After Mr. Trump said that U.S. military forces in the Caribbean could be used against Colombia and other countries, and accused Mr. Petro of being involved in cocaine production, Mr. Petro said: “If you detain a president whom much of my people want and respect, you will unleash the people’s jaguar.”...
He added that Colombia has deployed more than 30,000 troops along its border with Venezuela to prepare for potential destabilization, a surge of migrants or confrontations with drug cartels that he said would “very likely feel increased pressure and attempt to harm the Colombian people.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum brushed aside President Trump’s warning that Mexico must get its “act together” on drug trafficking or face possible U.S. action.
“This is just President Trump’s manner of speaking,” Sheinbaum said at a news conference on Monday. She acknowledged that the White House had pushed for military action on Mexican soil, but said that the problem of organized crime could not be solved with foreign intervention.
Whose rhetoric is likely to be more effective with Trump? I see that Petro hotly deployed vivid language — "the people's jaguar" — and Sheinbaum coolly observed that Trump deploys vivid language. To Sheinbaum, Trump is a blustery beast, but she can handle him. To Petro, the people are a fierce powerful beast and they will rise up and defend him against Trump.
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70 comments:
Sheinbaum is smart, Petro is an idiot.
To Petro, the people are a fierce powerful beast and they will rise up and defend him against Trump.
He’d best not count on that.
According to Grok, just .06% of Mexicans are Jewish.
77% of Mexicans are Catholic.
There simply is no way that a Jew won a Presidential election in Mexico.
Petro: "you will unleash the people’s jaguar"
I will now start calling my wiener The People's Jaguar. CC, JSM
I suspect that the action taken (or not taken) have more effect than either verbal response.
Mr. Petro said: “If you detain a president whom much of my people want and respect, you will unleash the people’s jaguar.”
Yeah, Baby. Put some petro in my Jaguar.
Colombia has deployed more than 30,000 troops along its border with Venezuela to prepare for potential destabilization, a surge of migrants...
Nations can deploy troops prevent migrants from entering? I was assured this was impossible.
They are both Marxist cut outs. They don’t belong in power.
Petro employs typical machismo posturing common to South Americans, which ultimately signifies nothing.
Sheinbaum, on the other hand brushes Trump's language off as typical machismo posturing - which given events of the weekend, may be unwise. Who knows, maybe Mexico will become the 51st state instead of Greenland or Canada?
Shane bomb won an election where dozens of people running for office were killed by the cartels.
She did not win a legitimate election and she is just there to do the international socialist bidding.
@ FormerLawClerk: Can you tell us again the definition of “Fen’s Law”? It’s been some time and I’m trying to remember the precise definition. Thanks.
FLC: "There simply is no way that a Jew won a Presidential election in Mexico."
Oy vey. Now granted, I would not rule out electoral fraud in Mexico for any candidate. But Mexican Catholicism is modernized - maybe not as much as in the US, but in some ways and places even more. The entire structure of Mexican government is anti-clerical, for example.
Those 77% Catholics previously voted for the divorced/remarried Vicente Fox, for another.
My impression is their politics is much more party-oriented than candidate-oriented, so as long as enough Mexicans wanted the Morena party, they would have voted for a baby-eating Satanist. CC, JSM
There simply is no way that a Jew won a Presidential election in Mexico.
Israeli commandos installed her in office?
And nobody noticed?
No, wait.
Israel threatened Mexico with an El Nino hurricane, and all of Mexico said, "oy vey," and voted her in? And nobody noticed.
Pick a conspiracy already, you dumb fuck. And who was your judge?
Both countries should, and will support America in these endeavors.
What kind of imbecile claims an election result didn't happen because of the winner's religion?
Sorry Sheinbaum but Maduro also thought Trump was bluffing. He is not.
Trump has reset the bar. The smart play is to reconsider.
Watch To Catch a Smuggler and you will quickly learn that narcotraffickers in Venezuela and Peru both use Columbia as a conduit to the West Coast of the USA (lotta "go fast" boats on that show even in decade-old footage) and the coast of VZ as a route to Cuba and Mexico.
The Maduro Episode is both a law enforcement action and a yuge warning to Mexico. Our neighbor is a narco-terrorist state, largely in control of the cartels. It sucks. And my best guess is that Trump will not leave office without crushing that pipeline from China and South America. If something disrupts that it will be high on Vance's (Rubio's?) to-do list.
Saint Croix said...
There simply is no way that a Jew won a Presidential election in Mexico.
Israeli commandos installed her in office?
The jew part is totally irrelevant. I agree it is dumb to bring up.
Sheinbaum is not a legitimate president. Many of the people running against her party were killed by the cartels and by extension the Democrats who are aligned with them.
It's a common misconception among Trump's critics to think it all turns on whether you act tough (TACO) or suck up to Trump (Trump the narcissist). Recent history clearly indicates that Trump is driven by self and country interest. He will stand with the people who stand with America.
IMO, Sheinbaum is sufficiently flexible regarding US interests that she can afford to talk tough if she wants--ultimately, Trump will work with her because she will work with him.
Petro, on the other hand, is either quietly working with Trump or he is digging his own grave.
Achilles: Shane bomb won an election where dozens of people running for office were killed by the cartels.
True. I would have added scare quotes to election.
They will all be American territories or states, along with Alberta and Saskatchewan, CA and Greenland, in about 50 months. He's not only making America great again, he's making it larger.
Colombia has already had a surge of Venezuelan refugees. Maybe some of them will start moving back.
"There simply is no way that a Jew won a Presidential election in Mexico."
Most people don't give a shit.
Sheinbaum had name recognition and experience as mayor of North America's largest city. Once she got her party's nomination, she was the likely next president. Mexico has evolved a lot since Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. It is maybe a little ironic though that her party, the Movement for National Regeneration "Morena" (which means "Brown"), is led by someone so white.
Sheinbaum has been dealing with Trump for a while now. She knows that he would love to send troops into Mexico to clean out the cartels. He has offered to do so multiple times since her election. But she also knows that he isn't going to do it without her permission, for about 130 million reasons.
But would he send a couple helicopters full of Green Berets to drag Petro off in chains? Naaaaaaaah. He wouldn't do that.
"Maduro also thought Trump was bluffing. He is not."
Rubio said as much in his remarks at the press conference the hours following the Maduro extraction.
link to video
I read an article from Reuters on my phone this morning, and it was really interesting.
Senior officials from (Maduro's) 13-year-old government remain in charge of the South American oil producer of 30 million people, first spitting defiance then pivoting to possible cooperation with the Trump administration.
Though denouncing Maduro as a dictator and drug kingpin who flooded the U.S. with cocaine, Trump had made no bones about wanting to share in Venezuela's oil riches.
It has the world's largest reserves -- about 303 billion barrels, mostly heavy oil in the Orinoco region. But the sector has long been in decline from mismanagement, under-investment and U.S. sanctions...
After first denouncing Maduro's capture as a colonial oil-grab and "kidnapping", Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez changed her tune on Sunday, saying it was a priority to have respectful relations with Washington. "We invite the U.S. government to work together on an agenda of cooperation," Rodriguez said. "President Donald Trump, our people and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war."
Trump has threatened another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with opening its oil industry and stopping drugs. Trump also threatened Colombia and Mexico and said Cuba's communist government "looks like it's ready to fall". Just how the US would work with a post-Maduro government, full of sworn ideological enemies, is unclear. He appears to have sidelined for now the Venezuelan opposition, where many anti-Maduro activists had assumed this would be their moment...
To the disappointment of Venezuela's opposition and diaspora, Trump has dismissed the idea of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado taking over, saying she lacks support. Machado was banned from the 2024 election but has said her ally Edmundo Gonzalez won overwhelmingly and thus has a mandate to rule.
What I like about this is that Trump is setting himself up as a selfish bad guy, and he's saying there is no way that Machado could rule, because "she has no popular support."
He's refusing to make the dumb move of trying to install her in office as president, thereby undermining her as a puppet of the USA. By distancing our government from Machada, he's giving her space to rise up. She has to prove that she's popular, and the people of Venezuela have to speak out now about the kind of government they want.
It would be nice if we had a "United Nations" type organization that could oversee a legitimate election in Venezuela.
"My impression is their politics is much more party-oriented than candidate-oriented, so as long as enough Mexicans wanted the Morena party, they would have voted for a baby-eating Satanist."
The cartels, particularly in the border states, dominate the levers of power to such an extent that to suggest that there actually is such a creature as a Mexican voter amounts to a cruel joke.
Agree with the first comment. Your typical Latin American leader regards every incident of international relations as a dick-measuring contest. Sheinbaum is as much of a communist as the rest of them, but at least she thinks before she talks.
Petro pretends to fear Venezuelan cartels endangering Columbian citizens, all the while his cartel associates endanger his citizens. There are no drug producers in Venezuela. All the product the Venezuelan cartels ship around the world comes from the Columbian cartels.
Any United Nations bureaucrat who sticks his nose under the tent should be roughly handled by a Marine gunnery sergeant at the Caracas airport and put on the next departing plane bound for anywhere in China.
I'm still a bit gobsmacked that the president of Mexico's last name is Sheinbaum.
Her parents were lefties
Sheinbaum is the President of Mexico because the cartels want Sheinbaum to be the President of Mexico. If they change their minds, she may be allowed to resign, or she may just get whacked. I am kind of surprised that Sheinbaum wants Sheinbaum to be the President of Mexico. Maybe she's hoping Trump will send a helicopter or two for her.
She was the mayor of mexico city like amlo before him
Coca grows all over South America, Charlie. Even in VZ and yes they process it too. My wife is retired now but has extensive inside knowledge of the ways cocaine is cultivated, processed, hidden/converted and transported to USA. It is the single largest source of income for Maduro's regime.
Is? Was is the more appropriate verb now. WAS the largest source. Even larger than oil.
Mostly bolivia and peru as well as columbia
Defending Julian Assange: Barry Pollack on the Historic Plea Deal and the Future of White-Collar Defense | Lawdragon https://share.google/lA0ELjYIydTClJkoJ
His mouthpiece
The President of Colombia is a former communist guerrilla with a history of corruption under his belt.
Temujin: "He's not only making America great again, he's making it larger."
Good point! We thought he meant "Great" as a value descriptor, but he really means it as a size level. Like Great Britain. Or Grossdeutschland. Or Magna Graecia. Or Pyotr Bolshoi (who was literally a tall huge dude who threw courtiers out of windows). Or Eretz Yisrael HaShlema. Very perceptive! CC, JSM
Former law clerk
What percent are Bulgarian - Latvian?
I'll bet it's even smaller than the Jewish percent.
Is Prez scheinbaum "hispanic"?
I don't question that she is Mexican. I do wonder if she is Hispanic or Latina.
The official word on Bluesky is that she is "brown" and a "person of color"
John Henry
Apparently the vice president of Venezuela went to Russia. I think that's a more interesting response than words
Thats a real stretch, even more than liz warren
The former chief of Latin American operations at U.S. supermajor Chevron is in discussions with investors to raise $2 billion to invest in opportunities in Venezuela, the executive, Ali Moshiri, told the Financial Times in an interview published on Monday.
Moshiri is a former head of Latin American operations at Chevron. Now his company, Amos Global Energy Management, is in talks with institutional investors to raise money for several investment opportunities the firm has identified in Venezuela.
"Even larger than oil."
China has been buying Venezuelan crude at a substantial discount in lieu of debt payments for years.
Fen's Law?
You might be able to search it, but I think remember Fen himself on this blog back in the day stating it something like: "Democrats don't really believe in the things they lecture the rest of us about."
"I am kind of surprised that Sheinbaum wants Sheinbaum to be the President of Mexico."
Knowing quite a few Mexicans well, my impression is that nobody wants to stand out in Mexico. Any attention makes you a target. I used to go there regularly, but I wouldn't now. If anybody found out what I have buried in my coffee can, I'd be kidnapped immediately.
Bagoh20: " If anybody found out what I have buried in my coffee can, I'd be kidnapped immediately."
I take it 'coffee can' is a euphemism? CC, JSM
I have an employee from Venezuela. He says everyone is ecstatic about the U.S. taking Maduro, but the remaining thugs there are threatening to kill anyone who celebrates. Some have done it anyway, more so outside Caracas.
I knew a guy in L.A. who was homeless by choice. He worked for me and always had money, but he didn't trust banks and kept it all buried on the beach in a coffee can. I knew him when he was about 70, he was very artistic and did drawing for us. He rode a bicycle everywhere. I heard he met his demise near Malibu on Pacific Coast Highway hit by a car at night. I wonder where that coffee can is.
"I take it 'coffee can' is a euphemism?"
I don't think that would work. Mine is a steel can with a plastic lid that holds about a pound of coffee, but it's really good coffee.
Shienbaum is more Bong Bong Marcos when dealing with hegemonic bully China. Calm, non fiery, but firm with facts on his side.
’My wife is retired now but has extensive inside knowledge of the ways cocaine is cultivated, processed, hidden/converted and transported to USA.’
Can she get us a discount? ;)
The People's Jaguar----well Buckwheat, think about a nation (the danged Yankees) who unleashed an Anaconda on the Confederate States of America. Trump will see your jaguar and spot you two Anacondas. --but it's all silly stuff and yap flapping. At times in the past prior Colombian governments have cooperated with the DEA.
Whose rhetoric is likely to be more effective with Trump?
With Trump? Neither
Sheinbaum coolly observed that Trump deploys vivid language
True. One of the things I least like about him.
To Sheinbaum, Trump is a blustery beast, but she can handle him.
The first is true. The second is delusional on her part.
To Petro, the people are a fierce powerful beast and they will rise up and defend him against Trump
The first may be true. The second is delusional on his part. "The people" don't give a shit about him
When the US takes out the cartels, Columbia & Mexico will select new leaders.
Time for El Presidentes to update their resumes.
Scott M said...
“I'm still a bit gobsmacked that the president of Mexico's last name is Sheinbaum.”
A previous president’s last name was Fox, which was originally Fuchs in German, being the word for that animal in that language. The president’s grandfather or great-grandfather was a German-American of the Catholic faith born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and emigrated to Mexico. The ancestor was himself a grandson or great-grandson of a German immigrant to Cincinnati.
Jaguars no longer ferocious
I was just reading about the situation in Cuba, which looks bleak for the government and the people, and it's not new.
It hard to believe anyone who has free access to information could possibly want anything to do with socialism. It's just one big clusterfuck of failure combined with oppression of rights. What a disaster our education system is in this country which should be a place where everyone understands and appreciates the power and blessings of freedom.
Latin leaders typically have a choice between silver or lead. They now have a third choice: silver, lead, or a midnight helicopter ride to America. This new option might tilt the balance against the cartels........I don't know much about Sheinbaum, but she gives off a sane vibe. I think she's probably against cartels as much as is consistent with survival. Maybe she can figure out a way to work with Trump without getting killed.
Petro said…
“you will unleash the people’s jaguar”
john mosby said...
“I will now start calling my wiener The People's Jaguar. CC, JSM.”
John, Imma send you a “My Jaguar is in the shop” bumper sticker. You can tell people how you want that interpreted.
Jaguars are kind of notorious for not moving when you need them.
"You can tell people how you want that interpreted."
Don't interpret it as prison rape or some people will have a sadz.
Eye of the jaguar
You might be able to search it, but I think remember Fen himself on this blog...
I could be wrong, but I think that's the point Meade's making. :)
Unfortunately, we are stuck with talk loudly and wave a big stick around.
Jaguars no longer ferocious .
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