Superb discussion on #Cuba.

"Scam centre" brings to mind a few hoodies in a basement. But this is, or was, Shunda Park in Karen State #Myanmar - a sprawling compound housing thousands of workers, ferried around on golf carts, conning users worldwide. See story @tdkean @CrisisGroup: crisisgroup.org/ojs/asia-pac…

Argentine soccer fans whose US tourist visas were rejected lined up in Buenos Aires to receive free televisions from an electronics brand, a day before the start of the World Cup. Follow our #WorldCup2026 coverage here ➡️ reut.rs/3QvnYqa

Votes cast by Peruvians living abroad arriving in gym bags with tattered cling wrap, after a long flight from Spain. (No lock on the bags?) They must be counted now at an office in Lima as election still too close to call. x.com/canalN_/status/2064688…

Manospheric diplomacy.

“Cuba’s regime may not be as resilient as Iran’s, but its leaders are much more entrenched than was Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, so an effort to unseat them would likely yield not a quick victory,” writes Ricardo Zuniga. foreignaffairs.com/cuba/day-…

Countries that grant AIs legal personhood risk becoming something for which the historical record offers no analogy: not a company state, but an AI state, writes Yuval Noah Harari. ft.trib.al/frf6rEz

T S Eliot measured out life in coffee spoons. #Peru does so with counted votes. As presidential elections edge to a cliffhanger, it pays to wait: this graph from @elcomercio_peru shows the number of days until a winner is announced after recent polls. elcomercio.pe/ecdata/keiko-f…

For background on the closely fought, right vs left election face-off in #Peru today, you can't do better that this sweeping @CrisisGroup @gglaeldys report of two years ago. The video by @JGutLucena that accompanies it is worth a watch on its own. crisisgroup.org/rpt/latin-am…

"El propósito es asentarse en Groenlandia; amenazar con la anexión de Canadá; retomar el Canal de Panamá; apropiarse de los recursos de Venezuela; continuar las ejecuciones de presuntos narcotraficantes; y reforzar el cerco sobre Cuba" Lo clave, resumido. clarin.com/opinion/argentina…

It's not often you meet former intelligence chiefs, but when I chatted with Sir Alex a year ago he was indeed the paragon of charm and wit, as well as showing deep alarm at the state of the world. May he rest in peace.

Hoy el diario parisino conservador Le Figaro publica una entrevista con Matthieu Pigasse, el banquero amigo del chavismo que hoy, como socio de Centerview, está a cargo de estructurar la deuda externa venezolana. Matthieu admite que buscar ser candidato en las elecciones presidenciales francesas de 2027, a manera de una alternativa de confluencia para las izquierdas, distinta a la opción del "insumiso" Mélenchon. Pero también surgen pistas de un ajuste de cuentas con Macron, con quien tiene un pique personal desde que ambos trabajaban en la banca Rotschild. lefigaro.fr/actualite-france…

CEPEDA: "Conmen of narcotraffickers.... Mafia fascism.... Plutocracy & corruption" [interrupted by anti-fascist war cry] DE LA ESPRIELLA: "[#Colombia President Petro is] a lowlife, criminal, drug addict... [Cepeda is] an heir of narcoterrorism" [interrupted by football chants]

The anonymous #Colombia politician quoted in @FinancialTimes this weekend saying a "successful leader needs to generate fear, hate and hope" put a finger on the messaging from the winning camps last night. Except for the hope. elpais.com/america-colombia/…

Superb, exhaustive @CrisisGroup rundown of the contenders in today's #Colombia elections, the burning issues (in a nutshell, redistribution, corruption & security) and the high stakes as Washington looks on, imperiously. crisisgroup.org/qna/latin-am…

Fascinating report. If confirmed, the devil is in the details. Clearly the US would like to use military force against cartels in Mexico; reaching such an agreement with Guatemala and then Honduras would build towards that goal (which Mexico thus far has refused to accommodate). Counternarcotics is fundamentally a law enforcement and demand reduction issue. Host country military support for CN — logistics, intelligence, maritime interdiction, force protection — has been ongoing, and the US military can and has usefully contributed to this. The details of the agreement are crucial: who does what to whom, under whose laws, and under whose authority, and who decides on any use of lethal force; and what are the rules of engagement and rules on the escalation of force. Attacks on suspected drug boats and aircraft would be unlikely to reduce actual drug shipments, legal considerations aside. At the same time, there is a new, and independent, attorney general in Guatemala; the US has an opportunity to repair and to strengthen the judicial and investigative relationship between Guatemalan and US law enforcement. Narcotics traffickers operate not in a vacuum but in a political, economic, and social ecosystem. Supporting money laundering legislation, which the US Embassy in Guatemala has done, and identifying political and economic networks tied to narcos, are also key.

‘Rabbit holes all over the place’: How hard it would be for Trump to rebuild Cuba dlvr.it/TSjScN

NEW COMMENTARY | Venezuela’s Bonfire of Dogma: How Chavistas are Adapting to U.S. Domination crisisgroup.org/cmt/latin-am…

“So far, Sheinbaum’s willingness to cooperate and readiness to act has tempered the White House’s most hawkish instincts,” writes David Mora. “But despite Sheinbaum’s best efforts, the relationship is drifting into volatile territory.” foreignaffairs.com/mexico/wh…

As far as I can see, the US now has a siege, a legal charge sheet, terms of surrender and soon-to-arrive gunboats in place against #Cuba.