[FoxNews] China has invested hundreds of billions of dollars into Latin America since joining the WTO in 2001.
Texas stands prominently at the gateway of our nation and Latin American countries as a foremost trading partner that advances our economies. But this progress comes amid new challenges that threaten the sovereignty and viability of Latin American states, global democracy and America’s national security.
Armed with predatory loan terms and virtually no accountability, China’s sights are firmly set on our southern neighbors. As witnessed in other developing regions, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leverages lavish investments to build geopolitical influence, target strategic sectors of sovereign nations’ economies, and develop military capabilities in 147 countries, including at least 13 countries in Latin America.
"[China] has the capability and intent to eschew international norms, advance its brand of authoritarianism, and amass power and influence at the expense of these democracies," Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of U.S. Southern Command, testified before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee this spring.
U.S. officials recently warned about negotiations between China and Cuba to establish a new joint military training facility less than 100 miles off America’s shores. This follows reports of China’s efforts to establish a new electronic eavesdropping facility in Cuba that could intercept communications across the southeastern United States and monitor U.S. ship traffic.
Meanwhile, CCP officials in Argentina are working to establish a naval base at Tierra del Fuego that would grant the Chinese Navy control of a key passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as access to the entire region’s communications and maritime transit. If realized, this would open the door to extraordinary strategic Chinese military assets in America’s backyard.
Chinese companies also dominate infrastructure across the Panama Canal. Military experts warn the canal’s extensive China-controlled assets could easily be converted into military capabilities, threatening the flow of international trade. Beijing has already attempted to establish military bases in other developing regions under the guise of a "logistics facility."
Dams, railroads, canals and other major infrastructure projects are prime targets of Chinese loans. In Peru, a Chinese company is building the Chancay "mega-port" that could reconfigure shipping lanes across the southern Pacific when it opens next year. Another Chinese investment company owns several strategic ports in Mexico and a logistics terminal in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. As America confronts a devastating fentanyl crisis, Chinese-produced synthetic opioid precursors are pouring into Mexico for cartels to manufacture and smuggle across our southern border.
China targets strategic sectors such as energy development, petroleum refining and power generation. State-owned PowerChina is active in 50 ongoing projects across more than a dozen Latin American nations. As the Biden administration undercuts America’s energy independence, China is shoring up its own supplies through vast commodity-backed loans, such as Venezuela’s $50 billion loans-for-oil payments to Beijing.
Alarmingly, the CCP’s Digital Silk Road initiative exports Chinese information and communications technologies, exposing Latin America to increased cyber threats – threats that could reach the U.S.
Twelve of China’s largest tech companies, including Huawei, China Telecom and ZTE – all sanctioned by the United States – have set up operations in 15 Latin American countries since 2015, building data centers, telecoms networks, smart cities and 5G projects. In fact, 80% of Mexico’s telecommunications system comes from China, not the U.S.
Beijing is setting international technology standards with its proprietary technology while becoming central to Latin American infrastructure.
China has invested hundreds of billions of dollars into Latin America since joining the World Trade Organization in 2001. In 2017, China became the world’s biggest creditor, outpacing the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Massive investments allow the CCP to strongarm nations into adopting anti-democratic policies.
One example is particularly chilling: all Latin American countries recognized Taiwan’s sovereignty 20 years ago, but only seven do today. Honduras cited Chinese economic links as the impetus for its recent decision to cut ties with Taiwan.
Texas has taken aggressive measures to contain China’s attempts to exert influence in our state. In 2021, I signed the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, banning companies from hostile nations like China from connecting to critical infrastructure projects in Texas.
This year, I signed a law that secures access to Texas’ electric grid by any company or employee. I also directed state agencies to address vulnerabilities presented by TikTok and other software on personal and state-issued devices and recently signed Senate Bill 1893 that codifies that standard.
However, we must all recognize the CCP as the calculating force behind strategic investments in America’s backyard. Texas hears China knocking at our door. Will President Biden finally act?
[PJ] According to heavily redacted documents from the National Security Agency obtained by The Daily Signal, there was a coordinated effort by the outgoing Obama administration to "torpedo the incoming presidency of Donald Trump."
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, The Daily Signal acquired 217 pages of documents.
"The documents reveal that Obama administration officials, from Vice President Joe Biden down to several ambassadors and many officials in the Treasury and Energy departments, gained access to secret information about Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President-elect Trump’s choice for national security adviser," the report says. "The documents obtained by The Daily Signal include raw information of requests and other messages from these officials to the National Security Agency in late November 2016 through early January 2017, as well as emails among NSA officials explaining why the information was shared."
In May 2020, Trump’s acting Director of National Intelligence, Rick Grenell, declassified information and shared with Congress a list of names related to the "unmasking" of Michael Flynn — Trump’s original pick for national security adviser. Flynn had previously served under Obama but was fired for not pushing the administration narrative about the dangers posed by al Qaeda.
[Townhall] Just like the effects of a massive earthquake that leaves a great fissure in its wake, there is a growing chasm amongst not only the states that make up our nation, but also within the hearts of their inhabitants as well. Though the extent and the length of the fissure is yet to be determined, there is growing concern that the convulsions may increase in intensity as opposed to dissipating.
In a story published this past week, AP News reported on a migration trend in America where those with conservative leanings are moving to so-called red states and those who tend to be more liberal are moving to the so-called blue states. Obviously, politics alone is not the driving force behind the separation and may not even be the typical rationale. There is certainly a myriad of other causations that figure into the equation such as family, lifestyle, freedom to work from home, and geography. Nevertheless, hot button issues such as abortion, transgenderism, homosexual concerns, education, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion, seem to be amongst some of the present motivations for migration.
The subject of states’ rights and how the states relate to each other and to the federal government has always been one of the cornerstone vexations facing our nation. From the Articles of Confederation to the Bill of Rights, the issue of the sovereignty of the states within the framework of national cohesion reared its head and threatened to destroy the fine balance that gave rise to our form of government. Certainly, the troubling plague of slavery was the driving force behind the great Civil War in our nation, but the concept of states’ rights to govern themselves within their own borders was a concurrent thorn in the side of the continued union of our states.
Now, apparently the mobility of our citizenry is allowing for more homogenous separation, at least in regard to cultural viewpoint, at a greater rate than ever before. This in turn is potentially leading to the greatest divide in the history of our nation now looming on the horizon. So, the question becomes is the next American civil war inevitable or is there something that can help stem the tide of these great differences in which we are now mired as a nation.
#1
Balance? Somewhat shallow in the world view.
No mention of crime, hunger, death, brutality, cultural identity, reasonableness or the opportunity of mobility as causes for migration.
#2
We are overdue.
We are already seeing the increasingly loose interpretation of the Laws or new laws to benefit the Politically & $$B Elite few. While allowing the Government to gain stricter controls of our lives and personal property to fund its waste of $$$$$$.
Such situations have happened in every country's history and will eventually, sad to say, here.
Unless the DC Swamp and its owning donors are held to EQUAL LAW & ORDER. Plus forced to adhere to Financial Responsibility to reduce our 60+% burden of related taxes and hidden taxes we have now..
#4
Ref #2: I am least of all hopeful for a repaired outcome, but will resist to my last breath. If we can leave nothing else to our children, let it be our tenacity and example.
#5
We are in one. Currently it is a cultural/political power grab one with flashes of violence between the factions. Wouldn't take much to kick this into a full kinetic one and it wouldn't be a red vs. blue one either. Think of the Balkans wars in the 90s. That is more of what it will be like.
#7
Think of the third-party actors and provocateurs already here, and how they benefit from our dissolution. Dark money behemoths like the Arabella fund and the Soros conglomeration have already brought is thinly-veiled Marxists in elective office, and criminal mayhem in the devolving urban cores. Across a wide spectrum they are pushing us to violence and eventual large scale unrest, using the never-ending cudgel of race, however false and tired it has become.
I'm even beginning to wonder if the Puppet Show is actually considering plans to have kinetic resistance to any attempt to remove him from office?
#8
I wish I could remember which Democrat bugwit said last week in response to people and money moving to states with lower taxes and right to work laws that those states need to raise taxes in order for their citizens to "pay their fair share". She was mad about her state losing people and tax revenue, but mostly tax revenue. No clue how each state sets it's own taxes. She wants the Feds to set tax rates for each state. Socialism at it's finest.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/11/2023 11:51 Comments ||
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#9
It would be interesting to hear Ray Epp’s views. He seemed to have some strong opinions at one time.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/11/2023 12:38 Comments ||
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#10
^ SOTD Candidate
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/11/2023 12:58 Comments ||
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#11
"How Important Is Being White to Your Identity?"
When they centrally plan for the marginalization of whites but without giving Whites the protections and safe guards afforded former minorities. We have minority run cities without White Representation and the former minorities laugh at giving minority Whites any kind of affirmative action despite these former minorities not hiring Whites.
I dont blame minorities. I blame the elites, the global commie socialists, and the central planners. I hope I live to see them all destroyed. I know I am not alone in these thoughts. And I dont think a Two State Solution will work. We do not have a lot of solutions on the table, and dead American commies will not bother many of us. But dead American brothers and sisters would. Hopefully things change in 2024. But we know how Americans elections work out.
Golly. They’re finally catching up to the rest of us.
[Gateway] Victor Davis Hanson recently appeared on FOX News and talked about how strange it is that the Biden White House keeps Hunter Biden in the spotlight despite all the problems and scandals he brings with him.
He also notes that for the first time in the past few weeks, we have seen journalists asking real questions about Hunter and how his scandals relate to Joe and the Biden family.
He suggests that people on the left are starting to see the Bidens as a liability.
#1
He suggests that people on the left are starting to see the Bidens as a liability.
But they will still vote for Biden if he is the Democrat nominee.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/11/2023 11:53 Comments ||
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#2
Fewer Dems will vote than is needed if the ticket remains Biden Harris. Pressure will build the longer that this goes on.
The Newsom and Michelle talk is a pipe dream material, by the way. A VP replacement has to be approved in the House. McCarthy will be in a tough position when the approval process starts. Any GOP rep that crosses the aisle to push either of those two through will not make it through the primaries for 2024.
The “Civil War” will be the impeachments and replacements that will happen over the next several months. America’s current favorite movie is about child trafficking. Homeland security has misplaced 800k unaccompanied minors. Everything is lining up for more political upheaval than what is happening in France.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/11/2023 12:54 Comments ||
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#3
VDH is usually on point. I dont think anyone here at Rantburg, or any other place I hang out, actually thinks the Dems and DNC will run Biden in 2024.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[PJ] According to heavily redacted documents from the National Security Agency obtained by The Daily Signal, there was a coordinated effort by the outgoing Obama administration to "torpedo the incoming presidency of Donald Trump."
