Image is of Cuba’s National People’s Power Assembly.
The most recent geopolitical news around Cuba is the arrival this week of four Russian vessels, including a nuclear submarine - not carrying any nukes, (un)fortunately - to Havana. This will, in Putin’s words, merely be a visit celebrating historical ties and no laws are being broken. Nonetheless, it’s not hard to imagine how American politicians and analysts are taking the news, especially as it comes shortly after Russia promised an “asymmetrical” response to further NATO involvement in Ukraine (notably, officially allowing the use of US weapons such as missiles in Russia, albeit in a small part of Russian territory, near the border).
Meanwhile, China has been increasingly co-operating with Cuba to overcome the economic hardship created by American sanctions. China has recently re-allowed direct flights to Cuba and has recently donated some small photovoltaic plants as part of an initiative to eventually boost the Cuban energy grid by 1000 MW - and any electrical expansion helps as Cuba is plagued by blackouts which last most of the day. Additionally, the EU has made meaningful contributions to Cuba’s energy situation too, with large solar installations. Hopefully, the Belt and Road Initiative will help preserve the Cuban revolution against reactionary forces as the power of US sanctions wanes. The proximity of Cuba to the United States makes this much more challenging than it would be for countries elsewhere, however. Similarly to the situation in Mexico, it seems unlikely that the US’s influence over Cuba will massively diminish for decades to come unless there is a catastrophic internal collapse in the American authoritarian regime.
The Havana Syndrome will continue until American morale declines.
The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you’ve wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don’t worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.
The Country of the Week is Cuba! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Please check out the HexAtlas!
The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week’s thread is here.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA daily-ish reports on Israel’s destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists’ side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Every leader at G7 is polling negatively
Liberal democracy moment
Intel suspends planned $15 billion expansion of southern Israel chip plant
Chip giant makes no link between war in Gaza and decision to freeze extra investment in factory being built in Kiryat Gat, says it remains ‘fully committed’ to the region
Uh huh, sure, lmao. Hope this is the beginning of a trend
Decades-Long Conspiracy Unveiled: Sabotage of Yemen’s Agriculture
Yemen has the highest rate of food insecurity of any country in the world. And the US and UK have been using biological weapons to sabotage their agricultural industry under the guise of “Aid.”
CIA-linked members confessed to orchestrating these actions, with involvement from British and Dutch embassies. Key actors like the US Department of Agriculture and the FAO were implicated, with USAID’s pivotal role dating back to the late 1980s.
Local USAID operatives outside Yemen continue gathering intel, obstructing advancements in agricultural practices. A Seed Center for Seed Inspection facilitated the entry of inferior seeds, some infected with pests, while spiny weeds were spread instead of vegetable seeds.
USAID targeted fertile soil with contaminated seeds, aiming to render it unsuitable for cultivation, alongside spreading scale insects to hinder wheat production. Spy Shayef al-Hamdani confirmed USAID’s role in spreading epidemics among agricultural crops under the pretext of pest control. USAID’s interventions were carried out through implementing partners, including international organizations, spreading epidemics in specific crops under the guise of controlling pests. USAID played a pivotal role in executing these plans through its operatives both within and outside Yemen.
We need to integrate a doomsday clock into the website that changes depending on how many new comments were made in the news mega in the past hour
Israelis getting rejected from hotels abroad. Not just happening in Japan but some reports of greece and thailand too.
Did anyone else have the idea drilled into their head during school that Communism created mass poverty and a failed state? I’ve noticed that a lot of European countries that view Communism as a failed relic to leave behind are okay with the failed ideology of fascism.
I think a part of it has to do with fascism not having the same “failed state” stereotype given to it. I remember hearing implications that Nazi Germany was an evil place but had a strong economy. Something you won’t hear being said about the USSR. At least at the basic public school levels.
Wouldn’t surprise me if intellectually incurious people just assume that fascism will create a strong economy that will wipe out undesirables while Communism will make everybody equally poor.
I’m an electoralist now.
Can we put Julian Assange on a ballot?
EDIT: I forgot Assange is australian…
Lol. Lmao, even.
America is such a joke lmao they are babysitting this man and he’s running for president AGAIN.
US lifts weapons ban on a high-profile Ukrainian military unit with a checkered past
I’ll give you one guess to figure out which "high profile Ukrainian military unit “with a checkered past” they’re talking about.
Click here for answer (a 30 sec YouTube clip)
Personally I’m surprised it took them this long to say they’re officially assisting these scum-sucking brigades.
And no I’m not copy-pasting the article. It’s literally not worth the effort of dunking on, nor is it worth reading.
US Wants To Create ‘Hellscape’ of Drones If China Attacks Taiwan
The US military is planning to create a “hellscape” of drones in the Taiwan Strait if China moves to attack Taiwan, the top US military commander in the region has told The Washington Post.
Adm. Samuel Paparo, the head of US Indo-Pacific Command, told Post columnist Josh Rogin that the idea would be to send thousands of drones, unmanned submarines, and drone boats into the Strait to buy time for the US and Taiwan to prepare a defense of the island.
“I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,” Paparo said. “So that I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.”
The US has taken steps in the direction of developing swarms of drones for a future war with China. Last year, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks outlined a plan to deploy thousands of drones controlled by Artificial Intelligence, known as the “Replicator Initiative.”
“With Replicator, we’re beginning with all-domain, attritable autonomy, or ADA2, to help us overcome the [People’s Republic of China’s] advantage in mass: more ships, more missiles, more forces,” Hicks said at a conference in September 2023. She added that the US plans to deploy the drones “at a scale of multiple thousands, in multiple domains, within the next 18-to-24 months.”
Paparo framed the plan as necessary to deter China from attacking Taiwan, but the US military buildup in the region and its new support for Taiwan has only raised tensions and is making a conflict more likely. The admiral also used Cold War-style language when discussing the situation in the Asia Pacific, saying regional countries need to make a choice between the US and China.
“The region has got two choices. The first is that they can submit, and as an end result give up some of their freedoms … or they can arm to the teeth,” Paparo said. “Both cases have direct implications to the security, the freedom, and the well-being of the citizens of the United States of America.”
America, famous for being able to manufacture reliable equipment en masse and engage in attrition warfare
In rare W, IDF soldier kills someone who actually deserved it: IDF soldier commits suicide, after filming himself demolish Palestinian homes. (
link)Havana syndrome is 100% real. Last night I was hanging out at a Latin club with a few friends and we met a few new acquaintances there, some of which were Cuban. The party was great, we danced a ton and drank even more. I had maybe 5 mojitos. Then today, boom. I wake up almost completely incapacitated. There’s this nonstop buzzing that is so aggravating and giving me a headache, plus I feel sick to my stomach despite having nothing to eat or drink since last night. I now have reason to believe these so-called acquaintances we met were Cuban government agents, and they were sent on a mission to make me have a bad Wednesday.
US military ran several anti-vax disinformation campaigns during covid.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/
Another cargo ship has been abandoned due to damage from Houthi missiles 🫡
On Friday, June 10th, Cuba inaugurated it’s third photovoltaic solar park, “La Criolla”, in the province of Villa Clara donated by the Chinese goverment within the Belt and Road Initiative.
