Image is of Bolivian President Luis Arce (center, with glasses) face-to-face with General Zuñiga (in camouflage) during the coup attempt.

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On the 26th of June, while Hexbear was in an 8-hour hibernation, General Juan José Zuñiga marched 200 troops and some armored vehicles on the government palace in an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of Luis Arce. This is somewhat reminiscent of Jeanine Anez's coup in November 2019 where she overthrew the socialist president Evo Morales, but while that coup was due to a colour revolution likely orchestrated by the United States and had at least a tiny amount of political/public legitimacy and "followed the rules" in a certain sense (as Morales was trying to abolish presidential term limits, which is only evil if a socialist is doing it), this was a much more naked attempted seizure of power by a military general.

This coup was quickly terminated without even a momentary transfer of power. Democracy was saved.

Despite being in the same party, Morales and Arce have increasingly been in opposition. Morales champions anti-imperialism, rights for indigneous people, and poverty reduction. This last one especially has been threatened by Arce, though it's not entirely his fault, as the Bolivian economy is threatened by the same crisis affecting so many developing economies around the world right now - say it with me now - a lack of dollars and mounting debt. The US Federal Reserve is carrying out a bloody offensive against the world's poor, and this has combined nastily with a rather uninspiring "post"-coronavirus economic recovery in Bolivia, as well as diminishing natural gas production (and thus less exports with which to earn dollars).

While the coup was ongoing, Morales banded behind the government. Afterwards, however, Morales expressed his skepticism about whether the coup was, in fact, genuine, calling for an independent investigation into it, and saying that Arce “disrespected the truth, deceived us, lied, not only to the Bolivian people but to the whole world." This is because General Zuñiga made a series of very interesting statements to his family and colleagues, saying that Arce had "betrayed" him, and saying that Arce had told him “‘The situation is very screwed up, very critical. It is necessary to prepare something to raise my popularity.'" This does check out on the surface level, at least: Arce has suffered increasing unpopularity as the economy has suffered.

Interestingly, Morales' narrative has been supported by the anarchocapitalist leader of Argentina, Javier Milei, who is currently busy completely destroying his own country and stripping the copper out of the walls to give to American capitalists. Milei said that the coup attempt was "fraudulent". Meanwhile, those inside MAS opposed to Morales' accusations of a false coup have accused him of allying with the fascist right and becoming an instrument of imperialism.

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The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.

The Country of the Week is Bolivia! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.

Please check out the HexAtlas!

The bulletins site is here! The RSS feed is here. Last week's thread is here.

Image is of Yemen seizing the first ship in its blockade of Israel (the Galaxy Leader) with a helicopter raid.

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Alternate title: What If It Was The Bab El-Womandeb And It Was Just For The Ladies?

Ansarallah is a key component of the broader Resistance movement, backed by Iran, and has been a stalwart member in engineering the ongoing collapse of Zionism. It has steadily escalated both its rhetoric and, rarely nowadays, its actions, proving that the mythical "red line" might actually exist in the world after all, after going MIA in both Russia and China. It has been striking first Israel-owned ships heading through the Bab el-Mandeb - the strait that leads into the Red Sea and then to the Suez Canal - and, recently, has demonstrated its promise that any ships that intend to dock in Israel will be attacked. While this is really only half a blockade, the cost of going around Africa is significant, and Western insurance companies really don't like it when their ships get blasted by missiles and drones. Several shipping companies have already stated their intention to alter/stop shipping routes through the Red Sea, trying to prompt the West to find a "solution".

Despite US naval presence in the area, Yemen possesses the ability to strike the oil refining facilities of the Gulf monarchies, leaving the US in a very difficult position. If they attack Yemen, then not only do Western ships risk being attacked directly, but those oil refineries may go up in smoke depending on if they help the West - and global oil prices will skyrocket, in an already declining world economy - and it might cost several Western leaders their leadership positions, including Biden himself. A regional war could ultimately tumble into worldwide chaos.

Equally, however, the US cannot afford to lose Israel. It is the single most important American imperial outpost, perhaps alongside Taiwan. If Zionism is destroyed as a local destabilizing influence, then the Russia-China-Iran axis will find itself in a leadership position over the region. Israeli military losses in Gaza increase every single day as they advance further into the labyrinth death trap under the obligation to show some kind of military victory, with Hamas' strategy of attrition taking its toll. And Hezbollah sits there, having destroyed most of the border infrastructure, silently threatening the obliteration of Israel's infrastructure under the rain of a hundred thousand missiles.

As world attention gradually shifts away from the Gaza genocide, we continue to approach the brink.

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The weekly update is here on the website. Your Tuesday Briefing is here in the comments and here on the website.

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The Country of the Week is Yemen! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.

The bulletins site is here! The RSS feed is here. Last week's thread is here.

They were on a Boeing too.

Sorry if this is the wrong comm, unsure where to post this one

The article doesn’t mention it, but it’s also difficult to bring their money with them due to strict transfer limits.

https://archive.ph/2RegJ

!k-pain

The bank classifies those countries where this indicator is at least $13,845 as high-income.

Economic activity in Russia was influenced by a large increase in military related activity in 2023, while growth was also boosted by a rebound in trade (+6.8%), the financial sector (+8.7%), and construction (+6.6%). These factors led to increases in both real (3.6%) and nominal (10.9%) GDP, and Russia’s Atlas GNI per capita grew by 11.2%.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/white-nebraska-man-shoots-wounds-7-guatemalan-immigrant-111586014

>Tianlong-3, a two-stage kerosene-liquid oxygen rocket comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9, experienced the failure during a test of its nine engines intended to power the first stage.

>At 3:43 pm, the engines were fired according to plan, and the engine thrust reached 820 tons. However, a structural failure caused the rocket to detach from its launch pad and blast off.

>All villagers in the area, which is remote and far from the city center, had been evacuated before the test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8sXEYMw3pA

!sadness-abysmal

I can't find any evidence that a group "Pride Against Pinkwashing" exists at all. Literally every mention in google links to this exact news copy, as though it's a press release.

Does anyone have any news about this event, group, or their demands?

That said

But the pro-Palestine activists are anti-semites. I'm waiting for the ADL to condemn this.

> A Conservative student association has been condemned after attenders at one of its events were filmed singing a Nazi marching song.

>Footage showed a group of people at a black-tie dinner hosted by the University of Warwick Conservative Association dancing to Erika by German composer Herms Niel.

>The song was frequently played at military events in Nazi Germany and has also been used by modern white supremacist movements. Its lyrics are not explicitly political, but Niel was a member of the Nazi party and personally conducted bands at Nazi rallies.

>The Sunday Times, which published the clip, reported that it was shot at the association’s annual chairman’s dinner at a hotel in Leamington Spa. Just before the clip ends, someone out of shot can be heard saying: “Don’t film.”

>The Union of Jewish Students described the clip as “utterly abhorrent” and said it showed “blatant and unchallenged support for nazism”, adding: “Glorification of the Nazis has no place in our society, especially on campus. It is in no way acceptable and must be widely condemned.

>“We expect swift and decisive action from the University of Warwick and the Conservative party. Actions must have consequences.”

>The association told the MailOnline that it “wholeheartedly condemns the behaviour exhibited during this video and apologises for any offence that has been caused”.

>It said Erika was played for a “brief period” after a request from one member to the DJ and was “not included in the preplanned music selection handed to the DJ”. The clip was taken at a dinner of the University of Warwick Conservatives Association.

sorry I keep posting today

https://x.com/evoespueblo/status/1807496134119571492

A power struggle in the Bolivian left?

Never forgive. Never forget. And let's remember that the Maidan dictatorship in Kiev has been glorifying the fascist war criminal and Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera ever since the 2014 fascist coup.

These are math estimates with margins, not official tallies, but the reasoning makes sense.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4975054

After unilaterally withdrawing from the INF treaty in 2019, US is the first country to develop and now deploy weapons prohibited under the treaty in the Philippines this year. It's now clear the US sought to withdraw so it could develop and deploy prohibited weapons against China.

https://x.com/lastreetcare/status/1806869510483476829

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traci_Park https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Krekorian

Skimmed it he says he’s lying: We’re not going to get to zero by 2050, I don’t think,” he added.