President Putin Stirs The Pot In Latin America

A midst the chaos in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is extending his influence in America's backyard - Cuba.  During his visit to Havana, two weeks ago, Putin signed an agreement with Raul Castro in energy, industry and trade;  and both leaders opened talks that will lead to a Russian military base in Cuba.  They also signed a space cooperation agreement to allow Russia to set up its Glonass navagation stations (Russia's equivalent to GPS).  Now, President Putin is negotiating with Venezuela and Nicaragua to establish naval bases in those countries.  Not since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, has Russia posed such a threat to America's sphere of influence - Latin America.  And with Putin's continuing flagrant disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty, Western countries have every reason to be worried about this rogue nation.

For these reasons and the international outrage over the destruction of Malaysian flight 17 last week, the U.S. and Europe have tightened the screws on the Russian economy by issuing stronger sanctions yesterday.  These new measures hit Russia's banks, oil industry and military.  If they work, Russia's already sluggish economy will contract even more.  Western business interests will continue to leave, banks will call their loans, Russian oligarchs will suffer a decrease in wealth and the Russian people will feel the pinch in their employment and pocket books.  Will this tightening economic squeeze push Putin and the Ukrainian separatists to the negotiating table?  Possibly.  But remember Putin the man - he does not like to lose and his personal popularity in Russia has soared since the annexation of Crimea and arming the rebels in eastern Ukraine.

In a July 30th editorial, the Wall Street Journal put it this way:  "As Ukraine's military counteroffensive pushes back the rebels, President Putin now faces a choice - cut losses and drop the rebels, or ramp up support and possibly send in the real Russian army....... it was the very specific fear of a widening war in Europe that prompted Germany and other EU countries to act (by issuing stronger sanctions yesterday).  However, the best way to prevent that is to help Ukraine defend itself
 from a Russian attack by providing it with weapons".

Stay tuned for future developments and keep an eye on Russian expansion into Latin America.