Tag: Exploitation of natural resources

US, int’l community must continue to back Guyana’s sovereignty- Energy Conference hears + more

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Hundreds of stakeholders gathered in Kingston, Georgetown for the first day of this year’s Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo on Monday.

And as the conference opened with rousing presentations on Guyana’s exciting economic prospects, there were calls for the United States of America and the wider international community to continue supporting the country’s sovereignty.

US, int’l community must continue to back Guyana’s sovereignty- Energy Conference hears

Related:

Mike Pompeo, Hudson Institute: Joe Biden Can’t Show Weakness on Guyana

Hudson Institute – Department of Defense, InfluenceWatch, SourceWatch, Tax Filings, Wikipedia, WikiSpooks

Lima Group 2.0: Right-Wing Latin American Ex-Presidents Demand US Interventionism in Venezuela (Atlas Network)

Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will be targeted again for regime change by the CIA front, NED.

Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will be targeted again for regime change by the CIA front, NED.

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The following video clips are from the Atlantic Council’s Countering China and Russia in Latin America and the Caribbean seminar.

The Atlantic Council links to their latest Color Revolution playbook in their article. They also just re-released their Color Revolution video. When I went back to my post on the new CIA playbook, I found that they made the original one, private.

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Philippines counts the cost of tough South China Sea stance against Beijing

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments

Philippines counts the cost of tough South China Sea stance against Beijing

The Philippines has become a laboratory in responding to Beijing on the South China Sea row, taking the most risk but showing inconsistency and underwhelming results thus far. Its predicament explains why other Southeast Asian claimant states remain unlikely to follow its lead. The tepid reaction to Manila’s pitch for an Asean claimants-only Code of Conduct is indicative.

As had happened in the past, lost economic opportunities and further erosion of Manila’s position in the flashpoint, relative to other disputants, may lead to a possible policy reversal in handling the maritime tiff come the 2028 presidential election.

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Last year, the Philippines began to expose China’s illicit actions in the disputed waters. It inserted reporters in routine patrols and resupply sorties to document interference by the Chinese coastguard and maritime militia ships. The idea is to rally local and international support and impose reputational costs on Beijing. [Project Myoushu AKA Transparency Initiative]

This approach made strides in rousing public backing for Manila’s defence build-up, a stronger alliance with the United States, and a tougher stance against China. However, it also contributed to polarising domestic politics, affecting people-to-people ties and diminishing Chinese economic interest in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Beijing remains unmoved, weathering reputational costs and continuing to wield a capacity for escalation in the South China Sea.

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During Xi’s visit to Hanoi last December, both sides vowed to upgrade the Kunming-Haiphong rail line. In contrast, Chinese funding for three rail projects discussed during the previous Duterte government is already dead in the water. China is unlikely to become a strong partner for President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s Build Better More infrastructure programme.

Losses in the tourism sector have also become evident. In 2019, before the pandemic, China was the Philippines’ fastest-growing tourist market, with more than 1.7 million arrivals, or a 21.1 per cent market share, just behind South Korea. Last year, as countries in Asia raced to benefit from the return of Chinese tourists, the Philippines only welcomed over 260,000 tourists from China, with the market share shrinking to just 4.84 per cent.

Ironically, for all the talk about Duterte’s China policy as appeasement, it was under his watch that the Philippines made the biggest upgrade in infrastructure in the Spratlys since the 1970s. He also invested in modernising the country’s military, procuring modern frigates from South Korea, multirole response vessels from Japan and cruise missiles from India. All these happened while relations with China remained stable.

Another irony is that while Manila celebrates every resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal that successfully eluded the Chinese blockade, Vietnam is busy doing substantial reclamation on its Spratly outposts and gearing for a potential second airfield, with reportedly little interference from Beijing. [Bueller?]

These should offer plenty of insights as the strategy of the Philippines over the maritime squabble evolves.

Indonesia’s feared ex-general Prabowo claims victory in presidential election + Notes

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Indonesia’s feared ex-general Prabowo claims victory in presidential election

But the likely victory of Prabowo — an ex-general who was kicked out from the army and subjected to a two-decade ban from the U.S. over human rights violations — raises fears of the world’s third-largest democracy sliding backward into authoritarian rule.

Related:

3 things you should know about Indonesia’s presidential elections

Continuity and its risks


Prabowo is expected to largely continue the policies of President Widodo, or “Jokowi,” as Indonesians call him. President Widodo is not up for reelection as he’s serving his final term.

Through his two five-year terms, Indonesia’s economy — Southeast Asia’s largest — has grown at about 5% a year. His infrastructure building, cash and food assistance to the poor and health and education policies have been popular.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel, used in making electric vehicle batteries, and Jokowi has barred the export of raw nickel, to help Indonesia move up the value chain from mining to manufacturing.

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Prabowo is Suharto’s son-in-law. He received training in the 1980s from the U.S. military at Fort Benning, Ga. (now Fort Moore) and Fort Bragg, N.C. (now Fort Liberty).

Indonesia’s presidential election emerges as key battleground in US-China rivalry

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Erik Prince Calls for US to ‘Cleanse’ Africa and Latin America ‘Gaza Style’

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment
Source.

ERIK PRINCE HAS been many things in his 54 years on Earth: the wealthy heir to an auto supply company; a Navy SEAL; the founder of the mercenary firm Blackwater, which conducted a notorious 2007 massacre in the middle of Baghdad; the brother of Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s secretary of education; a shadow adviser to Trump; and the plaintiff in a lawsuit against The Intercept.

Erik Prince Calls for US to ‘Cleanse’ Africa and Latin America ‘Gaza Style’

Philippines: US moving to protect their Puppet BBM, says China is trying to destabilize him thru Duterte + China Challenged

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
rhk111’s Channel

US moving to protect their Puppet BBM, says China is trying to destabilize him thru Duterte

The comparison between Zelensky and BBM is very appropriate, not only are they suspected to be both Cocaine Addicts, but they are also now Puppets of the US who are willing to sacrifice their Country in War for the sake of serving the Interests of the US.

I am currently in the process of proofreading my paper and making necessary corrections. I hope to have it completed by Monday. If and when it gets updated, I’ll upload it here with my other documents.

Related:

China Challenged

Report to Congress on China-Philippines Tensions in the South China Sea

Guyana to Receive Pyrrhic Profits From ExxonMobil Oil Production

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The profits received by the Guyanese national treasury are minuscule compared to the enormous profits to be reaped by the US oil company ExxonMobil from the exploitation of crude oil in the Stabroek block, located in waters that have not yet been delimited with Venezuela. Although this fact has caused the historical dispute between both nations to heat up, it is paradoxical that Guyana is the least favored in this equation.

Guyana to Receive Pyrrhic Profits From ExxonMobil Oil Production

Five of Lenin’s Insights That Are More Pertinent Than Ever

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Today we mourn a hundred years since the physical death of one of our dearest comrades, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known to us as Lenin. It would be foolish, however, to think that his physical death meant the death of his ideas. Today, after a hundred years, Lenin’s ideas are as indispensable as ever. “They are mistaken when they think that his death is the end of his ideas”. This was told to us by Fidel Castro upon the death of Che Guevara, but it applies with equal accuracy to Lenin’s death.

Five of Lenin’s Insights That Are More Pertinent Than Ever

Guyanese Are Becoming Poorer Despite Living in World’s Fastest Growing Economy

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

With a GDP growth of over 63% in 2022, according to the World Bank, and an estimated GDP growth of about 38% in 2023, Guyana is frequently referred to as the world’s fastest-growing economy. The meteoric rise of Guyana’s GDP is almost entirely due to the exploitation of recently discovered oil reserves by US-based multinational petroleum corporation ExxonMobil, a company that traces its origins to Rockefeller’s Standard Oil company.

Guyanese Are Becoming Poorer Despite Living in World’s Fastest Growing Economy

Related:

Demographic profile

Guyana is the only English-speaking country in South America and shares cultural and historical bonds with the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana’s two largest ethnic groups are the Afro-Guyanese (descendants of African slaves) and the Indo-Guyanese (descendants of Indian indentured laborers), which together comprise about three quarters of Guyana’s population. Tensions periodically have boiled over between the two groups, which back ethnically based political parties and vote along ethnic lines. Poverty reduction has stagnated since the late 1990s. About one-third of the Guyanese population lives below the poverty line; indigenous people are disproportionately affected. Although Guyana’s literacy rate is reported to be among the highest in the Western Hemisphere, the level of functional literacy is considerably lower, which has been attributed to poor education quality, teacher training, and infrastructure.

Guyana’s emigration rate is among the highest in the world – more than 55% of its citizens reside abroad – and it is one of the largest recipients of remittances relative to GDP among Latin American and Caribbean counties. Although remittances are a vital source of income for most citizens, the pervasive emigration of skilled workers deprives Guyana of professionals in healthcare and other key sectors. More than 80% of Guyanese nationals with tertiary level educations have emigrated. Brain drain and the concentration of limited medical resources in Georgetown hamper Guyana’s ability to meet the health needs of its predominantly rural population. Guyana has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the region and continues to rely on international support for its HIV treatment and prevention programs.

CIA: World Fact Book

North Korea is sitting on trillions of dollars of untapped wealth

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

I’m sure that US corporations would love to exploit their minerals, too.

North Korea is sitting on trillions of dollars of untapped wealth

Few think of North Korea as being a prosperous nation. But it is rich in one regard: mineral resources.

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But however much North Korea could extract from other nations that way, the result would pale in comparison to the value of its largely untapped underground resources.

Below the nation’s mostly mountainous surface are vast mineral reserves, including iron, gold, magnesite, zinc, copper, limestone, molybdenum, graphite, and more—all told about 200 kinds of minerals. Also present are large amounts of rare earth metals, which factories in nearby countries need to make smartphones and other high-tech products.

Estimates as to the value of the nation’s mineral resources have varied greatly over the years, made difficult by secrecy and lack of access. North Korea itself has made what are likely exaggerated claims about them. According to one estimate from a South Korean state-owned mining company, they’re worth over $6 trillion. Another from a South Korean research institute puts the amount closer to $10 trillion.

North Korea has prioritized its mining sector since the 1970s (pdf, p. 31). But while mining production increased until about 1990—iron ore production peaked in 1985—after that it started to decline. A count in 2012 put the number of mines in the country at about 700 (pdf, p. 2). Many, though, have been poorly run and are in a state of neglect. The nation lacks the equipment, expertise, and even basic infrastructure to properly tap into the jackpot that waits in the ground.

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It doesn’t help that private mining is illegal in communist North Korea, as are private enterprises in general (at least technically). Or that the ruling regime, now led by third-generation dictator Kim Jong-un, has been known to, seemingly on a whim, kick out foreign mining companies it’s allowed in, or suddenly change the terms of agreements.

Despite all this, the nation is so blessed with underground resources that mining makes up roughly 14% of the economy.

A “cash cow”

China is the sector’s main customer. Last September, South Korea’s state-run Korea Development Institute said that the mineral trade between North Korea and China remains a “cash cow” for Pyongyang despite UN sanctions, and that it accounted for 54% (paywall) of the North’s total trade volume to China in the first half of 2016. In 2015 China imported $73 million in iron ore from North Korea, and $680,000 worth of zinc in the first quarter of this year.

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But South Korea has its own plans for the mineral resources. It sees them as a way to help pay for reunification (should it finally come to pass), which is expected to take decades and cost hundreds of billionsor even trillions of dollars. (Germany knows a few things about that.) Overhauling the North’s decrepit infrastructure, including the aging railway line, will be part of the enormous bill.

In May, South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport invited companies to submit bids on possible infrastructure projects in North Korea, especially ones regarding the mining sector. It argued that (paywall) the underground resources could “cover the expense of repairing the North’s poor infrastructure.”