Free Republic

…….. However, this issue is not solely about economics. Trump’s statements also reflect broader anxieties about China’s expanding regional influence. Since Panama recognized China diplomatically instead of Taiwan in 2017, Beijing has intensified its economic engagement, including significant investments in infrastructure projects near the canal. The U.S. Southern Command has voiced concerns about these Chinese investments, with General Laura Richardson highlighting to a Senate panel that they pose a potential threat to U.S. interests. China’s control over ports at both ends of the canal through Hutchison Ports PPC, a Hong Kong-based company with strong ties to Beijing, has fueled these...

The Panama Canal is a great creation of the people of Panama, and China has always supported the people of Panama in their just struggle for sovereignty over the Canal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday, when commenting on US President-elect Donald Trump's recent claim that the canal is a "vital national asset" for the US, which he threatened to reassert US control over. Trump's remarks put this key waterway in South America under the spotlight, after he threatened Sunday to reassert US control over the Panama Canal. He accused Panama of charging excessive rates to use...

The Panama Canal is considered a VITAL National Asset for the United States, due to its critical role to America’s Economy and National Security. A secure Panama Canal is crucial for U.S. Commerce, and rapid deployment of the Navy, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and drastically cuts shipping times to U.S. ports. The United States is the Number One user of the Canal, with over 70 percent of all transits heading to, or from, U.S. ports. Considered one of the Wonders of the Modern World, the Panama Canal opened for business 110 years ago, and was built at HUGE...

Trump noted that the U.S. was the top user of the canal, with more than 70% of the ships that move through the port “heading to, or from, U.S. ports.” President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that Panama must stop taking advantage of the U.S. or else America is going to take the Panama Canal back. “The Panama Canal is considered a VITAL National Asset for the United States, due to its critical role to America’s Economy and National Security,” Trump said in a statement posted to social media. “A secure Panama Canal is crucial for U.S. Commerce, and rapid...

Genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping held extensive, fruitful meetings with socialist Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Wednesday that concluded with the countries agreeing to elevate their diplomatic ties to that of “Community for a Shared Brazil-China Future for a More Just World and More Sustainable Planet.” ... The two leaders agreed to expand the scope of their cooperation as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure plan in which China offers predatory loans to poor countries to be used to fund cost-prohibitive infrastructure projects. When the countries cannot pay the loans back, China...

A diplomatic row is gaining steam between Mexico and the United States. Outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has accused the US of sponsoring opposition NGOs such as the group Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) through USAID programs. Obrador said his Foreign Ministry had sent a diplomatic notice, while he would personally write to US President Joe Biden about it. The US government has sent nearly $5 million to MCCI since 2018, with private donors including the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, Mexico’s Financial Crimes Unit (UIF) said.

Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora reviewed with his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin the joint lithium and nuclear projects with which the South American country consolidates its position from a geopolitical and strategic viewpoint given the presence of Iranian facilities and equipment. Arce told reporters in La Paz Tuesday that all these matters were discussed during his recent meeting with the Russian leader in St. Petersburg on the occasion of the International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in the former imperial capital. According to Arce, the project involving Russia's Uranium One company regarding direct lithium extraction in Bolivian salt flats “must start operating...

CHANCAY, Peru—In this serene town on South America’s Pacific coast, China is building a megaport that could challenge U.S. influence in a resource-rich region that Washington has long considered its backyard.... ...The U.S. worries that China’s control over what could become South America’s first true global commercial hub will allow Beijing to further strengthen its grip over the region’s resources, deepen its influence among America’s closest neighbors and eventually plant its military nearby.... Peru’s Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea said...“The United States is present almost everywhere in the world with a lot of initiatives, but not so much in Latin America,”...

"China's state-owned banks are tightening curbs on funding to Russian clients as they fear being subjected to secondary sanctions from the U.S., according to a Tuesday report by Bloomberg... "...Chris Weafer, chief executive officer of strategic consultants Macro-Advisory Ltd., which focuses on Russia and the Eurasia region, previously told Newsweek that Russia should be wary of this increased reliance on China. "While China is eagerly buying energy and materials and selling Chinese-made goods to the Russia market, all of which suits Beijing, there is very little investment coming into Russia, certainly nothing like enough to replace the lost investment from...

The Monroe Doctrine is the blueprint for returning to a realistic grand strategy that can preserve American liberty from threats foreign and domestic.This month marks the 200th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine. If celebration (or even acknowledgment) seems muted, that may be because policymakers and the public know little about the principles and grand strategy underlying the doctrine.Few likely understand the doctrine because its meaning has been distorted throughout American history, especially in the Progressive Era by Theodore Roosevelt’s corollary. Some see it, for better or worse, as the beginning of America’s commitment to maintaining an international order by arms...

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday signed a measure to make illegal entry into the Lone Star State a state crime, giving state law enforcement a potentially pivotal tool to combat illegal immigration on its own amid perceived federal apathy. The law, which is slated to take effect in March, would empower Texas law enforcement to arrest illegal entrants and grant judges the ability to order their deportation, CNN reported. Under Abbott's leadership, Texas has conducted a unilateral effort to enforce its border dubbed "Operation Lone Star" that has prompted legal battles with federal government, including a dispute over...

CAPE TOWN — Presidents Putin and XI and other leaders from the Brics bloc of developing countries will hold a virtual meeting on the Israel-Hamas war on Tuesday, with Secretary General Guterres also participating. The leaders of fellow Brics members Brazil, India, and South Africa, as well as of Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, which are set to join the bloc in January, will also take part, according to the office of President Ramaphosa of South Africa. Mr. Ramaphosa will chair the “extraordinary meeting” because of South Africa’s position as current chair of Brics,...

U.S. is sending FBI to Ecuador to help probe presidential candidate’s killing

Bolivia’s socialist President Luis Arce signed contracts with both China and Russia on Thursday to hand over control of the country’s two largest lithium deposits. Bolivia is home to some of the world’s largest known lithium resources. The contracts, which amount to $1.4 billion, will see state-owned Citic Guoan (of China’s CITIC Group) and Uranium One Group (of Russia’s Rosatom) work alongside the state-owned Bolivian Lithium Deposits (YLB) company to build two lithium carbonate processing plants.

One of the greatest betrayals in our history happened while America slept.. When Biden met with Lula da Silva, the founder of the Marxist Brazil’s Workers’ Party and a convicted criminal, it was a victory lap for both socialists. Lula da Silva, Brazil’s former leader, had survived his bribery conviction and rigged an election that overthrew Jair Bolsonaro: his conservative patriotic predecessor. Biden had survived his own trial by fire during the midterms which locked down the 2024 Democrat nomination. Lula also met with fellow Marxists: Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Biden and Lula talked of “democracy” and “fighting...

“Our main market is the United States,” said Chan, CEO of Man Wah’s Mexico subsidiary. “We don’t want to lose that market.” That same objective explains why scores of major Chinese companies are investing aggressively in Mexico, taking advantage of an expansive North American trade deal. Tracing a path forged by Japanese and South Korean companies, Chinese firms are establishing factories that allow them to label their goods “Made in Mexico,” then trucking their products into the United States duty-free. The interest of Chinese manufacturers in Mexico is part of a broader trend known as near-shoring. International companies are moving...

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has authorized Russian troops, planes and ships to deploy to Nicaragua for purposes of training, law enforcement or emergency response. In a decree published this week, and confirmed by Russia on Thursday, Ortega will allow Russian troops to carry out law enforcement duties, “humanitarian aid, rescue and search missions in emergencies or natural disasters.” The Nicaraguan government also authorized the presence of small contingents of Russian troops for “exchange of experiences and training.” Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told the Russian news outlet Sputnik that the measure was...

Russian soldiers are operating drones over Venezuela as part of a search operation for members of a paramilitary force that led a botched invasion this week, local media reported on Friday, citing deleted tweets from a state military command centre. At least eight Russian special forces members will be “operating drones to run search and patrol operations” near La Guaira, the coastal state just north of Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, according to a report from local news outlet El Nacional. It posted a screenshot of a tweet it said was later deleted on Thursday from the profile of the military command,...

military exercises on Venezuelan soil that President Nicolas Maduro called a sign of strengthening relations. Two Russian air force planes landed in Venezuela's main airport on Saturday carrying a Russian defense official and nearly 100 troops, according to a local journalist, amid strengthening ties between Caracas and Moscow. A flight-tracking website showed that two planes left from a Russian military airport bound for Caracas on Friday, and another flight-tracking site showed that one plane left Caracas on Sunday. Reporter Javier Mayorca wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the first plane carried Vasily Tonkoshkurov, chief of staff of the ground forces,...

A Chinese space force in Argentina, Russian control of Venezuelan gas and South American armies equipped with the latest Chinese and Russian hardware. Until recently, it might have sounded like the plot of a geopolitical thriller in a region once considered America’s backyard. But this is what Defense Secretary James N. Mattis faced on his visit this week to several South American nations, where economic and military posturing by Beijing and Moscow has been on the rise for the past decade. Analysts say Chinese loans in recent years have allowed authoritarian leaders to consolidate power in Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua,...