sábado, 8 de octubre de 2016

Duterte contra el Imperio


En la foto de arriba, el presidente filipino Rodrigo Duterte aparece enfierrado como para señalarle al Imperio cuáles son sus herramientas disuasorias. Ay, Rodrigo querido. Lo concreto es que estaría ocurriendo un serio corrimiento de alianzas en las Filipinas. Sus aliados estratégicos son, ahora, Rusia y China. Este es otro terremoto geopolítico, chicos. Leemos en el sitio web libanés Al Manar:


Título: Duterte se aproxima a China y Rusia

Texto: El ministro de Defensa de Filipinas, Delfin Lorenzana, anunció el viernes 7 de octubre la anulación de todas las maniobras militares conjuntas con EEUU en el Mar de la China Meridional.

“El gobierno filipino ha ordenado la salida de los 107 militares de EEUU implicados en la operación de espionaje con drones contra los rebeldes del sur de Filipinas”, dijo Lorenzana.

El presidente filipino, Rodrigo Duterte, anunció el 28 de septiembre en el transcurso de una visita a Vietnam, el fin de las 28 maniobras militantes conjuntas que su país realiza cada año con EEUU.

Duterte explicó claramente que esta decisión provenía de China, que está furiosa por la presencia militar norteamericana en las aguas del Mar de la China Meridional y las maniobras militares allí, como ocurrió entre el 4 y el 12 de octubre en Luzon y Palawan, donde tuvieron lugar unas maniobras anfibias que incluyeron a 1.400 soldados norteamericanos y 500 filipinos.

Antes de la toma del poder por Duterte, EEUU y Filipinas organizaron ejercicios comunes en abril último que fueron fuertemente criticados por Pekín. Los medios chinos publicaron una advertencia a las potencias extranjeras que intervienen en los conflictos del Mar de la China Meridional.

Duterte ha promovido la independencia del Ejército filipino hacia EEUU y se ha mostrado favorable a la cooperación militar con China y Rusia.

El presidente filipino dijo hace semanas que iba a visitar Rusia y China este año para marcar un rumbo independiente en la política exterior e su país frente a Washington y establecer alianzas con los dos países con históricas rivalidades con EEUU.

Duterte tomó posesión del cargo en junio y ha mantenido desde entonces relaciones tensas con la Casa Blanca y ha pronunciado frases ofensivas contra el presidente Barack Obama. Él señaló que EEUU se había negado a vender a su nación ciertas armas no especificadas, advirtiendo que él estaba dispuesto a “romper con EEUU” y que el presidente Obama podía “irse al infierno”.

Él añadió que Manila pensaba adquirir esas armas a China y Rusia, que se mostraban dispuestos a vendérselas. “Yo envié a mis generales a Rusia y Rusia dijo: “No te preocupes. Tenemos todo lo que necesitas”. En lo que se refiere a China, ellos dijeron: “Ven y firma un contrato y todo te será entregado”.

El 26 de septiembre, Duterte visitó Moscú y se reunió allí con el primer ministro ruso, Dimitri Medvedev, señalando que buscaba asegurarse el apoyo militar y económico de Moscú y Pekín porque “él iba a cruzar el Rubicón con EEUU”.

Duterte visitará Pekín los días 19 al 21 de octubre, donde se reunirá con el primer ministro Li Keqiang y el presidente Xi Jinping. Entre los temas de la visita están las discusiones bilaterales sobre la diputa de los islotes del Mar de la China Meridional y las inversiones chinas en la economía filipina. Al mismo tiempo, mientras que Washington y sus aliados han incrementado sus críticas contra la guerra contra las drogas de Duterte, China la ha apoyado abiertamente.

El 29 de septiembre, el portavoz del ministerio de Exteriores chino, Geng Shuang, dijo en una conferencia de prensa que “bajo el liderazgo del presidente Duterte, el nuevo gobierno filipino ha llevado a cabo políticas que priorizan el combate contra los crímenes relacionados con las drogas. China comprende y apoya eso. Estamos dispuestos a iniciar una cooperación con Filipinas en el tema del narcotráfico y formular un plan de acción conjunta”.

EEUU aumenta cada vez más su presencia militar en el Mar de la China Meridional a fin de sembrar la cizaña entre los países de la región. La decisión de Duterte supone así un duro golpe para los intentos norteamericanos de cercar a China y crear conflictos con ese país.

Como respuesta, ha habido informaciones de discusiones para cortar la ayuda a Filipinas dentro de la Administración estadounidense. Algunos creen que Washington podría llevar acciones en el frente interno para desestabilizar la posición de Duterte, pero éste disfruta, según las encuestas, del apoyo del 73% de la población y con sólidos apoyos dentro del Ejército y del ex grupo guerrillero Partido Comunista de Filipinas (Maoísta), que tiene ahora varios puestos en el gobierno.



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Por su parte, Zero Hedge informa sobre la escalada verbal de Duterte contra el Imperio:


Título: Duterte Dares CIA To "Oust" Him, Puts Joint Patrols With US On Hold

Texto: In what has now become a daily ritual, one day after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte dared Barack Obama to "withdraw assistance", not missing the opportunity to insert one "you can go to hell, Mr Obama", on Friday the outspoken president once again took aim at the US, this time targeting the CIA, whom he urged to try and oust him, as he branded Western critics of his deadly crime war "animals" and vowed many more killings.

Whether due to paranoia, or simply the result of historical precedent, in two fiery speeches to mark his 100 days in office, Duterte repeatedly raised the prospect of local or foreign opponents seeking to remove him from power in an effort to stop the violence. But, as Channel News Asia reports, he insisted he would not be intimidated and that his campaign against drugs, in which an average of more than 33 people a day are being killed, would not end.

"You want to oust me? You want to use the CIA? Go ahead," Duterte said in a speech in his southern home town of Davao city, referring to the Central Intelligence Agency, while railing against US President Barack Obama and other critics. The speech follows and accusation last month in which Duterte said the CIA was plotting to kill him, but gave no specifics.

"Be my guest. I don't give a shit," he said.  "I'll be ousted? Fine. (If so) it's part of my destiny. Destiny carries so many things. If I die, that's part of my destiny. Presidents get assassinated."

Meanwhile, in the first concrete break in defense cooperation between the US and the Philippines after months of increasingly strident comments by the country's new president, the Philippine defense chief said Friday he told the U.S. military that plans for joint patrols and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea have been put on hold, the AP reported. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also said that 107 U.S. troops involved in operating surveillance drones against Muslim militants would be asked to leave the southern part of the country once the Philippines acquires those intelligence-gathering capabilities in the near future.

President Rodrigo Duterte also wants to halt the 28 military exercises that are carried out with U.S. forces each year, Lorenzana said. Duterte has said he wants an ongoing U.S.-Philippine amphibious beach landing exercise to be the last in his six-year presidency as he backs away from what he views as too much dependence on the U.S.

"This year would be the last," Duterte said of military exercises involving the Americans in a speech Friday in southern Davao city where he lashed out at the U.S. anew and repeated his readiness to be ousted from office for his hard-line stance.

"For as long as I am there, do not treat us like a doormat because you'll be sorry for it," Duterte said. "I will not speak with you. I can always go to China."

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. government is not aware of any official notification on curtailing military exercises. He said the U.S. remains focused on its security commitments to Philippines, with which it has a mutual defense treaty.

"We think comments like this, whether they are or will be backed up by actual action or not, are really at odds with the closeness of the relationships that we have with the people of the Philippines and which we fully intend to continue," Kirby told reporters.

Earlier this week, the outspoken Philippines leader said his US counterpart Barack Obama, whom he has previously publicly called a “son of a whores,” should “go to hell.”

Asked to comment on the possibility that the current joint maneuvers will be the last, Major Roger Hollenbeck, a US military spokesman for the drills, gave a fatalistic response: “If it’s the last, so be it.”

I have nothing to do with that and we are going to continue to work together; we’ve got a great relationship,” he added. Experts say the Philippines president’s plans to limit the presence of US troops will thwart Washington’s intention to beef up US forces in Southeast Asia in order to counter China.

President Duterte’s shoot-from-the-hip style of parochial democracy is deeply troubling,” Carl Thayer, an expert on the South China Sea, told AP. “If Duterte moves to curtail US rotational military presence from bases in the Philippines, this would undermine the US ability to deter China not only in defense of Philippines sovereignty, but regional security as well.”


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Duterte's falling out with Washington will not necessarily spread to U.S. allies such as Japan, for example, which has committed to deliver patrol ships for the Philippine coast guard and has signed a deal to lease five small surveillance planes the country can use to bolster its territorial defense. The planes may arrive as early as next month, Lorenzana said.

The U.S. and Japan have helped the Philippines develop its capabilities to safeguard and defend its territorial waters amid China's increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea. Under Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, the U.S. and Philippine militaries twice staged naval exercises near the disputed waters.

While taking a critical stance on U.S. security policies, Duterte has reached out to China and Russia.

In the latest ongoing failure for US foreign politics, Lorenzana said he has been ordered by Duterte to travel to Beijing and Moscow to discuss what defense equipment the Philippines can acquire from them. Lorenzana told a foreign correspondents’ forum on Friday that Manila should probably “re-assess” its relationship with the US and the benefits of the alliance, asserting that the country’s military would survive even if Washington were to withdraw its aid completely.

We can live without (that),” Lorenzana said, Reuters reported. The value of US military aid to Manila is “not that much,” the country’s Defense chief added, insisting that military officials could ask the Philippines Congress to make up for a $50-$100 million shortfall a year in aid from Washington.

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