explores the methods and patterns of u. s. foreign policy all around the world, and the history that reverberates in our lives. today. this week we'll examine latin america, america's neighbors to the south have taken center stage in u. s. domestic politics, whether democrats and republicans sparring over the mexican border or president biden. and donald trump house speaker, nancy pelosi, recognizing one guido as the president of venezuela, the u. s. has a lot of clean up by head with it's southern neighbors. then as the u. s. is preoccupied with a proxy war against russia in ukraine. china and russia are making moves across latin america, the 2 bricks giants aiming to add a new south american ally to the roster and broker business deals. embracing the left turn that latin america is taking. will this cause a hemispheric shift?

all right, it's time to get into the m. o. i . luis, ignacio da silva, better known simply as lula, brazil's one time president from 2003 to 2010 is out of prison. and back on the campaign trail. lula is staging a political come back and a soaring in the poles in brazil against incumbent j. your bull sonata, with a nickname of his own trump, of the tropics. wilson. otto struck a trompe and populous nerve before but with lula, the left us leader now cleared to run for office again following a u. s. backed corruption bust known as operation car wash. lula has a bone to pick with the u. s. d o j. and the security exchange commission who took part in an elaborate international investigation which many brazilians viewed as pull it,

we motivated some even calling it american interference in their domestic affairs. meanwhile, in venezuela, home of the world's largest oil reserves president nicholas maduro won a 2nd term, survived an assassination attempt, and remains president after what most of the world deems a coup attempt by the west. with the u. s. and u. k. choosing a recognized former parliamentarian won why doe, instead as the president, now this was bipartisan recognition on the part of american politicians, but as the u. s. gasoline prices began to skyrocket. in april 2022, the u. s. seemed to abandon guido and sent a delegation to effectively ask the maduro administration for help with oil supplies, but that visit didn't go as the biden administration had hoped. so when the u. s. hosted the summit of the americas this year in los angeles. they left

a few key latin countries off the invite list like venezuela, nicaragua, and cuba. now this party f o par, not boating. well, across the southern nations with key countries like mexico turning down biden's invite. what then is plan b for the bite in administration in dealing with this new hostility from its southern neighbors. and joining us to discuss the very fluid relationship between the u. s. and south america, let's bring in doctor enrique rivera. he's a historian and author of the new book, the untold history of capitalism with international press. and re gay. good to see you. thank you for joining us. first. i'd like your read on the upcoming brazilian elections. it's huge, it's, it's a huge deal. so while, so nato has been a bit of a, a difficult figure to peg. he's an admirer of trump. and so when trump was an

office, there was a certain affinity there. but and there were some indications that that he was kind of a, a counter hedge, a monic figure. but in the end of the day, kind of as in the history of latin america, right, when figures have tended to follow the dictates of washington. and so in the end of the day he did end up doing that. and so he, he was a major ally in regards to cutting off relations with dennis. well i, which was a principal. ready aim of the u. s. government to isolate bennett will resume largest country in latin america, both in geographical space as, as well as in population. and so they also supported the us back qu in bolivia, a couple of years ago. and,

and they even offered was not personally just. ready offered political asylum for janine and yes. who, who was the head figure of the crew in bolivia and so lula has always kind of been a device of figure within the u. s. political establishment. he's been kind of seen as when he started out. he was certainly seen as kind of a reformer someone that could be worked with. but i think his, his for res into, into launching these spearheading these international movements like bricks and sued alba, etc. you know, like kind of his true colors as, as best basically practical answers, imperialist came through and, and so the hardliners in washington certainly don't see his coming to office with

favor. it's going to be an interesting situation. lula has a bone to pick. as you mentioned, with the united states, he's calling out the united states on, on, on nato's aggression against, against russia. which and the spurred the invasion of ukraine or, and so, so yeah, it's going to be an interesting thing. what we're going to see, what plays out. yeah, lou, my last i checked, he has consistently been pulling in double digits ahead of both scenario. so if lula does indeed win as anticipated, can the us men relations with lou? i mean, i know they helped roman prison and all of that, especially since he recently issued those strong words against the u. s. and the sanctions that the u. s. imposed on russia. you know, he actually told time magazine that these sanctions are now hurting the entire world. so with that said, i mean, can the binded administration make amends with lula?

well, i think that the u. s. as they do, i think they're going to take multiple approaches. i think the white house in the state department are certainly going to be saying nice things publicly, while behind closed doors, they are certainly going to be continuing to fund opposition to lula and certainly going to be trying to get him out of office. i think that lula himself, i think, i think he's beyond the point of, of where he thinks that he can rely on the west. as a partner, i think that he does seem to realize that that the u. s. has perceived interest really go against the reality of the interest of the people, the united states and certainly those of brazil. and so i think the cats out of the bag as far as he is concerned. but he is a practical politician. he is going to be limited by what exactly he can do. he's

is his strong polling numbers come because he's the most popular political figure in brazil, but he's also. ready cast a wide net politically and he's brought more moderate forces into his tent. and so people that are more a, mainly both to the united states. and so it's going to be a balancing act. what about the summit of the americas? the summit is, is still fairly young in its tenure, but it's meant to be a summit for countries in the western hemisphere to openly and freely discuss issues at hand. the biden administration left out venezuela, nicaragua, and cuba from the invite list. and then this led to a cascade of other leaders, either declining the invite altogether or sending, you know, perhaps even were sending some lower ranking official in the president's place. what was the read of the summit to you? and cuz you're there in los angeles. yeah, it was a disaster. well,

the official summit was a disaster. interestingly, there was a parallel people's summit that was attended by thousands people which was organized by various grass roots, political organizations in the united states, and, and also solve delegations from been as well from cuba. they made their way to the people summit, which was much more celebrated event than, than the official summit. the summit was a disaster. it, it really could be seen as, as a turning point historically, because excuse me, i mean, the, you know, the fact that mexico refused to attend because of the u. s. is black listing of the 3 countries you, you mentioned is a huge deal. i mean,

mexico has been in the u. s. s pocket for about 90 years now until love us or whatever, who's actually a lunar type figure. and it's interesting to bring those parallels to him because you see that balancing act in the united states. they say nice things publicly, high close doors meant they can't wait to get rid of this guy. but the thing is, the times have changed mexico's a big country with a bigger economy and so is brazil. and so the days of the united states, you know, picking and choosing leaders, moving chessboard according to, to their, their designs, those days are largely over, not to say that they're not trying, and they don't have certain successes. they do. but their powers is so much more limited than it used to be. and so i think you can look at this summit as, as really a turning point. and us latin american relations. you know, mexico refused to go and refuse to go. these are 2 countries that, that were, you know, under us especially has been virtually a u. s. colony for most of the 20th and 24th century. so huge blow to united states

into the, into the reputation international. and now some of the states that you just rattled off right there. let's, let's keep our eye on that because we cannot talk about us relations in south america without discussing the school of the americas or wisc or whatever. they're branding it as nowadays when fact maybe graduates from this u. s. military training program has proven to be and re k, some of the most violent, the cruelest dictators seen in latin america going as far back as the 1950 s, the u. s. intervention in guatemala and the 1950s has shifted the political landscape there for the rest of the 20th century. so what are your final thoughts on so, and, and how the u. s. continues to interfere in latin american domestic issues by continually bringing in these military leaders. yeah, i mean, so, i mean,

and it's various incarnations have been have been disastrous for, for, for the region. i actually just taught a course that you see a, let me know a, as you mentioned this past quarter, and i told students look, there is absolutely, we went through the the u. s. support the 30 wars in south america. the civil wars. ringback in central america and the eighty's and, and then we compared those those situations with human rights today and venezuela and cuba because i was and there really is no comparison at all. i mean, tube and swelling our, our country's nick, what today's the different during the civil war. but these aren't places where you see disappearances where you see massacres and where you see genocides. united states has actively supported, actively supported provided entail. trained through the school of the americas and overseen operations of torture of massacres and of genocide,

the worst being in 1980 to 9900. 83 us back dictator. you're smart. in guatemala, the extermination of over 2 100000 indigenous people. systematic, extermination of 200000 people. this was under the watchful eye of the united states and in fact, elliot abrams not too long ago when, when being grilled by an omar, you know, i had to defend his statement that well, it was worth it, you know, the bloodshed was, was worth it. my mother's home country of all thought would work. there's something massacre with thousands of civilian tens of thousands of civilians taken out of their homes and massacred by us trained military officials, children thousands of children's modern. so it's, it's really been a disaster to say that the united states, the excuse that the united states says that they are getting involved in

u. s. i. latin american affairs because of human rights is, is not anything that can be held up by any evidence. it's, it's quite the contrary. yeah, i have to have to agree. it looks like the evidence on the ground shows that it's exactly the opposite of what they're presenting to us at dr. enrique gay rivera. thank you so much for sharing your expert insight with us today. i look forward to talking with you again, my friend, thank you. thank you. and next as us, south america relation, sour bricks, members are expanding their influence. when we return, we'll take a look at how china and russia are seizing the opportunities arising from american errors down south. ah ah,

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a, with o, as the bite in administration, struggles to find its footing in south america. china and russia, on the other hand, are expanding their reach and their influence across the global south. the 2 bricks nations are looking to add argentina to the block, which would give south america to members from that continent. for russia. it's not the candidate state who is the biggest economic ally in south america. it's actually brazil, while neither brazil nor argentina joined the u. s in sanctions against moscow. j

or boston auto actually asked the w t o to allow his country to continue trading fertilizer with russia, which is needed for soybean production in brazil, outside of the block, russia has found allies in venezuela and nicaragua. meanwhile, china is all ready. the continents taught trading partner in 2019 chinese investments in the continent exceeded $13000000000.00 and the trade between the l. a. c zone that is the latin american and caribbean with china topped 300000000000. so already 18 of $33.00 latin countries have signed up to be part of china's belt and rhode initiative. but south com seems to find this growing relationship with china. quite disturbing and paints a nefarious picture about beijing's intentions. and here to discuss the number of business deals happening below the equator. is juan ricardo ortega,

he's an economist and has worked for a number of colombian government agencies and international banks. one, thank you so much for being with us. first, let's talk about south com, the u. s. military's command overseeing south america, finding that russia and china's relations relationships rather in the region. a little bit unnerving to put it lightly. historically, the u. s. was the dominant force in the region, both militarily and economically. but over the last decade, we are seeing a shift. why? because china is willing to bet you know that the social then, you know, very case enormous. you can perfectly see that in the political chiefs all over the continent got to see and left his ornaments from chile all the way to mexico. and the chinese are willing to invest significantly on the land resources. and unfortunately, the u. s. car went through and regarding climate change, there's been very strong positions against gas on methane,

on oil. and these are the main staples that pro, i think, strong currency from america. i need the international banks are not willing to fund these products. and the chinese are, is very difficult to us. the society is to caught their main source of income. yes . for a bigger, delayed international level in an agenda that a lot in america actually has very little to say, no, they go and he backed on carbon emissions to live in america, is minimal. so why should it be the one that goes to the main source of income at this point in time? that's why china is i will play a very significant role in the region going forward. and it makes sense to go where the money is. now venezuela, nicaragua, and cuba were left off, jo biden's invite list for the summit of the americas this year. as it was the u. s . turned to host was this predicated? do you think one on their friendly relations with russia? most likely, you've seen the old bird actually on behalf of the one war meant,

taurus, russia, they have a big basement in it. lanes airport that can land lumbers that would feed the ones that russia has a clearly against most of the regions. values regarding them all cra, transparent, and open elections. and the same been as well. and russian support for those are being one of the reasons why they've been able to sustain the current systems that are totally against that in a crappy values. the u. s. purchasing the route and china is huge, footprint in south america is obviously undeniable. as you had pointed out, is the u. s. d o. d being paranoid about beijing's influence and their motives in latin america? i think that are practical reasons why china is looking at the region. one of their main concerns is,

is having sources of foodstuffs and latin america is very rich on that regard. no, we have got all, we have chicken, we have solid beans. and most of that stuff that the chinese people might need can be source from up in america. and that he'd like to make an advantage on some of the raw materials that china lacks can be found in america. it was the case of lithium in mexico on the case of gold in columbia or iraq from from brazil. so you have one of the countries that have some of the key inputs for the chinese economy . and it makes a lot of sense for those relationships to go a to it is stronger and deeper economic in the relationship between china and america. unfortunately they do it. ready as they can a step by and we've, there is a void, it always will be, feel, yeah, that, that is how capitalism works. isn't it now? does the us somehow feel entitled to this, you know, hedge a monic rule in the western hemisphere,

despite critics saying the u. s. has the worst history in the stabilizing governments in latin america? ah, in the case of columbia different i will say that they would extremely constructive in allowing columbia to strengthen the system to show not being able to rebuild after many years of internal conflict on the support of the us was critical back in the seventy's for sure that the u. s. had no firing influence both and she laid on what my law, i'm probably new and he got out what. but later times i would say they've been more constructive and they are very strong values regarding lever the freedom of speech, open democracy, a capitalistic markets. and that, that could change because for the chinese, those are not all the same priorities. they care more about the economic wrote, parity and economy came to relationships than human rights or democracy. and that

for the us is a concern. and definitely that is achieved regarding some of decisions in the region. yes, it definitely sounds like a different goals from 2 different countries here to different world leaders. last thing, one, what are your projections about latin america and the direction they will move in the 21st century? will they be moving towards the east and away from the u. s. they chinese influence is going to grow significantly all the embarrassments regarding electric vehicles, all the transport trains, the chinese leadership, even some of the key infrastructure might be in the electric sector with the have very big investments. you've been doing chill in brazil and they're going to be looking at gordon central america as well. and you don't see, as you is ivy gwin best sort to participate in this economy. so the chinese, i'm going to be the ones taking the lead and that economic integration will give

them political leverage. so for sure, the region is going to be moving towards the east very quickly and unbelievers significantly. yeah, i think there's going to be a lot. we're going to see coming out of the new bricks unions and all the people getting added to bricks and excited to see what that will bring for the future and the 21st century with latin america. thank you so much, economist one ricardo ortega, thank you for being with us today. my pleasure. none are being with you. i have a great oh and that is going to do it for this week's episode of modus operandi there show that dig deep into foreign policy. i'm your how is manila chan? thank you for tuning and we'll see you again next time to figure out the ammo. ah, my name is frank, i'm a retired from philadelphia. got in the movement,

in the age of 13, going 14 to we were violent towards those people because we believe that word is raised. we're here 1st and this is our country being part of that movement. i got your sense of power. when i felt powerless, i got attention when i felt invisible and accepted when i talked to level life after hey, is an organization that was founded by 40, skin has neo nazi white supremacists in the u. s. in canada. and they found each other and they knew that they wanted to help other guys get out was 2 parts to getting out of a violent extreme was good. the 1st part is disengagement, which is where you leave the social group. and then the next part is d, radicalization. work belief systems. audiology are removed. it was very impactful. when someone finally came along with no fear, no judgement, you heard my story did nothing to challenge it. validate

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