Noboa Inaugurated and Ecuador's Future in the Age of Trump

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/24/ecuadors-daniel-noboa-sworn-in-for-full-term-promising-a-crackdown-on-gangs

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/12/ecuador-president-blackwater-alliance

Ecuador had been part of the so-called Pink Tide of Latin American nations that had turned turned to Left-wing governments during the George Bush era. The term of Rafael Correa (2007-2017) came to symbolize this era for Ecuador. After Correa departed office, his party continued holding power but the shift was underway. By 2021 a conservative (and pro-Washington) president was in power but his tenure was marked by controversy, corruption, and ultimately collapse.

Yakuza Smugglers, Myanmar, and Manhattan

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/09/takeshi-ebisawa-yakuza-leader-nuclear-materials-myanmar

This story is fascinating on several levels and yet there's something rotten about it. Even after reading the 43 page indictment, it doesn't add up.

China, the Monroe Doctrine, and the American Empire: A Proxy Struggle in Ecuador

 https://thegrayzone.com/2024/08/29/secret-chats-decade-us-meddling-ecuador/

There's evidence of US meddling in the politics of Ecuador. Personally I did not find any of these revelations to be shocking. While the explicit evidence wasn't always there, these types of machinations are well known to those who have been paying attention. Wikileaks also played a role in bringing some of these things to light and by some reckonings, they're not all scandalous but are simply descriptive of how governments work with and relate to one another. It's often something other than what people think.

Sixty Years After: The Disenchantment of the Magic Bullet Theory and the Threat it Represents

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/09/us/politics/jfk-assassination-witness-paul-landis.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66792977

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/jfk-assassination-parkland-hospital-doctors-entrance-wound-two-gunmen-1234876218/

On the sixty year anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, the debate goes on and while many in the Establishment think the case is closed – as Gerald Posner would have it, the truth is most of the public doesn't buy it, and for good reason. While there are many misunderstandings and unfortunate sidetracks, as time marches on, more and more evidence and testimony emerges which casts the Warren Commission into doubt.

The Georgia Indictment, RICO, and Rudy Giuliani

I have not been watching all of the news coverage but I would hope that someone would point out the irony present in this situation. Giuliani has been swept up in the Georgia indictment on the basis of RICO – the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

The Orlandi Documentary

Emanuela Orlandi disappeared from near the Vatican in 1983 and while the popes and curia wish the story would go away, it lingers on. It is captivating to say the least and every so often it pops up again in the news. Netflix recently released a documentary which more or less summarizes the story to this point and attempts to advance it a step or two. And much to the chagrin of the Vatican, this documentary has effectively put a spotlight on the story and has introduced it (and the scandals connected to it) to a new generation.

Harry Truman is Not Fun

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/11/1175403633/truman-committee-became-the-model-for-scrutinizing-giant-public-expenditures

This interview was absurd and offensive and belies the claims by the Right that NPR is 'Left-wing' or somehow anti-American. The interview is a whitewash of Truman's record. The notion that somehow he was an anti-corruption fighter – while failing to mention his well-established record of corruption back in Missouri (and later during at least his first term in the US Senate) reveals the farcical nature of the interview and NPR's role in reporting history.

EU States Continue to Reject Kosovo Independence

https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/greek-position-on-kosovos-independence-unchanged/

Though it aggravates the United States and even Brussels to no end, there are still multiple states within the European Union that refuse to recognize Kosovo as a state. It's telling just how much the media refuses to engage this issue because of course the Russian annexation of Crimea is effectively no different than what the US did with Kosovo in the late 1990's. In fact there's a much larger (and pernicious) story concerning the break-up of Yugoslavia and the American role in it that to this day is largely unknown.

The Drug War: Corruption and Cover-up at the Highest Levels

*Updated 16 October 2024

https://www.reuters.com/legal/former-mexican-drug-czar-heads-trial-accused-aiding-el-chapo-2023-01-23/

https://theintercept.com/2023/01/18/genaro-garcia-luna-trial/

Ten days after winning the Mexican presidency in 2006, and encouraged by the Bush administration, Felipe Calderon launched the Mexican Drug War. Less than two decades later over 500,000 are dead and even these figures are misleading as they don't include all of the tangential deaths involved in connection to drugs – nor do mere numbers explain what the war has meant for the industry, its markets, and societies ranging from South America to the Canadian border.

Smoke and Mirrors: Drug Cartels and the State

https://www.democracynow.org/2022/10/12/mexico_military_drug_cartels_ayotzinapa_ministry

The GOP is screaming once again about the border. Biden visited El Paso on his way to a North American Summit meeting in Mexico City. The Right has been howling for months about his failure to visit the actual border. So then when he shows up they go on the attack.

'How dare he!'

'It was a mere photo-op!'

Undoubtedly this is the case. This is what politicians do. Here's the question. If Biden had showed up and took a list of demands made by the governors of Florida and Texas and agreed to meet all their demands, what would they say?

The Vatican Bank Scandals: New Developments and Unanswered Questions

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2022/01/court-upholds-ruling-against-two-ex-managers-of-vatican-bank

A Vatican appellate court has upheld the conviction of two clerics in a corruption and money laundering scandal that dates back almost a decade.

Does this represent a slap on the wrist or a sign of real reform in the notoriously corrupt and scandal-ridden institution?

A Uighur Money-Launderer's Murder in Istanbul

https://www.rferl.org/a/man-who-exposed-kyrgyz-smuggling-scheme-was-hunted-by-contract-killers/30940261.html

I cannot be sure what the true nature of this story is but given the way it's being framed by RFE/RL and the involvement of outlets such as Bellingcat I am led to believe that it is something of a false expose', serving as a means of cover-up.

Cold War II: The Battle for Bulgaria and the 2020 Protests

https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/how-bulgaria-gave-gazprom-the-keys-to-the-balkans/

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bulgaria-north-macedonia-eu/bulgaria-says-north-macedonia-must-address-historical-issues-or-face-delay-on-eu-path-idUKKBN27F2T9

In the summer of 2020, the boiling cauldron that is Bulgaria began to spill over. Caught in a struggle between the West (NATO and the EU) and its historical ally in Moscow, the Balkan nation has been racked by controversy and intrigue.

Kyrgyzstan's Latest Round of Unrest

Central Asia is complicated. It's not the Balkans but it's not a region that's easily explained or understood. The current crisis in Kyrgyzstan can be summed as a struggle between two factions – one, the group headed by former president Almazbek Atambayev (2011-2017) who has been in and out of prison and was recently subjected to an assassination attempt.

The rival faction is represented by Sooronbay Jeenbekov who was president from 2017 until 15 October 2020 when he resigned and was replaced by Sadyr Japarov whom we will mention again below.

This is partly an internal struggle over control of the Kyrgyz political order. There's a great deal of corruption and shadowy business dealings, there are international players and as expected there are questions surrounding the black market, drugs and organised crime. Kyrgyzstan has emerged as a key point on the smuggling route between Afghanistan and the Russian Federation. There is also great mineral wealth which continues to play a part in the nation's struggles.

Obstruction in El Salvador

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-elsalvador-massacre/el-salvadors-president-says-military-files-on-civil-war-massacre-were-destroyed-idUKKCN26G2J7

Pardon my cynicism but it's rather convenient that the files regarding one of the most notorious massacres in Salvadoran Civil War, one perpetuated by the US trained and backed Atlacatl Battalion have seemingly disappeared.

The QAnon Problem

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/20/904237192/journalist-enters-the-world-of-qanon-it-s-almost-like-a-bad-spy-novel

This interview was extremely interesting and informative and yet also frustrating.

Kosovo, Serbia and the Balkan Game in the Age of Trump

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/20/kosovan-acting-pm-accuses-trump-envoy-of-meddling

Kosovo sometimes referred to as the Fifty-First state of the United States was from the beginning an American creation. It was part of Washington's project to consolidate the power of NATO in the aftermath of the Cold War.

Dominionist-Fueled Violence in Brazil

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/soldiers-of-jesus-armed-neo-pentecostals-torment-brazils-religious-minorities/2019/12/08/fd74de6e-fff0-11e9-8501-2a7123a38c58_story.html

Evangelical activism can take a different turn in countries that don't have a stable democracy or a long tradition of liberal values rooted in established social institutions. In Latin America, in Africa and certainly in parts of Asia these things are lacking and so it shouldn't surprise us that such religious extremism (one hesitates to call it Christian) is able to take root.

The Malta Scandal, Energy Deals and Azerbaijan

One aspect to the scandal surrounding the car-bombing death of journalist Daphne Galizia that has not been focused on, at least not so far, is the connection to Azerbaijan and the politics of the Caucasus.

The Endless Battle for the Balkans

https://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/west-urges-kosovo-serbia-to-restart-talks-with-urgency/

The Atlanticist project to consolidate Europe in the wake of 1989 has hit a brick wall in the Balkans. While nations like Albania, Romania and Bulgaria were quick to join the NATO/EU axis, the break-up of Yugoslavia proved more difficult.