Mr Lavrov grabs the imperial tiger by the tail and announces his main task

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 Chris Faure for The Saker Blog

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Russia's diplomatic offensive is designed to push back against America's innumerable crimes against its neighbors and across the planet. Too bad imperial propaganda continues to blind most US citizens to their country's despicable behavior. 

[dropcap]C[/dropcap]an you imagine the puce colored faces of indignation in the US house of exceptionalism when Mr Lavrov grabbed the imperial tiger by the tail during his 3-country trip to Latin America. His trip may not have been planned this way, but it gave an opportunity for Lavrov to resist the warmongering SOTU address of Mr Trump, where Trump again took aim at Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua with torrid rhetoric of regime change threats and bloviating boasting that the world again has respect for him. There is no respect as we will see from Lavrov’s words. Trump in his SOTU also claimed the hemisphere (yet again), and flamboyantly got a standing ovation out of the crowd when he excitedly presented the self-appointed Guaidó who acted just like the puppet he is. Imagine that, a standing ovation for a fake President from a lawmaking forum that is disengaged from reality, completely divided and in the process of creating yet another regime change, or two, or three.

At that moment, Lavrov changed his diplomatic colors and used his words like a Kalashnikov with no let-up. He Let Rip! Sometimes the greatest diplomatic resistance breakthroughs come during the most mundane and almost unnoticed periods of just that, diplomacy.  Lavrov brought a welcome message to Latin America, a message that will reinforce the sovereignty of nations and will give a brisk tailwind to the resistance to empire and imperialism.

First stop, Cuba:

This was muted and only the opening salvo, which then gained true stature in Mexico and reached crescendo in Venezuela. Lavrov spoke against imperialism, for trade, cultural exchange and friendly relations.

The notable take-aways:

“We can see that US attempts to reformat the Latin American region in line with its geopolitical interests aim to overthrow the “undesirable regimes” in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The archaic Monroe Doctrine serves as the ideological foundation. In the run-up to the presidential election, the White House continues to ratchet up sanctions against those states which preserve their national independence, sovereignty and identity. This openly anti-human policy runs counter to the generally accepted principles of international law, including the UN Charter. “

“We are expecting Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez to attend the events in Moscow to mark the 75th anniversary of Victory in WWII and the 60th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations. High Cuban delegations have also confirmed that they will be taking part in a number of other events due in the next few months, including the Moscow Conference on International Security, the St Petersburg International Legal Forum, the St Petersburg International Economic Forum and other occasions. Russian delegations, in turn, will participate in the upcoming University 2020 international educational forum in Havana. “

The final : “Russia and Cuba closely coordinate foreign policies. This coordination is based on adherence to the unshakable principles of international law, including respect for sovereign equality between states and non-intervention in their internal affairs.”

Take that Imperialist! and be exceedingly careful with what you plan to do in Cuba. They are our trade partners and our friends, is the message, once it is freed from diplospeak.

https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4022309

https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4021963

https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4022082

Second stop, Mexico:

Cool as a cucumber, (or as they say in this part of the world, ‘fresca como una lechuga’, fresh as a lettuce), Lavrov announced a planned military-technical co-operation with Mexico. Whaaat? Right in the imperialist back yard and in the country that is routinely ridiculed by the imperialists? Yes!

Military- technical means that they will sell to one another, and they will cooperate on things like helicopters, near inshore boats of the type that a coast guard uses which Mexico is very good at building and most probably manufacturing of smaller military equipment. We will see when Mexico and Russia hold a formal meeting on intergovernmental trade by the middle of this year.

The faffing and fluffing and mad cackling from the US house have not reached us yet, but will be a spectacle to enjoy. Lavrov spoke about trade, prospects, the emergent multi-polar world, against imperialism, for cultural exchange and friendly interaction between nations. He touched on a few trade subjects that will probably make the puce colored faces of the empire show a further distinct blue’ish shade of lack of oxygen.

On trade : “Lukoil is expanding its presence in Mexico, Mexico’s Nemak, a car components manufacturer, has a facility in the Ulyanovsk Region of Russia, and the GRUMA International Food has opened a plant in the Moscow Region. I have cited just a few examples. There are many more of them.

There are good prospects in view, as we have confirmed today, in energy, car-making, shipbuilding, the aircraft industry, the chemical industry, pharmaceuticals, rail transport and agriculture. We have made good progress in the area of military-technical cooperation: Mexico operates about 50 Russian-made helicopters and a helicopter servicing centre with a pilot-training school attached to it. There are prospects in this area as well.”

On the emergent multi polar world : “We discussed the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Russia is interested in seeing this region as an important element of the emerging multipolar world order both now and in the future. We exchanged views on specific crises which continue unabated in the Latin American region and agreed that the attempts to reanimate neo-colonial doctrines, such as the Monroe Doctrine, or to repeat the scenarios of the infamous colour revolutions are fraught with a dangerous increase in tension. We share similar views regarding the situation in and around Venezuela. Like Russia, Mexico stands for resolving the problems that exist and are piling up in that country exclusively through a dialogue between the government and the opposition and an inclusive dialogue between all significant political forces in that country.”

That was not all. Lavrov announced that Russia and Mexico are in agreement vis a vis Venezuela and will not accept any meddling there: “Russia and Mexico believe that it is necessary to address all of Venezuela’s problems by solely peaceful methods through dialogue between all political forces, rather than in line with the Monroe Doctrine, as Washington suggests, or through attempts to provoke an armed confrontation and to obtain a pretext for an armed interference.”

He upped the anti on the Monroe doctrine. In Cuba he described it as archaic. In Mexico, he described it as “insult to all Latin American countries” and certain translations of his speeches even called this doctrine “offensive”.

Sidebar: There is some background here. Mexico is known more for its drug cartels in certain Mexican States, than for its beauty as a country, which is a pity. The current president AMLO is trying to parley with these cartels hoping to get them into accepted non-drug business (following Putin’s initial model of the scourge of the Russian Oligarchs) but Trump threatened to declare the cartels as terrorists, which of course will give the US scope in their thinking and they want to fall into Mexico. The Mexican president spoke with Trump and hopefully told them that the cartels are integrated with the communities, and one cannot see who is cartel, and who not. Fred Reed has an interesting piece about this. Let’s invade Mexico.

https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4025776

https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4025790

Mr Lavov’s visit to Mexico is important, both from the perspective that the USMC agreement attempts to tie Mexico down to one major trade partner and is really not much different from the old NAFTA despite the rhetoric, as well as demonstrating paying respects to the country that the US most likes to disrespect.  The difference in approach, message and sheer graceful behaviour from Lavrov, compared to the imperialist bluster was stark and told a story, all of its very own.

Next up, Venezuela:

Mr Lavrov let rip and his opening remarks did not leave any room for guessing as to what the real situation is.

“Today Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and I discussed specific steps needed to ensure the timely and effective implementation of all the agreements. We paid special attention to the steps being taken by Venezuela and Russia to protect our trade and economic ties from the illegal sanctions and egregious pressure being exerted on Venezuela by the United States.”

Later on, in a speech at the continuous round table where all Venezuelans, including the opposition, are welcome to work to solve problems. He said:

“We condemn the illegitimate methods of financial and economic pressure being used against Venezuela. I am referring to the sanctions and the attempts of extra-territorial application of national legislation. These restrictions and totally illegitimate external pressure are the main causes of the economic recession in Venezuela.

The obvious objective is to foster discontent and provoke social unrest by blocking the operations of the financial, oil and gold producing sectors of the Venezuelan economy. It is obvious that these sanctions affect above all the ordinary people regardless of their political affiliations. It is especially disgraceful that the unilateral US sanctions are having a negative impact on the implementation of social and humanitarian projects. A glaring example of the consequences of the recent banking restrictions is the blocking of the treatment programme for cancer patients carried out through a joint Venezuelan-Spanish project.

We have no doubt that the lifting of sanctions as soon as possible is a key priority for all patriotic Venezuelans. I am sure that the participants of this round table are keenly focused on this topic.”

https://www.mid.ru/en_GB/press_service/video/-/asset_publisher/i6t41cq3VWP6/content/id/4028921

https://www.mid.ru/en_GB/press_service/video/-/asset_publisher/i6t41cq3VWP6/content/id/4029057

This was the end of the Venezuelan leg of Mr Lavrov’s visit to Latin America. This visit, his words and his actions are seriously discussed across Latin America.

But, the best was yet to come.

Mr Lavrov wants to do no less than rescue the UN Charter and considers this a very pressing task.

The initiative is again in stark contrast to imperialism. The charter was developed as an end to the 2^nd WW and of course negotiated with the major objective that our world cannot ever again get itself in a position to fight such a destructive war. The UN Charter can almost be considered as the main post Westphalian implementation of sovereignty of nations. The Peace of Westphalia was signed and agreed to after another war, the Thirty Years war and enshrined sovereignty of nations. The UN Charter applies that.

Mr Lavrov is busy rescuing this principle in order to work for The Peace.

The imperialist power is working for a ‘rules based international order’, where they make the rules. This is not a peaceful world that is hoped for in the ‘rules based international order’ but is a world of diktat and rule of force, indeed ‘offensive‘.

Mr Lavrov is committing to nothing less than to win the peace.

https://tass.com/politics/1117939

High on the agenda is the visa issuance for attending UN to do the work that sovereign nations must do to remain sovereign and to work peacefully with their neighbors. Withholding visas for attending the UN is now the new method of slinging weaponized feces from empire, as we see every step in our world becoming weaponized in the insane attempt to cling to outmoded and outdated empirical power.

https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4022026

Of course, the sanctioning of Venezuela’s domestic and international airline will effectively stop Venezuelans to do their work. I do believe that even this year we will see major changes to the UN and may even see parts of it break off to be seated in other countries.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/China-Russia-to-Defy-US-Sanctions-Over-Support-to-Venezuela-20200210-0005.html

In Latin America, the prevailing civilizational model is always a little to the pink side. People like their communal decisions and they enjoy their social cohesion and they work well together in this context. I would say that there would not even be one vassal state in the Latin Americas if it was not previously overthrown with an imposed rightist leadership. Mr Lavrov brought welcome news to Latin America by confirming that they are not wrong, they have the right to be sovereign in their own way, they have the right to respect and clearly, it is the time to resist imperialism. The help and support that he is offering is on the highest level, i.e., rescuing the principles of the UN Charter.

We need to refresh our own knowledge of that very good document even though in our current lifetime we saw the UN disintegrate into another weaponized mess. President Putin said somewhere in 2014 already that this august body has to be reformed as it is the only one we have. We know of course that the high ideals set forth in this document have been completely hijacked. You can make up your own mind as to who the hijackers are by refreshing your memory of the first two statements of the first two articles only.

Article 1

The Purposes of the United Nations are:

1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;

Article 2

The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.

1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.

This is what Mr Lavrov states that the world must rescue. He is working for no less than a return of the peace in our world and will take the imperial power right by the tail and twist that tail, to start achieving this. At this blog, we can extend the logo “Stop the Empire’s war on Russia” to, “Stop the Empire’s war on Russia and on The Peace.”

https://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/