An Anti-Russia Campaign in Latin America and its Implications

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2018/03/12/Colombia-legislative-elections-bring-irregularities-election-fraud/3271520855864/?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=5

After reading this story in March, I've been watching the coverage and waiting, and at last it's beginning to appear.

Yes, Vladimir Putin is trying to manipulate the election in Colombia, or so we're told. The parliamentary elections suffered irregularities and now the presidential election is being held in May. And now from the Right-wing New York Observer to Colombia Reports, the suggestions of Russian meddling are under way. The sources are Right-wing commentators and Trump officials and in the case of Colombia Reports, a former Obama administration official. Despite press narratives regarding the Trump administration, the Anti-Russia campaign is a largely bi-partisan project.

Thus far the mainstream media hasn't given the Latin American angle much attention. Sometimes I feel like they want to ignore Colombia. The peace deal with the FARC got some coverage and everyone knows about the drugs but the exact nature of the US relationship with Bogota and certainly Plan Colombia are not something they want to focus on. There's been very little coverage over the past decade.

The nature of the US military presence and their activities are a contentious topic at present due to the recent peace deal with the FARC guerillas. The justification for a US military presence has basically disappeared but it's clear that neither Washington nor the satraps running the Bogota government want the US military to vacate.

If Colombia comes up over the next month or so there will certainly be fingers pointed at Russia. What they won't explain is that Bogota is basically a US proxy. The government stands or falls on the whims of Washington. If the elections are manipulated in favour of US backed candidates our media will fall silent. Occasionally there will be a back-page story about election irregularities but that's usually about it.

Of course election irregularities in countries the US doesn't like are trumpeted and used to shame and coerce.

Sometimes covering irregularities in allied nations is used by Washington as means of leverage. The State Department can step in and suggest the nation 'take steps' to do what effectively amounts to surrendering their autonomy and handing over more power to the United States and perhaps some 'international' institutions or even an NGO. In many cases these serve as proxies and ample substitutes for US interests. Additionally if some diplomatic heat is generated, the US can gain capital by 'taking care of it' for them... leaving political leaders in Washington's debt.

Would Russia meddle in Colombian elections? At this point, why not? What have they got to lose? They're being accused of everything anyway. If Venezuela tips over the edge there is a possibility (and yet a fairly slim one) that Colombia could either intervene or serve as a base for some kind of US-led coalition that would seek to 'pacify' Venezuela, all on humanitarian grounds of course. The story of Venezuela's collapse is another separate and yet equally scandalous issue. Long targeted by the US, Caracas was home to the one government in South America that sought warm relations with Moscow.

Under Chavez a Bolivarian Revolution was declared and Caracas dared to establish ALBA, an anti-US bloc within the Western Hemisphere. Sometimes called the Pink Tide, in supposed reference to its ostensible though largely bogus 'socialism'... it now lies in ruins. Chavez is dead and Venezuela is broken. After the 2009 coup Honduras pulled out. Morales has survived in Bolivia but is under increasing pressure. Under duress, Ecuador and Nicaragua are still under 'leftist' regimes but like Cuba they're negotiating with the Empire. As genuine socialists have pointed out, these regimes did much to help the poor but it was largely under the auspices of patronage.

Financed by the commodity boom, these governments poured funds into social programmes. Some call this redistribution, and indeed under nationalised commodity models, the revenues flowed to the impoverished masses. And yet this wasn't genuine socialism in which the workers owned and were essentially invested in the means of production. This was Capitalist largesse, using the flow of money to pacify the poor without developing a viable economy and culture. When the markets tumbled, the model collapsed and then the Americans stepped in and did all they could to pour fuel on the fire.... and continue to do so.

Additionally, the vast sums of money bred corruption, something Washington and its proxies have sought to use as leverage in fomenting the downfall of figures like Lula and Rousseff in Brazil, Kirchner in Argentina and Correa in Ecuador. Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela who succeeded Chavez has remained defiant but everyone believes his days are numbered.

During the whole Pink Tide episode which ran from roughly 2000-2015, Colombia remained a loyal satrap to Washington and with the FARC peace deal stands poised to exert greater power and influence across the continent. It is also worthy of note that a growing number of Evangelicals are involved in Latin American politics. From Costa Rica to Brazil and Colombia, the Evangelicals are on the rise and there are some connections to US money though the full tally and nature of US financial influence have yet to be revealed. And yet if past is precedent to suggest the ties are of consequence would hardly qualify as an overly assertive prediction. It ought to be assumed. The United States has eagerly worked with any Evangelical leader and the State Department, Pentagon and CIA find easy proxies in the many 'ministries' that reach out to such leaders.

Rios Montt, the recently deceased dictator of Guatemala immediately comes to mind. Orchestrator of the Mayan Genocide, Rios Montt was supported by the CIA and Israel and was warmly backed by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, the latter of which declared in reference to Montt, 'When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.' Robertson's blasphemous utilisation of Proverbs 29 and its application to a butcher like Montt demonstrates the perverse evil of Dominionism, the theology which even now is shaping a new crop of Evangelical activists and aspirant politicians.

Would the Russians want to make trouble in the Western Hemisphere? I would think at this point they would have plenty of other troubles and things to worry about and yet I'm sure they would be willing to throw a little energy into what would amount to little more than a poke in Washington's eye. As I said, the US reversal in Latin America has been fairly stunning. The Leftist surge is over. Right-wing governments and Evangelical politicians are on the rise. I'm not sure what Putin would hope to accomplish. His expectations must be limited but maybe he has something up his sleeve.

Again the United States has nothing to say in this regard. It has no moral standing and yet I tremble for the people of Latin America. Right-wing regimes are on the verge of reappearing, politicians are praising the US-backed military juntas of the Cold War and now with a resurgent Russia, it might be time for another Red Scare and a new campaign of censorship, torture and disappearance. The Anti-Russia campaign has the potential to unleash a new round of dirty war. Let's hope not.

I'm sorry to say that if things go in that direction at this point there's every indication the Evangelicals of Latin America would probably more or less go along with it. Such a campaign may indeed also provide an opportunity to heal the bitter divide between Rome and Evangelicalism in Latin America. Now collaborators in the United States and much of Europe, the old enmity still exists throughout much of Latin America. A new Right-oriented political bloc may drive Catholics and Evangelicals into the same camp. Some will celebrate this but for the Church this can only spell further disaster.