), has more officers deployed in Mexican territory than in any other country in the world, with the aim of influencing the United States.

“Well, it is a declaration, we are not going to question anything, we are respectful of the free expression of ideas, Mexico is a free, independent and sovereign country, it should be known, more and more, because sometimes it seems that what is not understood is enough, you have to send them telegrams warning them that Mexico is not a colony of any foreign country,” said the national president.

"That Mexico is a free, independent and sovereign country that we are not a colony of Russia, China or the United States, because it is a declaration, we are not going to question anything, we are respectful of the free expression of ideas," he added. Tabasco politician.

“I don't know [if there are Russian spies in Mexico], we have no information about that. And we do not prevent anyone, any foreigner who wants to carry out legal activities in the country from doing so, those who are criminals, commit crimes, are arrested, neither Mexicans nor foreigners are allowed to commit crimes in our country. ”, insisted the president.

“And that it should also be understood that we have a policy of non-intervention. We are not going to Moscow to spy on anyone, nor are we going to Beijing to spy on what they are doing in China, nor are we going to Washington, not even to Los Angeles, we do not get involved in that, ”said the national president, during his morning press conference. , carried out in Cuernavaca, Morelos.

“Right now the largest portion of GRU members in the world is in Mexico. These are Russian intelligence personnel. And they keep a very close eye on their opportunities to influence opportunity and access in the United States,” Van Herck said during a hearing at the US Senate Armed Services Committee on March 24.

"There are actors like China and Russia that are very aggressive and active throughout the Northern Command's area of ​​responsibility, including the Bahamas and Mexico," the commander said, responding to a question from Republican Senator Mike Rounds.

The also general of the US Air Force and commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, assured that the instability in Mexico created by the Mexican drug cartels, generate conditions that can be exploited by agents of Russia and China. , which would affect American national security.

“Transnational criminal organizations create an environment that is not conducive to raising a family, to economic success. And we see that happening right on our border, in Mexico,” insisted the commander of the US Northern Command.

"My concern is that such instability creates the opportunity for actors such as China, Russia and others who may have nefarious activities in mind to seek access and influence in our area of ​​responsibility, from a US national security perspective," Gen. VanHerck.

During his audience, which was reported by the Reforma newspaper, the commander also praised the collaboration with the Mexican Secretaries of National Defense (SEDENA) and the Navy (SEMAR), applauding the deployment of military elements for security in Mexico.

The GRU was created in 1942. It survived the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and is today, together with the Federal Security Service (SVR, for its acronym in Russian), one of the two agencies in charge of espionage abroad. .

But, in addition, the GRU has its own special forces brigades. She has been accused of hacking the World Anti-Doping Agency and poisoning former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK in 2018.

General VanHerck has been head of the US Northern Command since August 2020 and under this responsibility he is in charge of day-to-day cooperation relations with Mexican SEDENA and SEMAR. He previously served as Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Armed Forces MEXICANS CONTAINED RUSSIAN AND CHINESE INTRUSIONS, SAYS US NORTHERN COMM

On March 8, Glen D. VanHerck, commander of the US Northern Command, stated that the Mexican Armed Forces are "firm" allies of the United States, because they have helped contain Russian and Chinese intrusions in the South American region.

The also general of the US Air Force and commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, explained that Russia and China have managed to make intrusions of various kinds in Central and South America, but highlighted the Mexican collaboration to prevent them.

“The Secretary of National Defense [SEDENA] and the Secretary of the Navy [SEMAR] are strong partners in security and continue to be a bulwark in Mexico against the presence and influence of competing [countries] that make intrusions into Central and South America” VanHerck said during a hearing on Capitol Hill.

During his appearance before the Armed Forces Committee of the US House of Representatives, the US general described as "vital" the contributions of SEDENA and SEMAR to the security of North America, because, according to the general, they also share the commitment to contain common threats.

“Russia is the number one military threat to the homeland [the United States], and its focus on attacking the country has provided the model that other competitors are beginning to follow,” said VanHerck, who previously served as Director of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. USA, from August 2019 to the same month of 2020.

"Like Russia, China has begun to develop new capabilities to endanger our homeland across multiple domains in an attempt to complicate our decision-making and disrupt, delay and degrade the flow of force in crisis and destroy our will in conflict." VanHerck added.

In addition to the above, the US military command highlighted the Mexico-US Military Cooperation Roundtable, held in August of last year, as well as its own visit in September 2021, to the Mexico Aerospace Fair (FAMEX). ), carried out at the Santa Lucía Air Base.

Before VanHerck, the head of the US Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, detailed the incursions of the governments of Russia and China in various countries of South and Central America, both in matters of trade and investment. , technology and military cooperation.

Richardson assured that Russia "destabilizes" various countries in the Western Hemisphere, through disinformation campaigns, but also by expanding its territorial access in the region, with its military cooperation alliances with Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

AMLO DENIES THAT THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT ONLY GOVERNS 65% OF ITS TERRITORY, AS THE EU POINTED OUT

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied, on March 18, 2021, the statements of General Glen David VanHerck, head of the North Command of the United States Air Force, who accused that the problems that exist on the southern border of his country, on issues of human trafficking and drug trafficking, they are due to failures of the Government of Mexico, which only governs between 70 and 65 percent of its territory.

“What is maintained is not true, but we respect everyone's opinions. We are going to continue to have good relations with the United States Government, we are not going to fight with the United States Government,” said the national president, during his morning press conference.

The head of the Federal Executive Power was questioned as to whether his counterpart Joe Biden had asked him for support on this issue, the Tabasco politician said no. “He is very respectful of us and we don't interfere. Respect for the rights of others is peace”, added the national president.

“The broader problem, when I say symptom [is] the fight against drug trafficking, migration, human trafficking, they are all symptoms of transnational criminal organizations that often operate in ungoverned areas, 30 to 35 percent of Mexico, that it's creating some of the things that we're dealing with at the border," VanHerck said on March 17, 2021.

During a press conference held at the Pentagon -headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia, near Washington DC-, the military command compared the lack of governance in some areas of Mexico, with what happens in China and Russia, where they take advantage of government failures to generate instability in these areas.

“What we see on the southern border is a compilation of multiple things, not just one thing, that has driven what we are seeing regarding migration to this country,” VanHerck insisted, adding that the pandemic, coupled with the problems of drug trafficking in Mexico and the countries of Central America, "are indicators and reasons" why people go to the United States.

“I think it's a national security imperative that we need to consider (the problems on the border with Mexico). And the reason I see it that way, from a national defense perspective, is that it creates potential vulnerabilities and opportunities for actors around the world,” VanHerck added.

Although the general did not want to affirm that there is a crisis on the border with Mexico, he acknowledged that this problem has been going on for at least a year, that is, the last of the Administration of former President Donald Trump.

Earlier, during an appearance at the US Senate Armed Services Committee, VanHerck described the cooperation with the Mexican Armed Forces as "fantastic", but underlined the risks of instability created by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). .

“There are two important transnational criminal organizations, Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación. We have a national security imperative given the instability they create, the tragedies they cause, and the opportunities they create for malign actors like China and Russia, directly on our southern border, to gain access and influence,” he noted.

“From the point of view [of our relationship] with the Mexicans, they are tremendous partners, we have a fantastic military-to-military relationship. They have been great partners,” VanHerck assured when questioned by Thom Thillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina, regarding said issue.

According to VanHerck, the relationship of the US Northern Command with the Mexican military has been maintained closely through virtual meetings during the pandemic, in addition to having Mexican officers stationed at its headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado."

~~~~~

 

Yet I am sure that the laymen amongst us (including myself) ask themselves over and over again: "How can you have respect for a war criminal? How does that work?" Theresa Margolis enlightens us on this truly sickening deep-pockets scenario and toxic relationship:

 

  ~ From Pulse News Mexico:

 AMLO: Moscow's (Faithful) Man In Mexico 

 By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS

  Posted on

 

"Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) lukewarm response to Russia’s flagrant invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24, really shouldn’t come as any great surprise.

After all, Russia is a longtime backer of AMLO’s leftist National Regeneration Movement (Morena) government, having allegedly financed at least part of López Obrador’s 2018 presidential campaign, according to some U.S. national security sources at the time.

The Russian influence in that election was so blatant that even before he became president, many Mexican political analysts were referring to López Obrador as “Andrés Manuelovich.”

And while solid evidence has remained elusive, many international political pundits have alleged that Russia used hackers, bots and fake news to boost AMLO’s campaign, especially among poorly educated, lower-income Mexicans.

Whether or not Russia indeed had a hand in AMLO’s victory, there is no question that Moscow benefited from his election.

Russia has been working to solidify its geopolitical foothold in Latin America for decades, and Mexico, with its close economic and geographic ties to the United States, made it a plum trophy for Moscow’s socialist ideological expansion.

Russia has been working to solidify its geopolitical foothold in Latin America for decades, and Mexico, with its close economic and geographic ties to the United States, made it a plum trophy for Moscow’s socialist ideological expansion.

Moscow offered AMLO the financial and media push he needed to win the election (remember John Ackerman, the U.S.-born Russia Today broadcaster who endorsed AMLO nonstop leading up to the elections and who later landed himself a juicy designation from López Obrador as a member of the technical evaluation committee of Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute, which was later rescinded after opposition leaders pointed out that Ackerman did not meet the essential requirements for the post, and Ackerman’s wife, Irma Erénderira Sandoval, who was named head of AMLO’s Public Administration Secretariat, charged with ensuring that public servants were corruption-free, until she had to resign when it was revealed that she had accepted a plot of land from the Morena Mexico City government?).

And once he won, López Obrador paid Russia back in spades.

No sooner was AMLO in office in December 2018, than a team of Russian oil investors were welcome into the country to help the state-run Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) explore new reserves.

In the last three years, Russia’s economic and financial presence in Mexico has skyrocketed.

Last year, Russia sold more than $8.7 billion in goods and services to Mexico (up from just over $1.5 billion before AMLO took office in 2018), and there are now 108 Russian companies with capital holdings in Mexico.

Last year, Russia sold more than $8.7 billion in goods and services to Mexico (up from just over $1.5 billion before AMLO took office in 2018), and there are now 108 Russian companies with capital holdings in Mexico.

Moreover, ever since he took office, AMLO has been faithfully following the Vladimir Putin handbook: consolidating power by shamelessly working to eliminate all independent entities that could provide checks and balances to his regime, endorsing other socialist governments (Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela), and constantly accusing his critics of unproven crimes and even imprisoning some of them.

For AMLO, the Russian affiliation has been a win-win relationship, with Putin helping López Obrador to hone his own Mexican-style “kompromat” assaults against his political and media enemies and coming to the rescue of his “Man in Mexico” at the start of the covid-19 pandemic by providing a generous stash of Sputnik vaccines.

And AMLO knows full well what side of his bread is buttered on.

On Friday, Feb. 25, just as Putin’s troops were ruthlessly grabbing control of Kiev, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, was signing the final acquisition papers on a 50-percent operator interest in an offshore Mexican oil project (the fruit of those aforementioned initial Russian oil dealings with AMLO immediately after he took office).

Just as Putin’s troops were ruthlessly grabbing control of Kiev, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, was signing the final acquisition papers on a 50-percent operator interest in a $435 million offshore Mexican oil project.

Lukoil put the transaction value of the deal at $435 million, plus expenditures of another $250 million.

The project includes two sectors of Mexican offshore oil fields located in the Gulf of Mexico, with recoverable hydrocarbon reserves amounting to 564 million barrels of oil equivalent, more than 80 percent of which is crude oil.

Production at the fields already began in the fourth quarter of 2021, with current average output exceeding 25,000 barrels a day and projected production to reach more than 115,000 barrels a day. (So much for AMLO’s promises to keep Mexico’s oil in Mexican hands.)

López Obrador’s favorite battle cry is “Primero los Pobres” (“The poor come first”). But considering his undying love for Putin and all things Russian, it probably should be “Primero los Rusos.”"

 

~~~~~ 

 

 

 Meanwhile in Tijuana, we are up to over 1,000 newly arrived Mexican Soldiers in the past week, the mission is to curb the violence - we've lived through this one before.

Unfortunately, this arrival did not dissuade the violence here; at the moment TIJ is showing 145 executions this month, with a yearly total of 408. 


~~~~~

Throwing this in for good measure, last night's PBS interview with the Estonian Prime Minister, impressive. 

Well at least there are some politicians with a profound sense of decency (unlike down here)...As a matter of fact there are tons of them: NATO, the EU, the UN...gosh AMLO is outgunned- I don't think Kaja Kallas or any of them will be invited anytime soon to Los Pinos for fish tacos, do you ? Well that's probably for the best - AMLO would charge them for the shitty tacos in rubles which he would put in his back pocket with a wink and a nod...knowing mucho mas de los is on the way.

 

 Over and out for now, and BTW, I love General Glen Van Herck.....except I'm a bit uneasy over the Mexican Officers stationed at the U.S. Northern Command Headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

 

...........
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