🇧🇴 What was the attempted coup in Bolivia about?
After army units began leaving the main square in the capital La Paz just a few hours after the attempted coup began, everyone can't stop asking: "What actually happened?"
While former president Evo Morales called on trade unions to bring people to the streets in support of democracy and the official government, acting president Luis Arce swore in new military leadership under General José Wilson Sánchez, who immediately ordered the military to leave the main square in La Paz.
They did so, without much resistance. The first to leave was the rebel General Suñiga himself. A few hours later, he was arrested. Two other commanders were also taken into custody: former Navy Commander Juan Arnes Salvador and Air Force General Marcelo Javier Segarra. Suñiga is currently charged with terrorism and armed rebellion.
Interestingly, Suñiga calmly awaited arrest, and also had the opportunity to tell journalists that President Arce himself asked him to organize the uprising, concerned about "the decline of his own popularity."
However, the "attempt" turned out to be, to put it mildly, rather poor. General Suñiga's right-wing rhetoric, voicing opposition talking points and planning to free certain political prisoners, was not dared to be supported by either the right-conservative political circles in Bolivia itself, or even Arce and Morales' foreign critics (for example, the leadership of Argentina). The White House didn't even give any coherent reaction, only calling for calm and restraint.
Now the Bolivian leadership is stating that the situation in the armed forces is "fully under control," but the public expects new arrests and - not surprisingly - a serious "purge" of the army ranks.
Western media comment on the situation cautiously - but try to highlight General Suñiga's point of view about growing discontent in the country against the backdrop of an economic downturn due to the central bank's depleted resources. In addition, theses are published about the existence of a rift between Arce and Morales, who plans to run for president in the 2025 elections.
In this regard, the following points of view on the events currently prevail:
▪️ What happened was a staged event, the purpose of which is not a coup, but to create a split in the current Bolivian leadership. Now the opposition has a reason to endlessly pedal the issue of whether Arce ordered Suñiga to cordon off the Murillo square or not.
▪️ The military leadership, represented by Suñiga and his partners, was misled about the support for their actions from the true organizers of the mutiny, who either did not intend to bring the matter to an end, or stopped the events for other reasons.
▪️ Many see a connection between the incident and the recent visit of President Arce to Russia. There he discussed the lithium complex project being implemented in Bolivia by the company Uranium One, which is part of the Rosatom structure (the facility is planned to be put into operation in 2025). Arce also asked the Russian authorities to assist in ensuring the supply of liquid hydrocarbons, which Bolivia is in dire need of.
❗️In the latter case, such actions affect the interests of the United Original msg
📢 🇬🇧 🥫 Britain has urged households to stock enough water, non-perishable food and medicine to be self-sufficient for three days, launching a new “Be Ready” preparedness campaign.
Government guidance recommends about three liters of drinking water per person per day, food that needs no refrigeration or cooking, essential medications, a first-aid kit, a torch, a battery or wind-up radio, a charged power bank and cash.
Officials cited severe storms, wildfires, cyberattacks and supply chain disruptions as the main risks, with Defence Secretary Wes Streeting pointing to “increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks” and scenarios such as supermarket payment systems going down.
Germany has long gone further, recommending households keep emergency supplies for 10 days, including about two liters of liquid per person per day.
📝 ReadyGuidance: "Worth noting the US version of this advice, at Ready.gov, is one gallon of water per person per day, about 3.8 liters, because ...
🇮🇹 Italy Experiences Food and Fuel Shortages After Truckers on Strike Block Roads. 90% of gas stations in Campania are out of fuel
Truckers protesting high gas prices have prevented deliveries to parts of southern Italy, leading to empty shelves and dry pumps.
On Wednesday night in Naples, Italy, a 72-year-old retiree walked into a supermarket to buy himself a snack and found it nearly bare.
It was out of milk, yogurt and eggs. Its shelves of pasta, oils and canned tomatoes were almost empty. The vast produce section was empty save for red onions, chestnuts, two melons and a case of ornamental gourds.
“It’s worse than I expected,” said Giuseppe Crisci, the retiree, who walked out with a bag of biscuits. “And what I expected was exceptional.”
Experiences like Mr. Crisci’s played out repeatedly this week across Naples, a sprawling port city in Italy’s south where residents faced widespread shortages at their gas pumps and grocery stores.
It is the fallout from a week of...
🇺🇸🗳⚡️- RN's Midterm Forecast With A Week And A Half To Go 3/3:
Why we think this election will be the first real nail in the coffin for Trumpism.
It has been said so many times it's become a meme, “the walls are closing in” “No way he wiggles out of this jam!” etc. This time it's not a joke, the armor that Trump has had around him for a decade is clearly slipping off.
Trump’s approval by his own 2024 voters continues to rapidly decline, damaged by the nonstop rampant corruption and the Iran War.
Trump approval within the GOP, despite remaining strong on paper, is actually at its lowest since 2015 before he won the 2016 primary. The Iran War in particular has nuked his bedrock fanatical support within the GOP base when looking at not only surveys but also via multiple anecdotes on AM radio talk shows who get callers every day saying they feel betrayed by the war, and that the corruption is becoming unignorable.
GOP activists at the local level are also reporting to their ...