We’re always shocked, shocked I tell you, shocked!! to hear that Russia tries to influence politics in other countries!
So, here’s another case1:
This is a report about how the US State Department is accusing Russia of trying to destabilize the crackpot rightwing-populist government of Argentine President Javier Milei.
The State Department is saying:
The Russian Government is also engaged in operations meant to destabilize the government of Argentina and escalate tensions between Argentina and its neighbors. We expect that the Russian government will leverage RT, its affiliates, and its overall covert playbook in pursuit of these malign efforts.2
Página/12 reports:
This action also takes place in [the context of] a clear alignment of Milei not only with the White House but also with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymir Zelensky, who was in Argentina for the inauguration of the Argentine head of state.
Milei himself has expressed his support for Ukraine in the war [against Russia] and, upon assuming the presidency, chose not to join the BRICS bloc, which is led by Russia along with Brazil, China, India and South Africa. [my translation]
Now, it may be the case that the US is concerned about Russia promoting critical stories against Milei via RT or other methods. And Russia would no doubt prefer that Argentina be more friendly to the BRICS alliance rather than less friendly.
On the other hand, the US has a very long history of preferring right-leaning governments in Argentina - and ones like Milei’s that are more than right “leaning” – in Argentina. And, of course, Milei’s anarcho-capitalist perspective is something that billionaires admire, as long at it’s their own power and influence that get to be anarchic.
So, the Russians may not be happy about Milei’s government. But Milei’s government is far too busy wrecking Argentina’s economic and state institutions to mount some major military operation in support of Ukraine in their current war. So engineering regime change in Argentina presumably ranks very low on Russia’s lit of international priorities.
I’m assuming that the Biden Administration has noticed that Milei’s has been very supportive of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West bank, for which Biden continues to provide unconditional support, despite the occasionally sternly-worded press releases criticizing some action of Israel’s.
And they have surely noticed that Argentina’s neighbor Chile takes a different position:
Chile has joined a group of nations supporting a genocide case against Israel filed last year at the International Court of Justice.
President Gabriel Boric said in a speech to lawmakers Saturday that he was appalled by the humanitarian devastation in Gaza, especially against women and children. He accused the Israeli army of using “indiscriminate and disproportional” force.
“These acts demand a firm and permanent response of the international community,” the president said.3
The US is famously leery of left-leaning governments in Chile, Argentina, or anywhere else in Latin America. So there is a very good chance that whatever reason the US might find to actively intervene in Argentine politics, protecting Argentina’s right to self-determination against the hypothetical danger of a Russian regime-change operation in Buenos Aires will not be one of them.
Página/12 14.09.2024. <https://www.pagina12.com.ar/767414-estados-unidos-acusa-a-rusia-de-querer-desestabilizar-al-gob> (Accessed: 2024-14-09).
Alerting the World to RT’s Global Covert Activities. U.S. Department of State website 09/13/2024. <https://www.state.gov/alerting-the-world-to-rts-global-covert-activities> (Accessed: 2024-14-09).
Chile joins developing nations rallying behind genocide case against Israel at international court. AP News 06/01/2024. <https://apnews.com/article/chile-israel-hamas-gaza-international-court-a8ed91da3ec408b414fb51deef329085> (Accessed: 2024-14-09).
That is very silly! What is Millei going to do for Ukraine? Argentina is a mess right now. Maybe Putin would disrupt or meddle who knows but it just seems like a lot of effort for no payoff.
The idea that 'putting out information' is automatically a society-destroyer needs to be examined more closely. People panic about this too much. How do you mess with a country that is unstable, which is being run into the ground by a libertarian lunatic? And really--now S. America is going to have intracountry conflict (this does worry me...is someone planning something?)
Millei just sucks up to everyone though! Who knows what he is really 'for.' He doesn't believe anything. He is like Trump that way.
Maybe you had to grow up in the Cold War to look askance at certain kinds of panic. I had someone in my family who was very 'up on' all the secret dastardly things the Soviets would do, then the secret dastardly things the Muslims would do, etc. Some of it was very 'Havana Syndrome'-esque. Most of it was imaginary. A lot of it wasn't happening or didn't happen. But it was in major papers. (His child was very likely a member of the CIA --for real--and was equally full of wacky ideas.)
Americans are somewhat crazier than we are willing to realize. We're literally blockading and starving a country for 50 years like Cuba, LONG after the Cold War, LONG after even the death of the leader our leaders decided to be obsesses with (which was possibly unnecessary in the first place). And then we're claiming they have a secret weapon which causes secret brain damage in diplomats without anyone knowing? One that is, as far as we know, physically impossible as it would have to be large, yet transported without anyone knowing?
Then they find a kind of cricket in Cuba that makes the exact noise described as the secret weapon but we still spend millions on investigating this 'secret weapon.'
More people need to watch Dr. Strangelove and read Graham Greene.
Maybe some of these people aren't crazy. Someone successfully stopped the loosening of the embargo, for example. Or they take advantage of other people's gullibility. Plausibility should matter but when you make your enemy a nefarious shadow maybe then it just gets easier.
I'm sure it doesn't help that, in some ways, Putin IS a nefarious shadow who seems about to kill ANYBODY and nobody knows how he does it.