Unraveling Chaos: Inside the Failed Coup in Bolivia!!

Hello everybody and welcome to Geopolitical Trends, where truth matters. Excited to be with you on this 1st of July. Half of the year is gone. I mean, where time goes. So anyway, excited to be with you. Hope you have, uh, you had, uh, a relaxing weekend. Uh, I, I spent my weekend just getting some work done around the house and Fix few things on the car as always. So anyway, uh, very, very excited to be with you. I got this interesting topic. I'm sure by now you've heard about the failed coup in Bolivia, and I will be talking to you about my— provide you first of all my own analysis about it, what's really behind the scenes, who might be behind it. And as one who spent time in Bolivia, I, I did. Here is— I'm gonna share this with you. Here's what it says, Bolivia. When I was in La Paz, I bought this back then just as a souvenir. So I spent some times back at the embassy in La Paz, and so I'm a little familiar with, with Bolivia. So this is what I'm going to be providing you with in this analysis here in this live stream. So just prepare your questions for the end, and I will answer a few questions for you. So before I'll do this, let me say hi to the community as always. Oh, we got a new member here, Sam. Sam Siboravong, good to have you, man, and thank you for becoming a member. Good to see you, of course. Uh, UTUZ Super, hello, Dax. See you also. Oh, the news from Okinawa. Yes, I did. Sad, it's sad news. I'm sure you guys heard what happened in Okinawa with another US soldier, uh, being involved in some raping, basically. And okay, now it's, it's, you know, I know what the punishment for that should be once it's approved and all that, meaning the evidence and all that. There is no ifs and buts. There is only one punishment for that. Now that's, to me, you don't forgive because, you know, what, what if it's your daughter, man? What would you do? You know, no amount of years in prison will, will fix that. So what you do, you end up taking the appropriate punishment. And you all know, I don't say it here, but you know what I'm referring to here. And maybe this is now time, another reason for why Okinawans should really ask for independence from Japan altogether. Hey, we all know the history of Okinawa. So, and I remember having that conversation with, uh, with Professor Hammond And, uh, which by the way, I'm gonna have to bring him back in here, uh, and I did ask him about this. Did Okinawa ever belong to Japan to begin with? So we all know, we all know that story. It's sad. So thanks for sharing that one, YouTube. Yo, Bill, good to see you, uh, and, and that's the news about it. So Truth Seeker, Willie Holman, Farhad Razavi, Ahmed Siti, as always, YT, as always. Uh, Athene Wu, good to see you. Uh, Wong KC, good to see you. Marcian Dorsier, thank you so much for your support. You guys do not know, there are some of you that really support the channel behind the scenes. So yesterday I, I got a word about Marcian Dorsier for the massive support he had on both, uh, uh, uh, occasions for the channel. So thank you so much, Marcian, truly appreciate you. And by the way, do reach out if you have any questions about the books. Yeah, yeah, Masian went ahead and bought my books, those two books there. And so let me know if you have any question, I'd be happy to answer them for you. So, Tennis, good to see you. Phil, as always. Isabelle from Copenhagen, becoming a regular here. Good to see you, Isabelle. And karakulak, as always. And salam to you as well. John Smith and Speaking the Truth. Good to see you all. So let's dive in, guys, into our topic because I got a lot to cover into this, including the geography and the history of Bolivia. It's very, very interesting for you to understand, uh, but of course, before I'll dive into this, let me share two things. One major one, that Marine Le Pen in France declared now her party had practically wiped out Emmanuel Macron after, uh, uh, winning the first round. So, so I'm gonna do a video for you because you need to understand where things are headed in Europe, you know. And this, by the way, guys, coincided with the report that just been released today about how the world perceived democracy. And guess where the US is? It's in a negative So I'm gonna do a video for you guys later on, uh, if you want it, if you want to know how— but specifically about these elections in Europe, very, very crucial. It's going to change the trajectory now moving forward. Mark my word on it. Of course, we're always going to have to put the question mark about Marine Le Pen. Will she turn out to be like Giorgia Meloni? Even though Giorgia Meloni just recently said that the elections inside Europe are so corrupted. So, but anyway, we'll, we'll deal with that later on. So, so now let's get into our topic. And by the way, I have the picture here of Marine Le Pen. So, and we will be talking about this later on. So, so let's talk about this guy here. Uh, this one is General, uh, Juan José Zúñiga. He's the former, now, general commander of the army. And by the way, we give credit of the picture to Juan Carita. So I had a chance to read an article by Chad Guzman, the Guzman, Chad the Guzman. So I'm gonna react to it, but I will provide you my own analysis separate from what was in the article. There were some key points in the article, and, and I kind of read them through, but it was just the general you know, on the top, the skin of it. What I'm going to get into is the depth, which the article didn't address, by the way. So, so what happened with the, with the rebellion? It really took only a few hours. This is what happened with the, uh, with the, the general here, because he commands the army. So what happened, he, he sort of, uh, moved all the armored, uh, military into breaking into the palace. Okay, and, uh, this is what you're looking at is a picture of the armored vehicle sort of congregating in La Paz. La Paz is the capital of Bolivia, and this was on the 26th of June. So, so now the question becomes is, okay, what was this all about? Of course the general said that he was unhappy with the direction of the country. Well, yeah, you're gonna say that Only if the masses and people know the background of the entire individuals involved in the coup, either this time or back in the 2019 when the coup was against Evo Morales. So I remember when I went to Bolivia back in 2000, I think what it was, '10, '11, somewhere around that time, you know. And the idea of Evo Morales at the time was the conversation about where— and it was tensions already between Evo Morales and the US, but there is a reason to all this, and this is what we're going to get into in this analysis that I am going to be sharing with you. First, let's do some geography because we need to know where Bolivia is. Uh, once again, guys, I don't assume everybody know what everything is, you know, same for me, I don't know where everything is, but I happen to travel around the world. I've been in almost 30 countries, so I kind of— plus it's my academic background, I have to know where those countries are. So, all right, let me share the screen with you, then we'll go into, uh, the detail of not only the geography but also the history of it. So Bolivia, of course, is a landlocked— it is located in the west, west-central South America. It is positioned in the western and southern hemispheres of the Earth. Bolivia is bordered by 5 countries: Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the northwest. Uh, when I was in Bolivia, I was planning on going to, uh, uh, San José Uh, right here, if you see on the right side, that's like the near the border of Brazil, the, the San José de Chiquitos. Uh, but just things didn't work. Santa Cruz is also another location there, well known in Brazil— in, uh, in, in Bolivia. So now the history of Bolivia is very, very important, and you need to really understand how Bolivia has evolved. Historically speaking. So, so I'm going to be sharing with you some— of course I will provide you the links and all that, but you need to see at least certain aspects of, uh, uh, what you're looking at here. This is the— if you know about the ancient history in Latin America, especially in Bolivia, this is considered like the, the gateway of the sun from the Tiwanaku civilization in Bolivia, which goes way, way back. And this is considered by the UNESCO one of the heritage— now, uh, part of the World Heritage Site. It's the ruins of Tiwanaku. That, that's where— so, so when you look at, at the advanced ancient societies inhabited back then, so in the Andes region of South America, long before the arrival of who? The Europeans, because the Europeans just came later on to, uh, to Latin America, the whole area for that matter. So, so the ruins of these societies, uh, of course, especially the Tiwanaku, it's well known. If you read up a little bit on it about the Tiwanaku civilization, you will understand. So Due to the high altitude, I, I was one thing I suffered from the first 48 hours when I arrived there. I had to, of course, I couldn't drink the cocoa. They have tea that's made. And of course, for us, the American Embassy was banning the cocoa because they consider it like a narcotic of sort. Well, usually you do that to compensate for the elevation. It's a little bit higher. So if you're not accustomed to it,, you will feel a little bit dizzy and so forth. So, and this mainly in the countryside or in, in Bolivia. And, uh, Tiwanaku civilization, that is the dominance, was lasted till about 1200, 1200. That's how when the regional kingdoms of Aymara, that's the one subsequently emerged as the most powerful And I got some pictures here I'm going to share with you. The powerful of the ethnic groups living in the densely populated region surrounded— surrounding Lake Titicaca. So the power struggles between these two sort of erupted and continued until 1450. That's when the Inka— yeah, the Inka incorporated Upper Bolivia into their growing empire. And, uh, later on came this guy. I need to, uh, go back to the screen here to show you the first picture. Now this picture is of Francisco Pizarro, who was a Spanish conquistador. So that's the— you need to see his, uh, picture here. And of course, this is all whatever happened in Bolivia at that time. It was still Francisco Pizarro and his fellow Spaniards conquisitors, uh, sort of first glimpse of the New World in 1524. And this is where sort of the vision of a land of gold led to aggressive colonization. Now, why am I saying this to you guys, and why am I highlighting to you? To put this in perspective for you as far as the failed coup. The failed coup didn't happen in a vacuum. If you only know the history, not from way back of Bolivia, but just recently, but also you put in the natural resources within the context of this, that is why it's important. So when you think about, uh, Francisco, uh, uh, yeah, that's his name, uh, uh, Francisco Pizarro, when, when he showed up back between 1471 and 1476. Yeah, that's how far back, uh, he was in. Now there are some historical records suggest that he came in in 1471. Other historical record I looked at, it says they couldn't confirm it, either 1471 or 1476 till about 1541. And that's when, uh, uh when he came in into that. So, and with— even without the arrival of the Europeans, the Inca Empire was floundering at that time. So Pizarro enjoyed the stunning initial success in his military campaign against the Incas. And after initial defeats, the Incas rallied some resistance against the Europeans, and in 1538, the Spaniards defeated Inca forces near Lake Titicaca, or Titicaca, that's what it was, allowing penetration into central and southern Bolivia. So although the Indian resistance continued, Spaniard or Spanish imperialists pushed forward, founding La Paz. La Paz was founded in 1549. The next was Santa Cruz, uh, uh, which was in 1561. And in the region, they're known as the Upper Peru. There is a reason why they use the term back then. The Spaniards found the mineral treasure chest over there, and they had been searching for. So this is why it's very, very important for you to understand. Now, who came after this guy? It was none other than Simon Bolívar. And this was one between 1783 and 1830. Let me share a picture with you guys right there. Very, very important. And I'm gonna just zoom through this quickly, guys, because I'm gonna put a link for you to read it in detail should you decide to do so. So now what came after this was the breakdown of colonial authority in the early 18th century. The mining industry entered a prolonged period of decline, as evidenced by the eclipse or the eclipsing of Potosí by, by La Paz. And in 1700, only small amount of bullion were shipped from Upper Peru to Spain. You see what imperialism is all about. You take advantage of the resources This is exactly what we're seeing in contemporary history now. We're seeing, like, for example, in Africa, in Southeast Asia, in Latin America and so forth, Middle East or West Asia for that matter, or you're seeing the imperialists, colonialists, whatever you want to call them, they're taking advantage of the resources and sending them back home. This is no, this is no different than what happened back then. With the, uh, with the Simon Bolivar. So, and let me put the picture back here just for you to see. So what happened after this one here? In the mid-18th century, Spanish control over South America began to weaken, and in 1780, the Inca descendant Tupac Amaru Sagan. That's his name. Tupac Amaru II led nearly 60,000 Indians against the Spaniard near the Peruvian city of Cuzco, or Cuzco. So Spain put down the revolt in 1783, because remember, Spanish forces back then were very major, powerful at that time, and executed thousands of Indians as punishment. But the revolt illustrated the precarious nature of Spanish colonial rules in the Andes. And this is where the invasion of Iberian Peninsula in 1807 by Napoleon Bonaparte and its aftermath further undermined Spain's authority. So this is what happened back then at the time. So on May May 25th, 1889, or 1809, I'm sorry, 1809. What happened at that time is radical criollos of Upper Peru led some sort of, uh, uh, by one of Latin America's first independence Peru, uh, uh, revolts at that time. Although defeated, sort of they were able to kind of get the ball rolling as far as pushing against the invaders at that time. And after July 1809, Spain never again fully controlled Upper Peru. That's the La Paz area and Santa Cruz and so forth. So what happened at that time? The region became the battleground for 7 years. Yeah, that's how long it took, which became the battleground for 7 years, uh, struggle between royalist troops from Peru and the forces of the independent Argentine Republic. And by 1817, this is where you have, uh, the— this, this individual here showed up into the picture. So what happened? 1817, the royalist based in Lima— Lima, as you know, is the capital of Peru— had suppressed Argentina's independence fighters seeking to wrest Bolivia from Spanish control. It proved to be only a temporary victory because in 1820 conflict reemerged in Upper Peru among three groups: loyalists who accepted the direction of the Spanish Cortés, rebels led by Simón Bolívar Palacios. That's the guy you're seeing on this picture. And of course, the third party was the conservative party, Corrillos, led by General Pedro Antonio Orlaneta, who refused to join either royalist forces or the rebellion. So, and that's where the next phase of the conflict came as far as the emergence of none other than Antonio José de Sucre. That's his picture right here. Once again, it's important to understand all this. Uh, uh, in 1828, Sucre was forced from office by an invading Peruvian army seeking to reunite the two territories. The ousted president redeemed himself by defeating a Peruvian force at a battle called Tarqui in 1829, and in May of the same year, 1829, Sucre was succeeded as president by Andrés de Santa Cruz, uh, between 1829 and 1839. Who forged a voluntary political union of Peru and Bolivia in the short-lived Peru, uh, Peru-Bolivian Confederacy, which lived between 1836 and 1839. And this is where Santa Cruz's tenure ended in January 1839 with the defeat of the Peru-Bolivian Confederacy by the Chilean Expediency, or expeditionary force, at the Battle of Yungay. This is why it's important for you to understand, guys, why we, the United States, gets involved in supporting coups in Latin America. And I documented that in my book, and I'll share it with you as we move forward. So once again, you put this in perspective, that this coup in Bolivia ain't happening in a vacuum, or didn't happen in a vacuum. Mike, my word on it. And, and we'll, we'll talk. So fast forward to the mid-'90s, Bolivia was beset by political instability. This is why you still see in some parts of Latin America the same way, and the rule of these strongmen, authoritarians, strongmen, dictators, whatever term you want to use. But there is also another aspect is known within Latin America is the economic stagnation which we have contributed to because we drained the resources from those countries. Look just now what's going on. We never wanted, uh, Argentina to get closer to China because of the BRI. So, and by the way, there is something in play into all this coup, the failed coup in Bolivia, that has to do with something with that. And that's part of my analysis I'm going to share with you. So So fast forward, and I'm gonna actually— let me see if there is one more important aspect. Yeah, you need to know about Víctor Paz Estenaroso, who was the president for many, many years, the first sort of civilian president of, uh, uh, Bolivia. So, uh, and I'm just gonna fast forward to 1952. Uh, oh, I gotta plug my computer. Before it dies on me. Here we go. Uh, Bolivian Revolution between 1952 and 1964. This is where, or when, the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement, uh, uh, known as MNR, uh, ushered in Bolivia's nationalist revolution. In, and in April, uh, 9th, 1952 when it launched an armed takeover of La Paz by mine workers in collaboration with disaffected elements of the National Police. Movement leader Víctor Paz Estenozoro, the one you seen on the picture there, assumed the presidency after a brief struggle. And that's why it's very, very important for you to understand this transition. Then after him, and again, I'm just providing brief here because I need to move on to the analysis part. After him came General Hugo, or Hugo rather, uh, Bonser Suárez. I have a picture of him. He's a dictator, military man, uh, of course took over at that time. That happens in between 1964 and 1982. So the army took over the government in 1964, ushered in a prolonged period of or military authoritarian military rule. And this is where you see the picture of General Hugo Banzer Suárez, because during the 1970s, which we know our involvement in Latin America dominated by the figure of General Hugo Banzer, because he was president from 1971 to 1978. So Uh, and of course, uh, in the late 1970s, military regime came under pressure from the United States and Europe to liberalize and restore civilian democratic rule, with international pressure and opposition from civilian group mounting. Of course, we had to arm and finance and fund those groups. So General Banzer announced presidential elections in 1980. However, two subsequent coups in the midst of congressional and presidential elections delayed the transition schedule, and in September 1982, the military finally handed over the government to a civilian administration led by Hernán Cílas Zarrú, who was the president from 18— I'm sorry, 1982 to 1985. 5. Fast forward to 2000, between 2006 and 2019, this is when you see the Evo Morales. Why is this important? Very, very important because Evo Morales was the first indigenous president, uh, uh, uh, for, for, uh, uh, for Bolivia, because, uh, he's considered to be the, the country's first fully indigenous head of state, uh, in, in the 470 years since Spanish conquest. Of course, uh, in 2005, elections were widely anticipated, and he won the elections later on. But we didn't get along with him because he didn't like what we were doing in his country and didn't like what we were taking the resources and so forth. And rightly so, it's his country. So So, and this is the history, uh, that I wanted to share with you because you need to understand some of it. So, so let's move on into our conversation now about the, the, the, the failed coup. Like I mentioned, the, uh, former Bolivian Army General, uh, Juan José Zúñiga, uh, who was reportedly sacked, by the way, he was sacked from his position, uh, uh, just, uh 2 weeks earlier. That's what was surprising about this. So now he tried to take over the government. Why? Because he's saying that— he said, and I quote, and this I got it from the article which I will put the link for you, uh, he said, and I quote, we are going to recover this homeland, end of quote. Ah, I can just see the writing on the wall. You know, uh, Spanish, uh, in that part of the world, they don't talk like that. Yeah, that's, that's my understanding as one who spent time, uh, in, in that country. Uh, of course, my, my time there wasn't, wasn't very, very long, but it's long enough to understand, at least from a political perspective. That's where I was. I was at the embassy, and, and I deal with political aspects of of what's going on with governments, or what was going on with governments at that time. So to me, when I read this, I kind of like, ah, but in any event, uh, this failed coup was quashed by the current president, President Luis Arce. Uh, let me show you his picture right here. This is his picture back in 2020 when he won the elections. And of course Who helped him into this was the people, you know, it was the people, the Bolivian people that did. And, uh, because Arce, Luis Arce, the, the current president, said, and I quote, to the Bolivian people and the entire international community, our country today is facing an attempt coup d'état, end of quote. So all this is important to understand, and this is a picture of the supporters, because I want to show you a picture of the supporters that sort of conquered, or congregated rather, near the palace, the presidential palace, in support of the president. So, uh, this is a picture of Zuniga while he was sitting inside an armored vehicle watching the military entering or storming the Bolivian presidential palace. This is the army, uh, storming that. And of course, uh, the president, uh, the current president sort of stood there with the support of the people, and they declared— it was the Minister of Interior that said, you are— meaning to the former general— you are under arrest. So And that is the key to all this very important understanding those dynamics because without understanding this at least the basics of it you won't— you wouldn't have the full picture as to what the media is see saying now uh the media saying oh the general wanted to save his country and no no no no no no no I don't buy that kind of stuff so so Because here's the thing, it was an official— I digged into the record just to look few things. Remember when I visited back then, just to share this with you, it was anytime I will go to a country, uh, of course I get my orders to head out to the country, whatever, which I will know ahead of time. I will go ahead and do my own research about the country. That's how I end up learning about countries. So of course I had to look into all this and understand what was going on. It was after I left Bolivia at the time, because it was in 2013 when an official military report came up and found out it was an investigation at the time about Zúñiga himself, the general who was then at the time, he was a head of the infantry regiment. What happened? He embezzled about 2.7 million bolivianos, which is the equivalency that's the currency for Bolivia, which was the equivalency of about $400,000 from public funds intended for pension, pensions, school vouchers, and military travel expenses. So you tell me, and you reach your own conclusion. You tell me, is this a general who really cares about his country? So he and 7 others linked to the scheme were jailed for 7 days according to the report back then. So, and in 2022, Zúñiga was accused by the leftist former president Evo Morales at that time of leading an unofficial secret by powerful group within the army called the Pachachos. And there is a truth to this. Do you know why? Because I found out that we in the United States around that time, we trained a group of military individuals. And this is where I'm gonna get in into my own analysis that I'm gonna be sharing with you. So, well, first of all, let's, uh, talk about who is the current president, because you have to know some backgrounds. Without understanding that, things would not make sense to you. Luis Arce, he's the current president of Bolivia. He's a socialist leader and a former economy minister, so he has an economic background, uh, who won a landslide in 2020. And he's a member of the Movement for Socialism, known as MAS. MAS. So the leftist party was founded by the former president Evo Morales. Who was ousted in 2019, aimed allegation of electoral fraud and social unrest. Now, beside this, we're going to have to think in terms of the— what did, uh, Luis achieved back then? Well, first of all, he oversaw the nationalization of the mining, of the mining, gas, and oil industries. You can see why, right? Redistribution of land to farmers, and reduction of poverty and inequality. As economy minister under Morales, he was credited as the architect of Bolivia's economic stability. So you give the guy credit. To me, I always look at it that way. What have you, in a position of power, have you done for the people. This is where the discrepancies comes up between, for example, a country like this and Europe. You look at Europe, you look at America, you look at Japan, you look at South Korea, you look at Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, you name it, Argentina for that matter. You got the idea. That's to me how I will, uh, judge the success, uh, of, of, of a leader. It's not by how many, uh, world leaders he or she meets with or Who gives a damn about that? I will care about what you have achieved for the people. So, and, uh, and that's part of one of the things he did. But, but for me, let me now focus on two main aspects to put this failed coup in perspective for you. One from an economic perspective and the other one from a geopolitical or political aspects of it. So, so let's start from an economic perspective. So here is the key that I need you to know: Bolivia, home to some of the world's biggest lithium reserves in the world. So why is this important? You all know why, right? Lithium batteries. So, but that is not about that, because there are two main things from an economic perspective that you need to know, and I'm going to share some pictures with you. Look at this picture here. Let me— oh yeah, I can. Okay, can you guys see? But look at the title of the article, and I'm going to provide you the article, of course. And this article was on June 12th. So you reach your own conclusion, you're smart enough, okay? Now what happened? Bolivia signed the deal, a $400 million deal with Russia. Uh, there is a company, uh, it's a Russian state, uh, firm, it's called Uranium One Group. And the reason they signed the deal, because as I said, Bolivia has the biggest lithium reserves in the world. So the deal was to produce the key battery and electric vehicle components. And here is the key that I need you to understand. Under this agreement, the, the— and I got the picture of it right here. This is part of what Rosatom— this is the company, the Russian company, that, uh, the Russian firm, uh, parent company that signed the deal. So what happened under this agreement? The Russian firm parent company Rosatom will invest in Bolivia over 2 years from the time they signed this deal, which was only about 2 years ago or so, 2 years to build a pilot lithium plant in the country's south. So this is part of why the coup has to take place, to prevent that from happening. So now there is another aspect to all this, which is China. China also played a role into this. And I read an article written by Patricio Guesto, and I, I'll put you the link for you. So over all this, so, and this one, it disclosed why the US was very, very, very concerned. Take a listen to this, guys. Let me open it for you, and please just give me a thumbs up if you can hear, because I can hear it on my end here. If I can open it. Oh, I can't. Okay, let me, let me get— because you need to listen to this, very, very important. Uh, bear with me, guys, here, please. All right, here is the I'm going to share the screen with you. This is by Lieutenant General, uh, a US Lieutenant General, actually a 3-star, 4-star General. It's not— she's not a lieutenant.

Share screen.

Okay, yeah, this is Laura Richardson, General Laura Richardson. Full screen. And please tell me, uh, just give me a thumbs up if you can hear.

Why this region matters with all of its rich resources and rare earth elements. You've got the Lithium Triangle, which is needed for technology today. 60% of the world's lithium, uh, is in the Lithium Triangle— Argentina, Bolivia, Chile. You just have the largest oil reserves, light sweet crude discovered off of Guyana over a year ago. You have Venezuela's resources as well with oil, copper, gold. We have the Amazon, lungs of the world. We have 31% of the world's fresh water in this region too. I mean, it's just off the charts. We have a lot to do. This region matters. It has a lot to do with national security, and we need to step up our game.

All right, you got the idea. And by the way, did you notice it was through TikTok? It wasn't through any, any Western media. Uh, the ones I got, I got it through my tweet from, uh, uh, Dr. Strangelove. No, I got it through, uh, it was in, in my, uh, in my Twitter feed, my X feed, as they say. So my point in all this, guys, you need to understand this economic angle because it's very, very crucial. You think of it this way: the idea of the access to lithium, okay, but also the idea of what the US was thinking in terms of how the economy in Latin America, it's gonna— it will prosper if China gets involved. Okay, because of the BRI, because of BRICS. We never wanted that to happen. And this is why exactly you heard what the general saying as far as she even categorized it or classified it as a national security concern. That's how important for you guys to understand in this. And second, uh, by the way, it was the same during her trip to Argentina to meet with Javier Milei. And you all know what the incompetent Javier Milei end up doing as far as, uh, pulling Argentina from BRICS altogether. That was for a reason. Here is what's interesting also, is that Argentina now, even with that, Argentina wanted to do currency swap with China, and China said why not. So, Milei is realizing his policies are going the wrong direction. We are not happy with this to begin with, so, but it was because when the general went to— Laura Richardson went to Argentina is to pressure Milei for that. And that's another angle you you need to understand. And why is this? Is because China approved— listen to this carefully— China approved about 40 new Brazilian meat packing plants in a record time during February, February of this year. 40, which already been authorized, by the way, to export beef to China. Which means what? If you know anything about Argentina when it comes down to beef, Argentina is known for having beef, which means Brazil is gonna overtake Argentina when it comes down— beef export is considered for Argentina one of the main resource of income. So beef currently is Argentina's second most important export product to China, and 80% of Argentina beef exports are destined for China. Not anymore, because Brazil doubled its export to China in the last 5 years, which means what? It is easily replacing, uh, Argentina suppliers in the short term. So, and this is what part of where this issue is, and I am going to provide you the link of this. Now you think about it from a geopolitical, and this is just one example of the economic aspect. So the other one has to do with— I'm not even talking about BRI, I'm not talking about some other aspects, I'm talking just about this aspect of the, uh, uh, lithium access to natural resources. Remember, you got three main countries, they call them the Lithium Triangle. Can you guys type in, in the chat box, what are those three countries? They went now. Because I'd like you to be part of this. What are the 3 countries known as the Lithium Triangle? And I did say it to you last time, so let me just see if you guys can, uh, see if you guys can, uh, remember that. Uh, Chile is one, uh, Bolivia is two, And Peru. That is correct, that is correct. Those are known as the triangle. This is how it's, it's known. So now here is the other thing. Yeah, the Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. I'm sorry, those are the lithium, uh, triangle, not Peru, not Peru. Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. Those are the one. Now I'll ask you direct question. Could this have to do anything with the coup, the failed coup, in your opinion? Becomes clear. And again, you reach your own conclusion. Uh, uh, for, for me, I am convinced— and again, my opinion, my opinion, my own opinion— I am convinced that this coup was orchestrated. That's one. Whether how far the The three-letter agency and the MI6 were involved. I do not know to what extent, but I know the involvement is fait accompli. And third is that we wanted to ensure that the Monroe Doctrine still alive and applies, even though we are noticing—

we—

no, no, that era is gone. And you're seeing more and more You look at Argentina right now, when, when Millet— I don't know what Argentinians were thinking, but at the same time, I can ask this question because we can say the same about us. What were Americans thinking when, uh, the incompetent President Tavor doesn't know day from night? No, for me, I kind of kind of saw the writing on the wall. It's like, who you gonna vote for? There is nobody to vote for. Same what's going on this time around. Who are you gonna vote for? So, uh, sometimes we say, well, yeah, Argentinian people could have think about it. Well, the same apply to us. Look, same thing apply to Germany, even though in Germany now they are— this, uh, latest, uh, survey about democracy found out that the majority of Germans are dissatisfied with this so-called democracy. That's why, guys, if you want me do a video for you about it, I'll be happy to do it. So, and I'll put a, a survey for you to answer the question, and we just go from there. And this is why you need to understand, uh, the— from an economic perspective, why Bolivia and Chile, for that matter, and Argentina, uh, we kind of took care of Argentina. Chile, you don't hear much about it, even though our history, which I will mention to you during the time of General Pinochet, will provide you an insight. Bolivia is another story, to the point that now there are some argue, uh, stating that the, uh, the coup was staged by the president himself, which is nonsense. I don't buy that. That's the counter argument usually we do when something goes wrong. We're gonna have to counter it. It's, it's a playbook. That, that's just how it works. Now here is what the shocker that I am going to be sharing with you, and just to put it in perspective, and you guys decide for this yourself. So let me share a picture with you. What are you looking at? You are looking at— and by the way, this picture is not recent. This picture from about, uh, if I am not mistaken, uh, hold on, let me, let me see what year was it. Right there, 2019. That's what it was. You're looking at the top Bolivian coup plotter, trained by US Military School of the Americas, served as attachés in FBI police program. So yes, this was in 2019 because it was the coup against Morales, but the same could apply because some of the military were trained in the US. So this is why you're gonna have to think about this doesn't happen in a vacuum. It does not happen in a vacuum. So for us, the US, we've always played, uh, sort of, uh, a pivotal role, key role, important role in coups when it comes down to Bolivia. First of all, we didn't like Morales. Because he decided like, no, you can come over here and extract the resources from the country. He's indigenous, so the indigenous people, they have ties to the land. I was there. This is part of their cultural heritage, guys. This is not about just some decoration. This means a lot into the history of Bolivia. That was the reason why I bought it. It's not about decoration, it's about the significance of it from a cultural perspective. So it was always for us some sort of involvement through the military aspects of it. So, and this is why if you look at our history, it's acknowledged as far as the amount of how many coups we've been involved in Latin America. So, so because If you go back to 2019, just prior to the resignation of Morales, so the commander of Bolivia's armed forces at that time, William Callaman, you know, suggested that the president step down. The military ain't gonna suggest that on their own because it's not a military government, it's a civilian government. So the, the top brass or top ranking general, whatever, reports to the president. That, that, that's just so, so to me, that was one of the really key aspects that, oh, it's interesting that no, no media, mainstream media, is picking up on this. And by the way, this was in, in Grayzone, the article. You know, mainstream media ain't gonna talk about this. This is what a lot of people do not know. And if you think about, at least for me, When I, uh, uh, when I wrote my— I think I disclosed it in my last book, in the Russia book. That's when I disclosed this one. And I wrote back then, which still applied today, I wrote that the US has— my country has bloodstained record of supporting coups and dictators across Latin America. That's what I argued in the book, and I even provided examples For example, Somoza in Nicaragua, Pinochet in Chile, Stroessner in Paraguay, Batista in Cuba, death squads in Honduras, and of course genocidal military dictators in Guatemala. So I kind of— hey, that was part of holding that Monroe Doctrine, but now The landscape has changed, the world has changed. We moved on to a multipolar order. It bothered the American, the, the Washington establishment that Bolivia signed or, or got that agreement with Russia for $450 million regarding the establishment of some major project regarding lithium. You all know China is interested also. It's because of the EVs. Now you put this in perspective and understand that for example tariffs don't happen in a vacuum uh coups don't happen in a vacuum regime change doesn't happen in a vacuum and it will make more sense to you and this is where uh uh the argument uh that oh it was Grantol General no no no no no no no no no it goes beyond that It goes beyond that. The Bolivians are in support of their civilian government. They don't want to go back to that era. Latin America suffered enough. Look at the poverty, what it is. Even IMF has approached Bolivia. Yeah, and they are saying thanks but no thanks, because look where Argentina is. And that's part of where these dynamics are about. So, all right guys, uh, that's all I have to share with you on this. I am going to answer some of your questions. I want to let you know about my, uh, interview tomorrow with SL Kantan. Make sure to join me for that. Uh, I look forward to that conversation. Uh, SL is a journalist, so he's someone I'm familiar with him. Uh, usually, you know me, I just don't invite whomever either. So, and I am not— I don't follow the crowd. You all know this by now. I don't follow the crowd. Uh, you know, credentials are very important. So when you bring some— someone in, you bring someone in for the sake of helping my community to learn something, not because somebody is popular. I care less for that stuff. So you all know where I stand on this. Uh, once again, I want to say thank you to those who become, uh, uh, supporters for the channel, members and so forth, and I am very, very grateful to that. Should you decide to support the channel, you know where to go if you want to do that. Once again, I want to give a shout out to, uh, TC Quan, uh, to Osiris the Great, uh, uh, Masian Dorier, J, uh, you know, there's so many of you guys, so many, and I am so grateful. So I want you to know, and, and I appreciate it. So, uh, I just reached out, FYI, regarding my third book, which I will upload for you. This one has to do with this book here. Uh, I just reached out to the publisher and requested, uh, it's right here. I'm gonna upload this book soon. I requested a copy of my contract because now I own the, the rights, which means I, I do whatever. I put the price— they put in it at Amazon for about, I think, $45. I think $38 for, uh, for, uh, the, uh, electronic copy, digital one, and it's about $75 hard copy. So I'm gonna put this one at about $15 for you guys. That's, you know, to me it's not, uh, it's just to cover cost for the platform and so forth. But, uh, and I'm gonna read the contract this afternoon and finalize it for you. So should you guys want— to those who bought, uh, my books, once again, please make sure to reach out if you have any question once you start reading the books. Some things might not make sense to you, whatever, please reach out. Just, you got my contact through Buy Me a Coffee, send me the question and I will respond to you. So, all right, let me answer a question or two, guys, before I'll sign off here. And I'm going to scroll all the way back up to the top and we just go from there. And by the way, I enjoyed a conversation with you guys on the weekend, the, the community conversation, and of course my conversation with Kaza which was kind enough to, uh, speaking the truth. You're right, Argentina is a basket case and it's only making it worse. So, US needs regime change, that's correct, you know, except that, you know, meet the new boss as the old boss. Uh, for US, we have a— and across the West, we have a leadership deficiency. Straightforward. We don't have— we don't have any. We don't have any. So, all right, let me see a question from you guys, and, uh, we just go from— go from there. All right, uh, and by the way, uh, I sent an email to, uh, Max Blumenthal. You all know who he is, right? Journalist. And I haven't heard back yet. So, uh, Johannes Dharma question: Doc, how is your plan moving abroad? If you can choose where, if Indonesia I suggest, uh, Sorabaya. No, I haven't— no, no, no, no, no decision has been made yet, you know. Uh, believe it or not, I kept the survey, guys, because I read the updated comments. Of course, the survey showed 60% would like me to teach in China. Uh, that's something I, I also think about it, but I haven't decided definitively in locations. I am meeting with a friend of mine this afternoon who's very familiar with that part of the world, very, very— he's an academician, he was a vice president for university, he's a physicist, PhD, and so forth. Well, well experienced guy, and I intend to converse with him about this. So, so no decision has been made yet, so, and, and it's, uh, and once I do, of course I'll share it with you guys. Once I know that one. Oh, oh, I got a nice— thank you so much for your comment. Thank you, bro. Keep your good works. Don from Ethiopia, much appreciate you, man. A lot of people do not know about the history of Ethiopia, guys. I don't know if you know that or not. I, I had a chance to visit, uh, to have dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. So very, very interesting country. All right, let me see any questions here. I, I don't see any so far, guys. And by the way, I am gonna check, uh, uh, uh, about what's going on in Okinawa. So, uh, Juan, good to see you. Juan, question: do you think the US will withdraw troops from Niger? Oh, it's already starting, it's already starting. And Niger has asked the US to leave. Yeah, yeah, they don't want Niger. The whole Sahel region, you all remember that region, right? And I kept a map for you guys just in case. This whole region doesn't want the presence of Western forces, doesn't matter US or not. However, they are welcoming the Russians and they are welcoming the Chinese for economic investments. But the US, France, Germany, Holland, uh, you name it, they don't want those. So, uh, just to answer your question, uh, the US is already done, done for. They don't want— uh, Niger doesn't want the US despite the agreement. They said, okay, we're done. So, and it's about right time, it's about right time for them to leave. So why are we in other countries? So why do we have 54,000 in Japan? Why do we have 30, almost 35,000 in South Korea? Well, we have almost 30, 29,000, 30,000, 29 or 30,000 in Germany. What for? Yeah, yeah, it's time to leave because that's, uh, it doesn't look good for those countries. So Anyway guys, I'm gonna, uh, uh, I'm, I'm gonna sign off here because I have to go, and I shall see you tomorrow at 11:30. I will send you a reminder, guys, for the community. And once again, I appreciate you for keeping the conversation, uh, civil here. It means a lot to me because I can't track everything, so I'm very grateful to you. So I appreciate you guys. As always, remember Geopolitics impact your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, guys. Bye-bye.