Venezuelan Air Space

US president Donald Trump has announced that the American Air Force is closing the skies of Venezuela. Following months of mounting tension between the two nations, the US leader said on Truth Social, “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” The specific meaning and limitations of that announcement have not been further clarified by Trump or other members of the administration or the military.  Many flights into and out of Venezuela have been cancelled or rerouted in response to the seeming threat. 

This comes during a period when the American Navy has been carrying out bombings of what it claims are drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea, including in or near Venezuelan waters. Further revelations have come out about alleged “double tap” strikes on the suspected drug boats, intended to ensure that there are no survivors. These stories have drawn some criticism from the global community, with UN General Secretary António Guterres warning that the strikes may be in violation of international law. While it is unlikely there will be any indictments over the issue, time will tell how effective that deterrent is or how this newest phase of the partial blockading of Venezuela will develop. 

A Great Documentary

Such a great new documentary on Frontline by the Oscar-winning filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov about the war in Ukraine. Terrifying, but also a great reminder of how much has been sacrificed by brave men (and women)-at-arms in the fight for national freedom. Something very important to watch in the current political moment of talks about a "peace deal."

Hard Soup to Follow

An executive at the Campbell’s Soup Company was recorded making wild and angry statements about the quality of the company’s products. Martin Bally, who is now on leave pending an investigation into the incident, claimed for over an hour in a leaked rant that “We have shit for fucking poor people” and that the meat “came from a 3D printer.” He also goes on to lambast “fucking Indians.” 

The audio recording was leaked by a former employee, who was allegedly fired after making a complaint about the call to the company. That employee is now suing his former employer over wrongful termination and workplace hostilities. For their part, Campbell’s has issued a statement saying that all the claims made by Bally are “patently false,” and that they do not in fact use a printer to make their chicken. Unsurprisingly, the company’s stock took quite a hit following the leak, though it is unlikely the threat will be mortal in the long term.

Bolsonaro Update

Continuing controversy in the case of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The fiery right-wing leader was convicted of attempting to lead a coup after his election loss to current President Lula da Silva in 2022. However, that trial and its outcome have been the source of great contention in the highly polarized political world of Brazil. Accusations of biases from the Supreme Federal Court’s most powerful justice (who was himself a target of the alleged plot) have been leveled by many on the right. US President Trump himself criticized the imprisonment of his political ally. Still, it came as a further surprise when Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the ex-President to be taken from house arrest into police custody on the 15th. The reason for that provocative decision was apparently that Bolsonaro’s ankle monitor had been tampered with. The authorities later reported that Bolsonaro had attempted to use a soldering iron on the device to remove it. There is concern amongst those in the justice system that Bolsonaro is a flight risk, as he has made previous indications of wanting to leave the country. For now, he remains in custody, continuing to serve his 27-year sentence.

The Steam Machine

The new gaming console from PC videogame titan Steam has been announced. A long time in the making, this new product brings the company into direct market competition with such industry behemoths as Microsoft and Sony. Gabe Newell, the company’s billionaire founder and longtime head praised the announcement of the “Steam Machine”, which would deliver many more options for the largest section of gaming fans: console gamers. Still, the price of this new hardware is a point of contention. Many expect the retail to be as high as one thousand dollars USD. Some fear it may be higher. Still, the announced specs on the Steam Machine are very impressive and the general sentiment surrounding the release is largely positive. Only time will tell if Steam will be able to break into the oligopoly of the console gaming market.

Chile Election

The first round of the Chilean national elections last Sunday showed some important clues as to the future of the South American nation. Current Minister of Labor and Social Welfare and Communist Party member Jeannette Jara led the field with 26.8% of the vote. However, four other candidates received double-digit shares. All four nominees are strongly right-wing, meaning that the majority of voters are likely to throw their support behind Jara’s runoff election rival José Antonio Kast. 

Kast, a lawyer running a third time for the presidency, received 23.9% of the vote. He has a long history in politics, being involved in right-wing movements and think tanks since the 1990s. A member of a prominent and influential conservative family, Kast’s father was a German immigrant and Nazi party member turned sausage salesman who fled to Chile after World War II. Several of his siblings have also been involved in politics, such as his late brother Miguel, who was an economist in the Chicago School vein that ran the central bank under Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in the 20th century. Kast shares similar views with many of his family members, believing in neoliberal economic strategies and staunchly conservative social policies. He is against abortion, same-sex marriage, open immigration, and birth control. 

The fifty-nine year old’s hard-right views are the practical antithesis of his main opponent’s, and of those of the incumbent president, Gabriel Boric. The seeming ideological drift by voters from an avowed communist president to perhaps the most right-wing platform since Pinochet shows how much the political landscape has changed in three years. Kast ran his campaign on promises to crack down on organized crime and illegal immigration. Dissatisfaction with the Boric administration’s failure to deliver on some of its promises, as well as a lack of any viable political center to turn to, may have helped propel the relatively extreme candidate into the position of favorite in the upcoming election. 

While he has yet to make it past the goal post, a Kast government would likely lead to some problematic outcomes. Less of the federal budget would be allocated to popular social programs, instead being relocated to funding the police and military. There would also be questions about Chile’s large lithium reserve, toward which the current government has promoted protectionist policies in order to prevent exploitation by foreign actors and increase government revenue. A Kast presidency would also certainly be more amiable with current right-wing leaders, such as Javier Milei of Argentina and Donald Trump. In turn, relations might become more strained with local left-wing governments like Brazil and Colombia. Regardless of who ends up winning the runoff election on December 14th, the outcome will have a great impact on the future of both Chile and the wider region.

Airball

When can a decision be understood to have been completely incorrect? When it draws widespread condemnation from the public? Surely not, as unpopular decisions have sometimes been redeemed by an unexpected success. But when a decision leads to serious failure and results in the person who made said decision losing their job, surely the choice made must be declared unequivocally a failure. 

Such was the sad case of Nico Harrison, the general manager of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team. The decision in question was of course choosing to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2024 season. Doncic, the 26-year-old Slovenian powerhouse and face of the franchise, was expected by everyone, including himself, to be a mainstay in the Dallas lineup for years to come. But, in a trade that baffled management and the public alike, the Mavericks gave up their young star in exchange for what seemed to be much less: two decent players from the Lakers and a good draft position for the following year. 

The rationale for the move was seemingly that Doncic was underperforming and overweight, and that the team needed to focus on its defense, thus trading for the nearly seven-foot-tall center Anthony Davis. Still, this line of reason did little to quell the outrage amongst the fans, who routinely held up signs at games reading “fire Nico”. 

But they didn’t, at least not at first. And in the draft the Mavericks were able to pick first, securing the coveted 18-year-old foreword. Any hope that this would mean a turnaround in the Mavericks’ fortunes was not to be. Plagued by injuries and lackluster performances, Dallas performed poorly, sitting at a current record of 3-10. Meanwhile, a slimmed-down Luka Doncic was averaging 33 points a game, helping the Lakers become one of the best teams in the West. By early November general management had seen enough, and Nico Harrison was let go. And thus the largest airball in modern NBA history finally hit the ground

The Caribbean Waters Heat Up

This week there was a contentious meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Colombia. President (and dictator) Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela called on other nations to resist increased US military activity and pressure in the region. This came after a wave of US bombings of alleged drug trafficking boats which have been controversial in the international scene, drawing some condemnation from local countries and even the UN. 

Criticism came strongest from allies of the Venezuelan regime, particularly other left-wing Latin American leaders, such as Brazil’s Lula da Silva who claimed that “old rhetorical maneuvers are being recycled to justify illegal interventions.” Talks to bring about some form of reconciliation in the matter have largely been ineffective during the summit. 

Another point of contention has been Venezuela’s refusal to endorse a final joint declaration of the nations, despite participating in the negotiations throughout. This was over both the lack of a direct naming of the US in a discussion of regional maritime security, as well as the call for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. Venezuela has had close ties to Russia, a fellow oil exporter that routinely pressures its allies to advance its own political agenda. As long as the Maduro regime maintains its grip on power in the country, any initiatives supportive of Ukraine in the southern half of the western hemisphere are bound to lead nowhere. 

All in all, it looks like both the Venezuelan and American governments are content to puff their chests and flex their metaphorical muscles at one another as the rest of the world looks on in worry. As the situation in the Caribbean progresses, we will continue to monitor and report any important developments here, which may be many in the coming weeks.