{"id":81546,"date":"2022-04-15T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=81546"},"modified":"2022-04-15T08:53:06","modified_gmt":"2022-04-15T13:53:06","slug":"border-schmorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=81546","title":{"rendered":"Border Schmorder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>While the Biden Administration continues to install express check-in kiosks all across the southern border, this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/article\/mexicomoscowkiev\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">article from the Wilson Center<\/a> points out there are other implications beyond just importing what the Democrats hope will be a compliant voting bloc and dependent class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Russian aggression against Ukraine may jeopardize Mexico&#8217;s relationship with the United States. This is the opinion of many Mexican commentators, who are generally critical of President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador (AMLO). It is a war (a word forbidden by the Russian government) that has universal repercussions, something that does not seem to be understood by a president who has not shown any personal interest in international relations, unless it is to complain to Spain, to the European deputies, or to Antony Blinken for his judgment on the murders of journalists.<br>&#8230;<br>That is why the organization Morena Youth (Juventudes de Morena) of the State of Mexico supports Russia and receives the gratitude of the Russian ambassador; that is why certain deputies of the government majority form a Mexico\/Russia Friendship Group and invite the Russian ambassador to Congress (March 23, 2022). Mexico&#8217;s former ambassador to the US, Arturo Sarukhan expressed that this, &#8220;portrays full-length the stale, rancid and aimless left that Mexico does not deserve.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>On March 24, the commander of the United States Northern Command Gen. Glen VanHerck appeared before the US Senate Committee on Armed Services Committee, and he made this comment regarding Russian agents in Mexico (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.armed-services.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/22-17_03-24-20221.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">transcript here<\/a>, comment from page 54, bold is mine)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>General VanHerck: There are actors who are very aggressive and active all across the NORTHCOM AOR, to including the Bahamas and Mexico, China and Russia. <strong>I would point out that the largest portion of GRE members in the world is in Mexico right now<\/strong>. Those are Russian intelligence personnel, and they keep an eye very closely on their opportunities to have influence on U.S. opportunities<br>and access.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>(The GRU is Russian military intelligence.)<br><br>A porous border unguarded by a feckless Administration will attract malignant operators. Increasingly, migrants crossing the US border come from outside Mexico and Central America, including, ahem, this <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/migrants-southern-border-countries-far-away-russia-ukraine-2022-1\" target=\"_blank\">from BusinessInsider<\/a>&#8230; Do we know who they are?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>In December, over 2,000 Russians and 300 Ukrainians made their way to the border. Axios reported most of them had either arrived or were found at a legal port of entry in San Diego, California. <br><br>By comparison, only 53 Russians were found at the US-Mexico border in December of the previous year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The aforementioned Arturo Sarukhan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/order-from-chaos\/2022\/04\/11\/lopez-obradors-flirtation-with-russia-risks-worsening-us-mexican-relations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">writing at Brookings<\/a> a couple days ago had a few pointed comments, shockingly so for a diplomat, on Mexico&#8217;s coy game of footsie with Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Now, with the president\u2019s MORENA party and its allies in the lower house of Congress having unconscionably launched in late March a Mexico-Russia friendship caucus \u2014 inviting Moscow\u2019s ambassador and providing him with a bully pulpit to disseminate lies and disinformation \u2014 Mexico is blindly playing with fire. L\u00f3pez Obrador apparently believes he can have his cake and it eat too when it comes to ties with the United States and the EU, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) framework, and Mexico\u2019s global and multilateral diplomatic footprint. <br>&#8230;<br>Over the years, a combination of navel-gazing and lack of purpose, ambition, budget, and overarching grand strategy have all meant that when it comes to global or even hemispheric affairs, Mexico\u2019s diplomatic payload tends to be woefully puny, particularly compared with other emerging economies and regional powers. Now, with L\u00f3pez Obrador\u2019s disdain for foreign policy and his general austerity drive eviscerating Mexico\u2019s foreign service corps and its footprint abroad,  the nation is punching even further below its weight in global affairs. Not even the best-funded diplomacy could make up for decisionmaking like L\u00f3pez Obrador\u2019s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the Biden Administration continues to install express check-in kiosks all across the southern border, this article from the Wilson Center points out there are other implications beyond just importing what the Democrats hope will be a compliant voting bloc and dependent class. Russian aggression against Ukraine may jeopardize Mexico&#8217;s relationship with the United States. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273926,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/273926"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81546"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81560,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81546\/revisions\/81560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}