Rubio and the Return of the Monroe Doctrine

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Florida senator Marco Rubio (R.) to lead the State Department. Rubio is, among other things, a full-spectrum opponent of China's nefarious activities, and the news of his nomination dismayed the soft-on-China crowd. He is also tough on Iran and should focus America's diplomats on promoting the nation's interests rather than exporting the culture wars. But Rubio's most distinctive foreign policy contribution is likely to be in Latin America, where he can bring the Monroe Doctrine back to the center of U.S. foreign policy.

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Biden And Harris Fly Migrants In From The Bougiest Places On Earth Under Guise Of ‘Humanitarianism’

They're flying them in from Europe, the Caribbean, and even Australia.

Venezuela Is A Disaster Because Of Socialism, Not ‘Brutal Capitalism’

The New York Times blames 'brutal capitalism' as the root cause of the socialist regime’s economic woes and political chaos.

Border Czar Kamala Harris Embraced Socialist Honduran Leader Who's Now Endorsing Maduro's Stolen Election

The Honduran leader whom Vice President Kamala Harris embraced in an effort to stem the flow of illegal aliens on the southern border has joined Russia, China, and Cuba in backing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro's fraudulent electoral victory.

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Bolivia Coup Attempt Fails After Military Assault on Presidential Palace

Bolivian armed forces pulled back from the presidential palace in La Paz on Wednesday evening and a general was arrested after President Luis Arce slammed a "coup" attempt against the government and called for international support.

The post Bolivia Coup Attempt Fails After Military Assault on Presidential Palace appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

El Salvadoran president has advice for Trump and a spiritual insight into his triumph over MS-13



Tucker Carlson recently interviewed Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, 42, who was re-elected earlier this year with over 83% of the vote. Interested in possible lessons for the U.S., Carlson pressed Bukele about his successful transformation of the Latin American country from a blood-soaked gangland into the second-safest country in the Western Hemisphere.

While the two discussed possible replicable successes that the United States could benefit from as well as God's role in MS-13's defeat, the Salvadoran president also obliged Carlson in providing former President Donald Trump with some advice in light of the Republican's recent conviction before a Democratic judge in a Democratic enclave on charges brought by a Democratic prosecutor.

Self-congratulatory losers

"What advice would you give to another former democratically elected leader seeking office who is facing jail time?" asked Carlson.

After a pregnant pause, Carlson added, "Anyone, just if there was such a person."

"If there was a way to stop the candidacy, then he's probably in trouble," said Bukele. "But if there's no way to stop him from competing in the election, all the things that they do to him will just give him more votes."

'They're making a huge mistake.'

"That seems to be happening," Carlson replied.

"Either you stop the candidacy or you let him be," said Bukele. "But just, you know, hitting him with — you're making the greatest campaign ever."

When pressed on whether he thinks Democrats are conscious that their efforts to imprison the presumptive Republican nominee ahead of the general election might backfire, Bukele indicated that some are likely aware, but others are ostensibly preoccupied chasing after the admiration of their peers and congratulating themselves.

"They're making a huge mistake. Huge, huge mistake," added Bukele.

The Salvadoran president's suggestion that Trump might be best served leaning into Democrats' attacks so long as the attacks do not preclude him from competing in the election was far from the only insight he shared with Carlson.

To replicate a 'miracle'

Early in the interview, Carlson asked, "If you can fix El Salvador, what are the lessons for the rest of us? What did you do first?"

'Once you achieve peace, you can struggle for all the other things.'

"You cannot do anything if you do not have peace. Right. And when I say peace, I include wars, civil wars, invasion, crime," said the president. "Once you achieve peace, you can struggle for all the other things."

Blaze News previously reported that there were 51 homicides per 100,000 in 2018, the year prior to Bukele's election. Under his leadership, the homicide rate fell to 7.8, such that El Salvador witnessed fewer homicides that year (495) than were reported in Democrat-run Chicago during the same period (695). Reuters indicated that crime dropped again last year by an estimated 70%, leaving the country with a murder rate of 2.4 per every 100,000.

The former "murder capital of the world" claimed earlier this month that the rate in 2024 presently now sits at two homicides per every 100,000. While Canada long had the lowest murder rate in the Americas, its rate has alternatively climbed every year from 2018 to 2022, such that it is poised to lose the top spot to El Salvador if it has not already.

To bring about the peace he referenced in his conversation with Carlson, Bukele's administration waged war on terroristic gangs, cracked down on some civil rights, and tossed 1% of the adult population in jail, citing proven and alleged gang affiliations.

"I can tell you the official formula [for busting the gangs] and the real formula," Bukele told Carlson. "So the official formula is that we did a plan ... that was comprised of phases. So we rolled out the first phase and then the next one, then the next one. And then gangs started attacking back, so we had to roll out everything at once."

Bukele noted that the accelerated crackdown prompted by the gangs' counteroffensive ultimately worked.

"In a couple of weeks the country was transformed because the gangs were not yet arrested but they were on the run," said the president. "We basically pacified the country in a couple of weeks.

To successfully execute each phase, Bukele indicated he doubled the size of the army and equipped it to effectively combat the gangs.

While effective strategy and force of arms were apparently the official formula for success, Bukele indicated the unofficial formula was prayer.

'Victory was because we won the spiritual war.'

"It's a miracle," said Bukele. "When gangs started attacking us back, basically, they killed 87 people in three days, which for a country of 6 million people is crazy."

Bukele said that this bloodletting made clear that the defeat of 70,000 gangsters, clearly willing to inflict maximum damage on the country's 6 million citizens, was an "impossible task."

The president told Carlson that at the time, he met with his security Cabinet and said, "We are looking into an impossible mission here, so we pray."

Sure enough, everyone present — all apparently believers — apparently asked God for wisdom, for minimal civilian casualties, and for support in their battle against MS-13, which Bukele underscored is a "satanic" gang.

"Victory was because we won the spiritual war," concluded Bukele. "Because [we] didn't have competition. I mean, they were satanic. I think that made it easier."

— (@)

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Milei is defying expectations and pulling the Argentinian economy out of a leftist-engineered death spiral



Since taking office in December, Javier Milei, Argentina's self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist" president, has taken a "chainsaw" to his predecessors' failed leftist policies and increasingly to critics' doubts.

Recent economic signals out of the South American nation indicate Milei's free market reforms could ultimately usher Argentina from ruin to renaissance.

Background

Argentina was one of the world's richest nations in the early 20th century. However, it was reduced to a shambles after six major military coups and several decades of unchecked spending. A 2016 paper in the Journal of Development Studies indicated that Argentina, which has defaulted on its sovereign debt nine times, was the only country in the world considered to be "developed" in the year 1900 but "developing" in 2000.

When the country's former leftist President Alberto Fernandez left office late last year, Argentina owed $44 billion to the International Monetary Fund; had a trade deficit of $43 billion; had international creditors knocking at the door; had nearly half of its population stuck in abject poverty; and was poised to see inflation exceed 211%.

Milei had no plans of seeing his socialist predecessors' destructionist campaign through to its inevitable conclusion. After all, he had campaigned instead on executing his so-called Chainsaw Plan.

"The thievery of politics is over. Long live freedom, damn it!" said Milei.

Blaze News previously reported that this plan entailed selling off state-owned companies, slashing public spending, reducing and simplifying taxes, and eliminating various government agencies. He also suggested the country would adopt the U.S. dollar and shutter Argentina's central bank.

In a video that went viral before the election, he excitedly ripped the names of various government ministries off a white board, stating, "The thievery of politics is over. Long live freedom, damn it!"

Voters ultimately decided to give Milei more than a white board to work with.

Milei goes to work

As promised, the 53-year-old former right-wing economist who regards climate change to be a "socialist plot" kicked things off in December with an executive order cutting the number of government ministries from 18 to nine and relieving over 5,000 bureaucrats of their duties.

Milei's government subsequently allowed for its peso currency to devalue by 54%, and then his economic minister, Luis Caputo, indicated the country would be cutting spending by at least 3% of GDP.

While making strides toward dollarizing the currency, Milei's government also purchased over $5 billion in dollars to build up its reserves and issued "Bopreal" bonds to tackle import debts.

Late last month, Argentina's lower house signed off on key chapters of Javier's omnibus bill, including the privatization of some public companies as well as the granting of expanded executive powers on administrative, financial and economic matters the president, reported Bloomberg.

If the country's Senate approves of the plans this month, Milei will be able to fire more state workers, cut costly subsidies, and eliminate various government bodies.

Despite facing caltrops in the nation's Congress where his allies do not enjoy a majority as well as challenges from both provincial governments and unions, Milei has continued to implement his chainsaw strategy whilst signaling increasing alignment with the United States — to the great disappointment of the China-led BRICS intergovernmental organization.

Beginning to see results

Milei announced last week that the country had recorded its first quarterly budget surplus since 2008, reported the Telegraph.

Although 0.2% of GDP is a relatively small surplus, it was a herculean feat for Argentina, granted it has reportedly run up a deficit in 113 of the last 123 years.

This week, the country's central bank — which has yet to be shuttered — cut interest rates for the third time in three weeks, down to 50%.

"The Argentine leader is providing a blueprint for how to break free," wrote financial columnist Matthew Lynn.

Although inflation rates reached a cumulative figure of 287% in March, USA Today reported Milei's shock measures have resulted in lower inflation rates every month for the past three months.

Ian Bremmer, the founder of the Eurasia Group, reportedly indicated Wednesday that contrary to the collapse expected by so-called experts, "Monthly inflation has come down every month for the past three months, from 25% in December to nearly 10% in March, with forecasters expecting the April figure to come in at single digits."

Bremmer explained that the "[Milei] government did this by turning the 5.5% budget deficit it inherited into the country's first surplus in over a decade, while boosting the central bank's reserves, lowering its benchmark interest rates, and reducing the money supply — all without destabilizing currency and financial markets."

The Telegraph indicated that if Milei is able to execute on his plan to get the country's shale oil and gas out of the ground using tried and proven technologies, the economy may make further leaps and bounds.

Matthew Lynn, a financial columnist who writes for Money Week and the Telegraph, noted, "the Argentine leader is providing a blueprint for how to break free. The global economic elite keeps lecturing us on why we need more government and a more powerful state despite the painful lack of results. Argentina is challenging it in dramatic fashion."

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Brazilian woman caught on camera puppeteering dead man to sign for a loan: 'Uncle, are you listening?'



A woman was arrested Tuesday after wheeling a corpse into a South American bank and attempting to take out a loan in the decedent's name.

Brazilian police indicated 68-year-old Paulo Robert Braga had long been dead when Érika de Souza Vieira Nunes, 42, rolled him into a Rio de Janeiro bank in a wheelchair, talked to him as though he were still among the living, then attempted to puppeteer a signature out of him for a $3,234 loan.

According to the Brazilian news outlet G1, bank employees quickly became suspicious of Nunes' behavior. There were, after all, a few dead giveaways that something was amiss.

In footage of the incident captured by bank employees, Nunes can be seen attempting to keep Braga's head upright and engaging in a clearly one-sided conversation.

"Uncle, are you listening? You need to sign. If you don't sign it, there's no way," Nunes can be heard saying in her native tongue. "I can't sign it for you. I'll do what I can do."

"You hold your chair very strong there," Nunes says to the corpse. She proceeds to ask one of the tellers, "Didn't he hold the door there just now?"

Feigning frustration with Braga's lack of cooperation, Nunes says, "Sign so you don't give me any more headaches. I can't take it anymore."

According to a translation provided by USA Today, one teller says in the video, "I don't think this is legal. He doesn't look well. He's very pale."

Nunes, who claimed to be the dead man's niece, says, "He is like this."

The grim borrower then suggests to Braga, whose mouth is wide open and eyes are glassy, "If you are not well, you will go to the hospital."

Bank attendants ultimately called the police who promptly detained Nunes.

Police chief Fábio Souza of the 34th Police Station confirmed to CNN Brazil that Nunes was charged with attempted theft by fraud and abuse of a corpse. If convicted of the latter, then Nunes could face up to three years in prison and a fine.

Nunes reportedly expressed no remorse in her interviews with police and told officials that Braga had expired while in the bank. Police are not buying her story in part because medical examiners found indications the elderly man had been dead for at least two hours prior to his posthumous banking experience.

Authorities are reportedly still waiting to confirm Braga's cause of death, indicating they will open a homicide investigation if they suspect foul play.

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AOC, Dem Lawmaker’s Trip To Latin America To Meet Left-Wing Leaders Was Funded By A Soros Organization

'Socialist sympathy tour'

Biden DHS Blames Migrant Crisis On Cartel ‘Disinformation’ That The Border Is ‘Open’

Most immigrants do not spend fortunes on risky journeys based on disinformation from criminal strangers.