Foreign Digest: Guyana, Nicaragua, Nepal, Russia and Brazil

Guyana: The incumbent President of Guyana was reelected in last week’s election I had posted about. He defeated an upstart corrupt businessman who was favorable to the Venezuelan Socialist dictatorship. Venezuela claims most of its South American neighbor’s territory, despite international rulings against it. Nicaragua: Marxist Nicaragua signed commercial agreements with the Russian Federation last week for the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that it has conquered and annexed. As I have posted, the Central American State’s dictatorship is one of the few in the world to recognize Russia’s conquest of Ukrainian territory through aggression. Nepal: The Nepalese coalition government of Marxist-Leninists and center-left republicans was overthrown last week in a popular revolution against rampant nepotism and corruption amidst widespread poverty that forced the resignation of the Marxist-Leninist Prime Minister and other officials. The trigger for the uprising was a social media ban because of government policy for regulation that limited free expression and also remittances from Nepalese working abroad sent back to their families in the predominately Hindu State in the Himalayas. The protest met with deadly force, which increased the opposition. Government buildings were burned. I have posted of the rotation between Marxist-Leninist and Maoist-led coalition governments since the decade-long Maoist rebellion and takeover of Nepal and the abolishment of the monarchy in 2008 and establishment of a constitutional parliamentary republic. A former supreme court justice with an anti-corruption record was sworn in as interim prime minister after the military reestablished order. The Nepalese popular overthrow is part of a trend in South Asia, as the governments of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were also overthrown in popular rebellions in the last few years. Russia: Russia violated Polish airspace last week by launching an attack by 19 drones through Belarus to attack Ukraine, one of which was downed, causing damage to a house. Ukraine, Poland and the European Union determined the incursion was deliberate, not an accidental stray, because of the number of drones and their route. Russia is not only trying to use additional flight corridors for attacking Ukraine, but tests NATO’s defenses. Russia has been engaged in a sabotage campaign against NATO and European Union members during its aggression against Ukraine, in addition to its usual cyberattacks, election interference and attacks on exiles. Russia invaded the former Soviet Republic in 2014 and in a full-scale manner in 2022. Aircraft from Poland’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies helped defend the former Soviet satellite State, which was the first time that NATO has engaged in defensive action over its own territory in the defensive pact’s its 76-year history. NATO responded with a mission for better coordination of its air defense along its eastern flank. Russia violated Romanian airspace yesterday with another drone aimed at Ukraine. Romania is also a NATO member. Brazil: The pro-Trump far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was convicted last week and sentenced to over 27 years imprisonment by a panel of five Supreme Court Justices for leading an attempted coup d’etat in 2022. Bolsonaro had lost re-election in the presidential election, but like Donald Trump after the 2020 United States presidential election, would not accept the results, despite a lack of convincing evidence of fraud, and inspired a mob to take over government buildings. Prosecutors developed abundant evidence of the breadth of the coup. Bolsonaro also plotted a military coup. Part of the conspiracy included murdering the winning presidential candidate and other government officials. His conviction was upheld by the fuller body of Brazil’s highest court. The ex-leader of the South American State already been convicted of fraud and banned from serving in elective office for three years. Bolsonaro was under house arrest for bail violations. Seven military and civilian officials who were leaders of the coup were also convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Most military stayed loyal to the constitutional representative republic. The Trump Administration interfered in Brazil’s judicial system with sanctions against one of its Supreme Court Justices and increased tariffs against Brazil. As Bolsonaro and his supporters favored the sanctions, the public blamed them for the interference and supported Brazil’s exercise of its independence and sovereignty.