Michael Paarlberg

I’m confused by what you are debating here but pretty sure we are talking past each other

My point was about Trump’s likelihood of going to war, not his moral character

Big difference between killing people on boats who can’t shoot back and putting troops on the ground

Note that he says this a lot

America’s Unraveling on Screen Recent movies depict a future where anti-politics has triumphed, defined by vigilantism, insurgencies and violence

For the class I teach on Latin American politics, I do a vigilantism theme film arc with Cartel Land, La Sierra: Muerte en Medellin and El Secreto de sus ojos. Students go from vigilantism is good to vigilantism is bad to vigilantism reflects broken institutions and poisons the soul.

Trump Said to Authorize C.I.A. Plans for Covert Action in Venezuela

I guess he figured the problem with all the earlier plans was they were too covert

Podcast: Bukele and Washington: Honeymoon, Breakup, and Back Together Nayib Bukele has dealt with three U.S. administrations. He went from conservative darling to pariah under the early Biden years’ anti-corruption agenda. Outmaneuvering the Democrats, Bukele bet on Tru...

Podcast: Bukele has dealt with three US administrations. He went from conservative darling to pariah under the early Biden years’ anti-corruption agenda. Outmaneuvering the Democrats, Bukele’s bet on Trump catapulted him back to the seat of US power. beta.elfaro.net/en/a-region-...

The fact that this announcement comes the same day Trump says he’s not going to war with Venezuela suggests this is a concession to Rubio, whose wings were just clipped, as talks with Maduro resume. It could give false hope to those hoping for a US-led regime change that Trump has less interest in.

It’s even dumber. “Cartel del sol” was a journalistic shorthand originally used to describe two Venezuelan generals whom the DEA accused the CIA of conspiring with to smuggle cocaine into the US, a scandal reported by 60 Minutes in “The CIA’s Cocaine” youtu.be/IF-IYdsFGrw

One has to wonder how much of a role this played in Noboa’s across-the-board loss today in Ecuador’s referendum vote, which included a proposal to reopen military bases to a US counternarcotics presence

Only for the first round :(

Not true! This year there’s two Nazis running and splitting the Nazi vote

Given that the embargo strengthens the Cuban government and hurts capitalists, and that espionage is really the only thing the govt does competently, I wouldn’t be surprised if the embargo’s perpetuation is the result of them embedding spies in Florida as pro-embargo lobbyists.

It isn’t true, however, that the embargo does not cause harm. It makes it harder for Cuba’s private sector - the only sector that is keeping people fed by importing food from the US, as state agriculture output has collapsed - to secure financing. So it hurts entrepreneurs more than the government.

This is correct. The embargo does nothing to undermine the Cuban government, and in fact strengthens it by giving it a convenient scapegoat. So what’s the justification for maintaining it?

A good portion of interactions on here:

OP: Here’s something I find interesting (link to an article)

Anon crypto account: I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about crypto!

OP: I don’t share your enthusiasm for crypto

Anon: How dare you not share my niche interest! Brainwashed sheep!

Sorry, are you two the same account? Why not post under your regular one?

Sure, but in the case of El Salvador in particular, there are extensive connections to money laundering, both domestic (Texis Cartel) and foreign (PDVSA). And for BTC in El Salvador, the promise of widespread use for transactions or remittances failed to take hold.

Yes yes we all know you anon crypto accounts treat it like a religion and search for anyone who does not adhere to the faith like the Spanish Inquisition. But for normal people, we wonder why states like Russia, Iran and North Korea are such avid crypto users.

He and some govt officials are using it. They rolled out the chivo wallet for the general population and most people cashed out the $30 and never used it again.

I believe the Bitcoin adoption was for money laundering, and also a gambit to turn to the crypto industry as lenders of last resort when their bonds were junk and an IMF loan looked unlikely. Once the Biden admin helped get the IMF on board, he quickly downgraded Bitcoin.

Bukele and Washington: Honeymoon, Breakup, and Back Together Podcast Episode · Central America in Minutes · 11/14/2025 · 26m

“Bukele made a risky bet. Once Trump is gone, and perhaps even before, what happens to Bukele's deal? Especially if this MS-13 Ranfla case comes out in court” I tell @elfaroenglish.bsky.social in their episode of Central America in Minutes on the ups and downs of US-El Salvador diplomacy.

One of the positive things about this scandal is it’s a handy list of people who should never have a say in public policy ever again

Stakes rise as Trump deploys world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean Expert says military action may be ‘imminent’ in Venezuela, while others suspect deployment is a negotiating tactic

I’d say the US military readiness alert level today is at EPSTEIN-3

Since the official story is that the naval deployment to Venezuela is about drug trafficking and not regime change, I’d like someone to ask what the aircraft carrier is for. Does Tren de Aragua have F-16s?

But then the average blue collar American worker today would be a Black or Latina woman who’s a retail store cashier or clerk in a city government agency and that’s not what Trump thinks blue collar looks like.

If Trump and the GOP really wanted to help the working class, they’d focus on raising standards in the service sector where most blue collar workers work today, which means helping them unionize.

A MAGA Senator Promised Hope for a Dying Ohio Mill. Then Reality Set In.

Very on brand for the new pro-worker, pro-manufacturing GOP for a senator to promise mill workers he’ll save their jobs, make threats to a company, get non-committal promises they don’t follow through on, then walk away with most of the workforce fired and the union destroyed

3. Rubio and Hegseth were given a long leash by Trump while he was focused on more pressing matters, like naming a football stadium after himself, and when Congress started asking questions, he realized it could end badly and stepped back in. I find this most likely.

2. Orders were given before Trump just changed his mind.