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Maybe Russia can stabilize Central America and stem the flow of poverty to the USA.
More likely they would stabalize the region by putting their least capable, crazy and criminally inclined on remote controlled boats aimed at south Florida. Ala the Mariel boatlift
Its not tanks that the US should be concerned with, its using the country as a convenient place to land and launch planes, and spy drones. As such the T-72 tanks aren't the concern.
I've never heard that before, very interesting. Didn't the Nazi's do something similar in WWII? They tried to get Mexico to turn on the US as well. Luckily our neighbors to our south have never been hostile, at least in the last 100 years.
Considering Mexico has a large nominal GDP and a greater per capita GDP then Russia, I'm not worried about Russia or any other country influencing Mexico against the US. 80% of Mexican exports go to the US and almost half of their imports come from the US. We are too reliant on each other for our economies to ever have much hostility.
Actually it was WWI, not WWII. The Germans tried to get them on their side prior to our entering the war. They offered to get them back Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, but Mexico thought the whole idea was absurd and told them to forget it.
In WWII, Mexico was actually on our side, and even sent troops overseas. I'm not sure how many, but one fighter squadron (The Aztec Eagles) did fight against the Japanese, and contributed quite a bit in the Philippines. Mexico was directly impacted by Germany's U-boat campaign against merchant shipping in the Gulf, and they were less than pleased with it.
Its not tanks that the US should be concerned with, its using the country as a convenient place to land and launch planes, and spy drones. As such the T-72 tanks aren't the concern.
Again, Nicaragua is 700 miles to the U.S. at their closest points (NE Nicaragua to Key West). And that route between those points? It passes right over Lourdes SIGINT, which was the largest intelligence station Russia operated outside its borders until it was closed in 2002. It's less than 100 miles from Key West. Cuba is cash-strapped - I'm sure they'd happily let the Russians back in. It would be far more convenient for aerial reconnaissance.
Anyway, what is there to see? The Russians have 'trawlers' that listen offshore. And Tu-95 operating out of Russia occasionally buzz the U.S. coast (and there have been several surveillance versions of the bombers produced). And if the Russians just really want to look at some American base from the air? Catch a flight at SVO to Miami, then rent a Cessna.
I agree, Nicaraguan T-72s aren't an issue. But I'm hard-pressed to see what utility an air base in Nicaragua would be for the Russians.
BTW, can anyone explain why Ukraine and Romania should be in NATO anyway? It's not like they have coastline on the North Atlantic, or anything. What's the justification for that?
I think it was some guy named Shakespeare who said, what's in a name?
"Justification" (what's in a name?) is expansion of Euroamerican power wherever there is least resistance. Also, as Unsettomati alludes to, countries like Poland and Romania, as well as the Baltic countries, want to be in NATO, which they no doubt view as a better deal than the one they had to endure in the 1940s-1990s period.
Anyway, the Russians have put up fierce resistance in Donbass and Crimea, the latter at least, I believe, they would go to nuclear war for.
Not that I know anything about any of it but ..
Russia has a pretty strong organized criminal element. Needless to say, so does South America. Heroin is becoming more and more of a problem in North America every day. Fifty tanks is pretty good security in South America. Put it all together and Tom Clancy could have at it ......
Cuba and Venezuela have historically provided military aid to these governments in the past to counter the US support of right-wing insurgencies and death squads.
As long as we keep encircling Russia, they're going to push back.
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