Brazil
You are currently browsing articles tagged Brazil.
- The United States is creating conditions to change its foreign policy toward Cuba. [La Jornada]
- A newly published book delves into the possibility that Fidel Castro ordered the murder of Chile’s Salvador Allende at the hands of a Cuban diplomat/agent whom Allende’s daughter married. [El Ciudadano]
- The Spanish government has gotten into a diplomatic imbroglio because of its conciliatory posture toward the Cuban regime. [ABC]
- Brazil and Cuba sign bilateral agreement on agriculture, meteorology and geology. [Prensa Latina]
- Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Aspen Institute on whether the Obama administration should move toward normalizing relations with Cuba. [Aspen Daily News Online]
(Image: Diplomacy board game from Avalon Hill.)
Tags: Aspen Institute, Brazil, Condoleezza Rice, Cuba, Cuban regime, Fidel Castro, Madeleine Albright, Obama administration, Salvador Allende, Spanish government, U.S. foreign policy
Image: The Economist (13 AUG 09)
The RAND Corporation examines China’s role as a global actor in the int’l system in its latest monograph titled: “China’s International Behavior: Activism, Opportunism, and Diversification.”
RAND describes Chinese global activism as “continually changing and has so many dimensions that it immediately raises questions about its current and future intentions and the implications for global stability and prosperity.”
Moreover, the study “examines how China views its security environment, how it defines its international objectives, how it is pursuing these objectives, and the consequences for U.S. economic and security interests.”
Chinese expanded strategic interests (including business interests) in Latin America and Cuba is accelerating at a fast pace.
As this study points out:
China is building political relationships to diversify its access to energy and other natural resources, with a focus on Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. Energy security encompasses diversifying both suppliers and supply routes.
…
China’s expanding involvement in Latin America is primarily (but not exclusively) driven by economic considerations: gaining access to markets, investments, and resources. The growth in China’s merchandise trade and investment in the region offers strong evidence of Chi- na’s economic motives. Trade between China and Latin America and the Caribbean has rapidly increased over the last several years, and as a result, this region has become more important to China. From 1999 to 2006, total merchandise trade increased from $8.2 billion to close to $70 billion, an almost tenfold increase. In 2006, Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for 4 percent of China’s total world trade, increasing its share by 1.7 percent since 1999.
…
China’s investments in Latin America are growing as well. China currently has projects in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, the Domini- can Republic, Guyana, and Venezuela, among other nations. China’s investments in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela are mainly focused on facilitating access to such natural resources as iron ore, copper, and oil (in the case of Venezuela); as such, its investments have been in the mining, transportation, manufacturing, and petroleum sectors.
Tags: Argentina, Brazil, Caribbean, Chile, China, Chinese global activism, Cuba, Dominican Republic, energy and natural resources, energy security, Guyana, Latin America, manufacturing, mining, petroleum, strategic interests, transportation, Venezuela
Cuba's new ambassador to the UN. Image: AFP
Pedro Núñez Mosquera (58), Cuba’s current ambassador to Brazil, has been appointed by the Council of State to be the government’s ambassador to the United Nations, reports AFP.
Núñez is an attorney and began his diplomatic career in 1975; holding diverse posts including ambassador to Zimbabwe (1994) and director of Multilateral Affairs for the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
Tags: Brazil, Cuban Government, Ministry of Foreign Relations, Multilateral Affairs, Pedro Núñez Mosquera, UN, United Nations embassador, Zimbabwe
USS TARAWA at SEA (Aug. 14, 2008) A 32-ship armada led by the amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1), manuever off the Panamanian Coast as part of the multi-national training exercise Fuerzas Aliadas PANAMAX 2008. Image: U.S. Navy
The Joint Forces Quarterly 2nd Quarter 2009 issue is now available and focuses on a strategic global outlook thematic. The journal is published by the National Defense University Press for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is the Chairman’s flagship joint military and security studies journal.
One of the articles in this issue titled, “Time to Improve U.S. Defense Structure for the Western Hemisphere,” is written by Dr. Craig A. Deare, Professor of National Security Affairs at the National Defense University, which addresses “U.S. defense policy toward the region as it seeks to explain the primary structural shortcomings associated with both the formulation and execution of policy.”
The article gives a snapshot of concerns for the Department of Defense (DoD) such as transnational threats including terrorism, insurgency and drug trafficking in the hemisphere.
A series of priority countries, e.q. Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil are mentioned in the article including Cuba.
Dr. Deare summarizes Cuba as:
“The question of what happens when the Castro brothers disappear from the scene remains open. This land, the size of Pennsylvania and with 11 million people, is at what the National Security Strategy would describe as a
Tags: Armed Forces, Bolivia, Brazil, chairman of the joint chiefs, CIA, Cuba, Cuban armed forces, defense structure, dod, drug trafficking, government of cuba, joint chiefs of staff, Mexico, national defense, national defense university, national security affairs, national security strategy, operations mission, policy implications, priority countries, Security, security studies, stability operations, transnational threats, United States, Venezuela, Western Hemisphere
U.S. Joint Forces Command (USFCOM) released its Joint Operating Environment 2008 today outlining a strategic framework that forecasts possible threats and opportunities that will challenge the future US joint force.
USJFCOM is one of US Department of Defense’s nine combatant commands and has several key roles in transforming the U.S. military
Tags: Argentina, bolivarian revolution, border regions, Brazil, Castros, Central America, Chile, China, combatant commands, criminal gangs, Cuba, drug cartels, economic policies, economic situation, international environment, Latin America, Mexico, military problems, military requirements, oil infrastructure, oil revenues, oil wealth, Peru, Russia, South America, terrorist organizations, US, us department of defense, Venezuela, Western Hemisphere
Aftermath of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. (Photo: AP)
Via The Economist:
Tags: agricultural production, America, Brazil, coffee harvest, communist regimes, electricity grid, enormous damage, export crops, Fidel Castro, food supplies, Gustav, harvest in the east, Havana, Ike, oil industry, powerful hurricanes, private enterprise, Russia, Spain, state reserves, sugarcane fields, tourist resorts, United States, Venezuela
The Eighth Defense Ministerial of the Americas: End of the Line?
by Ray Walser
Heritage Foundation
The Canadian government will host the Eighth Defense Ministerial of the Americas (DMA) September 2
Tags: bolivarian revolution, Brazil, canada, Cuba, defense matters, Democracy, Ecuador, Fidel Castro, geopolitical environment, Latin America, Mexico, President Hugo Chavez, Russia, Security, security cooperation, transnational threats, Venezuela, Washington, Western Hemisphere
Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela are among the nations whom have purchased arms and technology from Spain, per EFE.
Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce posted a report (doc) outlining the export and sale of armaments abroad.
Exportation to EU countries totaled
Tags: armaments, Brazil, Cuba, eu countries, machine gun, machine guns, pistols, rifles carbines, silencers, Spain, technololgy, Venezuela
Charles Tannock, a British Conservative foreign affairs spokesman in the European Parliament, has written the following article published in the Tiapei Times about a new troika comprised of the presidents from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico and their quest for regional stability.
The rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages who had been held for years by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas marks more than a turning point in Colombia
Tags: Brazil, Colombia, Commander Raul Reyes, Ecuador, Fidel Castro, Mexico, President Felipe Calderon, President Hugo Chavez, President Rafael Correa, Raul Castro
From The Economist print edition
Outsiders bet that bigger changes are on their way
THE diplomatic sanctions imposed by the European Union after Cuba jailed 75 dissidents in 2003 were hardly painful. They mainly consisted of restricting political contacts and inviting dissidents to embassy functions, prompting a boycott by Cuban officials that became known as the
Tags: America, Brazil, Caleb McCarry, China, communist, Cuba, farming, Felipe Calder, Felipe P, Fidel Castro, Havana, investment, investor, John McCain, Latin America, Luiz In, Mexico, MEXICO CITY, Spain, Sweden, United States, Venezuela, Washington
Global Power Barometer‘s prognosis for Latin America in the next 3 to 36 months:
Latin America and the Rise of the Anti-American Left
In 1823, US President James Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine, naming all of the Western Hemisphere, and particularly Latin America under the United States’ sphere of influence. Nearly 200 years later, the Monroe Doctrine looks like it could crumble
In 2005-2006, Latin American politics have been veering to the left with the electoral victories of Evo Morales in Bolivia, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, and Rafael Correa in Ecuador (and a near victory by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico). These new leftist leaders add to current leftist regimes in Argentina, Brazil and Cuba. Perhaps the most outspoken of the leftist leaders is US opponent Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, who was just reelected by a 23% margin. These nations will pose a growing challenge to US interests in Latin America, as they seek to align themselves elsewhere. Already, Chavez has been making loud and brash statements on the world stage, pledging allegiance to Iran, denouncing President Bush and the United States at the United Nations, and signing trade pacts with China. Mercosur, the regional trade agreement instituted to promote free trade throughout South America (similar to NAFTA), is gaining supporters and seeks to give Latin America the same economic clout that the US and EU have. Furthermore, many Latin American nations are members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which seeks to provide viable alternatives to American and European hegemony. As Chinese investments in Venezuelan oil, in the reconstruction of the Panama Canal, and in mines grows in the region, watch for more independent action and less concord with the United States.
Tags: Argentina, Brazil, Daniel Ortega, hegemony, Hugo Chavez, International Relations, Latin America, Monroe Doctrine, region, Trade, United States, Venezuela, Western Hemisphere
O Estado De S.Paulo reports Brazil’s President Lula da Silva will offer Cuba $1 billion dollars in credits to finance the purchase of aliments, housing construction, and exploration of nickel as well as other projects, affirm Brazilian diplomats.
[Photo: Reuters -- Cuban interim-President Raul Castro and Brazilian President Lula da Silva review FAR Honor Guards.]
Tags: Brazil, Cuban Government, Economy, Housing, Lula da Silva, Nickel, Raul Castro
Brazil plans to offer $500 million in financing to Cuba. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be in Havana today, reports Valor Economico. Lula is expected to announce agreements allowing Petroleo Brasileiro SA to explore oil in areas in the Gulf of Mexico that are controlled by Cuba, where Petrobras will build a lubricant factory.
Commentary on a new No. 2 in Cuba.
Carlos Lage, who has gained importance as a political actor in Cuba’s hierachy, evaluates housing construction in Villa Clara.
Cuban Government further lowers housing construction goals.
Tags: Brazil, Carlos Lage, Construction, Economy, Housing, Lula da Silva
Cuba politics: Freedom calls
14 July 2010 at 0937 in Brazil, Catholic Church, China, Commentary, Diplomacy, Fidel Castro, Government, Havana, International Relations, Nomenklatura, Opposition, Politics, Population, Raul Castro, Russia, Spain, US, Vatican, dissidents, prisoners by Armando F. Mastrapa 3d
From the Economist Intelligence Unit:
Tags: Brazil, Castro government, China, cuban americans, Cuban Government, Cuban political prisoners, economist intelligence unit, EU, European Union, Havana, Obama administration, Russia, Spain, US mid-term elections, Venezuela