Russia maneuvers in the Caribbean

[PineappleWinnie]

According to this article (in Spanish, use some Google translation if necessary) around next November or December, Venezuela and Russia will run joint practice military maneuvers in the Caribbean, as part of a strategy to expand Russian sphere of influence to the Americas. Russia hopes that having such a close ally as Chavez will help Russia establish a deeper economical and military tie with Latin American nations. Venezuela was the only South American nation to officially support Russia against Georgia.

According to the final part of the article (maybe in an unrelated way), the USA suspends all cooperation on nuclear affairs with Russia.

http://www.abc.es/20080909/internacional -europa/caracas-moscu-anuncian-maniobras -20080909.html

Too bad I didn't find an article in English on this but it will probably be ready soon.

Could it be that Russia plans to install military bases or spots in Latin American regions as a response to the missile shield that the USA wants to install in Poland?

[Nitroglys]

HHHmmm.... another Cuba crisis maybe. I think /\ he is right. If Obama does get elected there is a strong chance they wouldnt get bothered. But completely opposite on the other hand. You know Mccain is gonna keep most of bush's adversaries. Chavez is a big one. And how classic. Russia getting involved. This has bad war movie written all over it.

[Gunter45]

Just like old times, it looks like. Back in the Cold War era, the USSR had close ties to Latin and South American countries. Seeing as how many ex-KGB agents are working again under Russian employ, I'm certain a lot of their contacts are still on cordial terms.

Russia's just flexing its muscles. As I've said before, the Russian people haven't felt like the world has taken them seriously for about a decade. This is a means to show that Russia is still a major player in geopolitics. I'm not frightened by it since they don't stand a chance against NATO or the United States and they know it. They've been very careful not to overstep their bounds. Muscling around fractured neighboring nation-states is one thing, but taking aggressive actions against a NATO member nation or one of the United States' interests is tantamount to political suicide. I don't see them getting into a pissing contest with anybody important for a long while.

[CaiWengi]

Did anyone notice the Georgia thing played out exactly like the intro movie to Ghost Recon?

Expect the same for the intro movie of Mercenaries 2.

[Saruman200]

At 9/9/08 04:47 PM, CaiWengi wrote: Did anyone notice the Georgia thing played out exactly like the intro movie to Ghost Recon?

Expect the same for the intro movie of Mercenaries 2.

Lol, ya I kinda did notice that. I have Mercenaries 2, that game is badass. This isn't really related though, Russia isn't even mentioned in that the game.

Okay, to the more serious topic, I pretty much agree with the OP when it comes to the actual topic. Russia is trying to reestablish it's influence. This is a counter to the US plans in Eastern Europe with the missle shield and all.

Seriously though, stop trying to put a spin on it. Obama was almost as aggresive as McCain during the Georgia incident, and he's not gonna let Russia bound on our backdoor. Just because he favors depolomacy, doesn't mean he favors letting other countries get away with things. He just wants to talk them out of it instead of using military force to intimidiate them. Obama is using what's called soft power, while McCain is using hard power. They've both been successful and unsuccessful depending on the case. Look up the wikipedia articles on the terms for a better description.

[JoS]

So, whats wrong with conducting naval maneuvers in international waters. Every country does it. I fail to see how this is so wrong?

[Nitroglys]

At 9/9/08 04:43 PM, GallitoMix wrote:

Well, it is a matter of choice. Either Obama wins and goes with a pacifist politics which may allow other nations to build up, or McCain wins and is a bit more aggressive and other nations don't get to build up as much.

Build up what????