Latin America

Donald Trump’s Destruction Of Trust With NATO Nations Undermining American And International Cooperation And Intelligence Gathering!

Donald Trump has destroyed any trust that NATO nations have in American government leadership, after he made the outrageous accusation that NATO nations did not contribute anything worthy to their participation in the Afghanistan War after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The fact is that all of the nations in NATO sent troops, and lost many, in size of their populations, in that Afghanistan War, including Denmark, which has been pressured to give control of Greenland to the United States, an action that will never be approved by NATO or Denmark and Greenland.

The deleterious effect of unstable Donald Trump’s utterances have ended any possibility that there will be the same intimacy and collaboration of the so called “Five Eyes” nations (US, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand)–all English speaking nations–on intelligence gathering, which has existed for many decades.

It will also make other nations in NATO who have also collaborated and cooperated with the United States–including France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark,The Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain–be hesitant to engage in the same relationship with the US that it has had.

The Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom (Keir Starmer) and Canada (John Carney), have issued outraged statements, and demands of apology for the horrible, uncaring statements Trump has issued. Trump has responded lamely on this matter, so the international world order established after World War II is in its death knell, as the nations listed above, plus others in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East will pause and reconsider how they best protect their own security and safety, with Donald Trump clearly seen as more of a danger than a reliable ally!

Trump Advocating “Sphere Of Influence”, Threatening Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, And Greenland!

Donald Trump is rapidly emerging as an old style American imperialist, in the mold of John Tyler, James K. Polk, and William McKinley, as he advocates that the United States is entitled to a “sphere of influence”, controlling and dominating the Western Hemisphere, including Latin America and Canada.

After the intervention in Venezuela, and the capture of the President and First Lady, bringing them to the US for prosecution on drug and weapons charges, he is now threatening action against Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, and Denmark’s control of Greenland.

In so doing, he is creating a crisis atmosphere, that the Monroe Doctrine, now renamed the “DONroe Doctrine”, allows America to dominate and dictate the future of the nations of the Western Hemisphere.

And he is clearly willing to threaten Denmark, a NATO ally, over Greenland, so the possibility of war between the US and its NATO allies is not beyond possibility, as horrifying as that is!

And what Trump is doing is encouraging Russia in its war against Ukraine, with Trump clearly willing to abandon Ukraine, who he has been extremely tough on in his dealings with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

And this also will encourage China to move ahead on attacking Taiwan, which it insists is part of the rights of China to control that island nation.

China’s aggressive nature is also a theoretical threat to South Korea and Japan as well.

With the new year 2026 just having begun, a major international crisis is looming, due to Donald Trump’s maniacal goals!

Release Of Israeli Hostages A Major Accomplishment For Donald Trump, BUT What About Preserving Democracy In America?

The deal struck by President Donald Trump that has led today to the release of Israeli hostages is a major accomplishment, for which Trump deserves credit and praise.

However, Trump is over the top in his belief that a new world has emerged in the Middle East, as if this arrangement solves all of the issues involving the Palestinians and Israel, and the reality that Hamas has not been totally dissolved.

So the likelihood is for future warfare and conflict, and more bloodshed down the road, if not immediately.

This is a sad situation, but is a realistic assessment.

So while Trump can be praised for what he has done, and it has made him popular in Israel, the reality is that it does not make up for the total destruction of American democracy and the rule of law at home in America.

Trump has been engaged with his sycophants in the Cabinet, in the MAGA Republican Congress, and in the Supreme Court, in undermining the Bill of Rights.

It is clearly well along toward establishment of an authoritarian Fascist government, that is nativist, racist, misgonynist, homophobic, and imperialist oriented on the world stage, with his threats toward Latin America, Canada, and NATO, and his creating tensions around the world with his crazy tariff policies.

Donald Trump, The Full Blown Imperialist! :(

Donald Trump was thought to be an isolationist in his foreign policy views in his first term.

But now in his second term, Donald Trump is a full blown imperialist, who has no concern for our relations with nations that have been America’s allies since after World War II.

So Trump is making clear that he intends, even by military force if necessary, to seize control of the Panama Canal, which was legally handed over by treaty in the Jimmy Carter Administration, effective in the year 2000, and with Republican and Democratic backing in the signing of the treaty in 1977. Such action will cause a major rift with Latin America.

So Trump is continuing to assert that Canada will be the “51st state”, and is imposing heavy protective tariffs, and acting aggressive and abusive toward our northern neighbor. This is causing great stress and the rise of antiAmericanism in Canada, which has no intention of giving up its sovereignty.

So Trump is claiming that Greenland, which has been semi-autonomous from Denmark for a long time, will become a territory of the United States, causing hostility and alarm in Denmark, the European Union, and among our NATO Allies.

So Trump is claiming that the Gaza Strip needs to be emptied, and redeveloped with American investment, a totally loony idea, which would cause the spread of Middle East terrorism to all Americans who would work or live in territory that America has no right to claim.

Donald Trump is, clearly, a full blown imperialist, similar in many ways to authoritarian leaders, including Vladimir Putin of Russia, with his attempt to justify invasion and seizing of territory in Ukraine!

This makes the 47th President “a clear and present danger” to international peace!

Trump’s War On Federal Government: Young Civil Servants, Higher Education, Veterans, And More! :(

Donald Trump’s war on the federal government is an attack on the future and on so many other areas of life.

It is a war on young people who have and wish to enter public service, with many thousands of probationary workers now unemployed, due to major cutbacks in many federal agencies.

It is a war on higher education, cutting funding for training and educating an intelligent work force in the sciences, the humanities, and all other areas of public knowledge.

It is a war on our patriotic veterans, who are losing many government jobs, and a cutting of programs to help veterans who risked their lives, and now are being denied adequate consideration of their health and welfare needs.

It is a war on protection of our national security, with mass purges of dedicated intelligence, foreign policy, and defense personnel who have dedicated their lives and careers to protecting the homeland from foreign threats of authoritarian government, including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

It is a war on health care, science, and medicine, and endangers all Americans when it comes to threats from many diseases worldwide, that now will not be dealt with in an efficient matter, and will cost a multitude of lives.

It is a war on the environment, conservation, and the realities of climate change, guaranteeing worldwide disasters that will threaten human existence in the future.

It is a war on our long held alliances with democracies in Europe and in Asia, and antagonizing, unnecessarily, our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, and inciting anti Americanism in Latin America. It is causing our closest allies in NATO and in Asia to reconsider sharing intelligence information.

It is a war on public virtue, with a certainty that we will witness the greatest level of corruption and concentration of wealth in the hands of a few evil individuals, ever seen in American history, far surpassing the earlier corruption that took place under Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and even the first term of Donald Trump.

The Trump Presidency is setting America back to an earlier time before all of the great reforms that took place from the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosvelt and Woodrow Wilson; the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt; the Fair Deal of Harry Truman; the New Frontier of John F. Kennedy; the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson; the movements forward under Republicans Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon; the accomplishments under Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; and the advancements under Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Trump State Of The Union Address: Highly Divisive And Lies, Lies, Lies! :(

Donald Trump gave the longest State of the Union speech ever delivered last evening, about 9,900 words lasting about 100 minutes, surpassing Bill Clinton’s State of the Union speech in 2000.

The speech was highly, extremely divisive, unusual as Presidents usually try to promote a sense of unity when giving the State of the Union address, even with the opposition party, but instead Trump was gloating about his victory, which he exaggerated regarding its magnitude.

Trump, as usual, lied, lied, and lied some more, distorting and exaggerating reality, facts, and truth.

Trump lied about Joe Biden’s record, calling him the worst President in US History (which was an example of projection about himself).

Trump also took a dig against Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, the primary promoter of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that became law under Barack Obama, but now is on the chopping block.

Trump also claimed that there are people over 100 years of age, up to 300 years old, who are collecting Social Security, a clearcut attack on that program that has existed for 90 years since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt. There is fear that Social Security may not be paid in future months, due to the claims of waste, fraud, and abuse that are totally preposterous, and with layoffs of civil service employees in that agency.

Trump also promoted the idea of seizing the Panama Canal and taking over Greenland from Denmark, which will antagonize Latin America and NATO respectively, as Trump promotes “imperialism”.

Watching the smirks of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Vice President JD Vance was infuriating, as the nation clearly is evenly divided, but there was no interest in crossing the aisle and promoting cooperation, with the Congress more divisive and the majority unconcerned about compromise and negotiation.

Trump’s promotion of tariffs with Canada, Mexico, and China will raise the cost of living dramatically, and soon, and goes against the record of history, that tariffs are counterproductive.

Plaudits to newly elected Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, who gave the Democratic response to the State of the Union, and introduced herself to the nation as a legislator who should be respected and paid attention to in the future of the Democratic Party.

The battle ahead for the average American taxpayer and families will be a long, bitter struggle, but the Democrats must not sit on the sidelines, but instead march, demonstrate, organize, and vigorously fight with every bone in their bodies against the extreme right wing tilt of the Republican Party, which has repudiated so much of their heritage over 170 years of their history from Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan!

Back From Costa Rica Vacation, And Republican Party Continues To Self-Destruct!

Having just returned from a Costa Rica vacation, I return to a nation embroiled in turmoil by the conviction of Donald Trump, and the Republican Party, with few exceptions, continuing to self destruct its history and legacy.

Costa Rica is a successful democracy, with people that are very happy, and committed to an environmental legacy, opportunity for all, and with a very high life longevity, a model nation which lowers blood pressure by its primary commitment to education and health care for all, and has no standing army, and the most successful long lasting democracy in Latin America.

America, on the other hand, is moving toward its 250th anniversary as a nation, divided by greed, corruption, and many evil leaders who only care about their own aggrandizement, and promotion of the undermining of American democracy and the rule of law.

America is in its greatest crisis since the Civil War in the 1860s, and no certainty of its survival as a beacon for the world!

Theodore Roosevelt 163rd Anniversary Of His Birth At Time Of Destruction Of His Reform Efforts

Theodore Roosevelt, the second greatest Republican President (after Abraham Lincoln), born on this day in 1858, represented progressive reform, the use of the federal government to promote and monitor political and economic reform.

He saw the danger of unbridled capitalism, and the need to recognize labor rights.

He saw the need for political reforms, bringing government closer to its citizens, through the utilization of direct primaries, initiatives, referendums, the recall method, women’s suffrage, and proposals to modify the powers of the Supreme Court and the life term of its membership.

He wanted limits on outside groups spending on political campaigns, which he saw as undermining American democracy.

He was the heroic promoter of the environment, regarded as the greatest President on conservation of natural resources, and the promotion of the expansion of national parks and monuments.

He was the first President to suggest the need for a national health care program, and so much of his agenda on social and economic reform came about with the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and now, Joe Biden wishes to extend what TR first promoted more than a century ago!

His 1912 Progressive (Bull Moose) Party had a platform that makes it seem more like 2012, and he still represents the Republican Party at its best since the time of Abraham Lincoln, and particularly as compared to now. The Republicans have become a Fascist authoritarian party that is undermining American democracy, and working to limit the right to vote despite the various constitutional amendments (15, 19, 23, 24, 26) to insure that right, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

TR was certainly imperfect, as he promoted white supremacy typical of his time, and was imperialistic in his treatment of Latin America, as well as his promotion of an expansion of the military, but it is clear he would repudiate the Republican Party of the 2020s.

And notice how the Republican Party glorifies Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, NOT Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt!

Donald Trump And Mike Pence Declare War On America, Conceding On COVID 19 Pandemic, And Must Be Removed!

Donald Trump and Mike Pence have declared war on America, conceding on the COVID 19 Pandemic, refusing to resist it!

This is unimaginable, and both men must be removed from the government by election next week, as the alternative is mass death and Fascist dictatorship!

It will be essential for millions of Americans to march in the streets across the nation, and surround the White House, demanding he leave, as otherwise, the Constitution and rule of law will be totally gone!

There is no compromise, as Donald Trump is a threat to civil order!

Law enforcement must move rapidly to disarm and arrest all those who threaten or provoke violence, designed to keep Trump in office as a Fascist dictator, as we are not Latin America, or Asia, or Africa, or Eastern Europe!

We will not tolerate the loss of the American democracy and human freedom, as Trump and Pence are a menace to our nation!

Costa Rica A Model For The World On The CoronaVirus Pandemic, And Shames America’s Response

The small nation of Costa Rica in Central America stands out as the most advanced nation in the region in so many ways, and arguably, is the most democratic and stable nation in all of Latin America.

Costa Rica has managed to be a democracy while surrounded by nations that have had regular dictatorship periods, and it has been very advanced in promotion of the environment, and many social reforms.

It is a more literate and advanced economy than much of the whole world, and has had no standing army since 1948, and yet has kept its sovereignty through so much turmoil in the Central American region.

The education and health care level of Costa Rica is very high, and extremely impressive. Many foreigners come to Costa Rica as “medical tourists” as the medical facilities and personnel are highly rated.

And now, Costa Rica has done very well in the CoronaVirus Pandemic response, with only 801 cases and 7 deaths, an amazing record.

Its citizens have been more responsible in obeying curfews and staying home, and it puts Americans who are anti science and boycotting the idea of staying home, to shame!

Costa Rica has become a model for the world in so many ways, and it has shamed the United States and Donald Trump, for the disgraceful response that has led to more than 80,000 deaths and counting, with a President who ignores and defies science, and will pay for it in his historical reputation being further damaged beyond repair!