Image is of the Preah Vihear Temple on the Cambodian border. Image sourced from the UNESCO World Heritage website.

Over the last few days, Thailand and Cambodia entered into a heightened stage of conflict due to a long-running border dispute. Like many problems on this planet, Europeans are ultimately to blame - specifically France. Certain sections of the border drawn up by France about a century ago were not fully agreed upon by both sides, with the ownership of some Khmer temples being the most visible points of disagreement.

Despite interventions in favor of Cambodia in the 1960s and later 2010s by the ICJ - one of the mainly mostly useless global institutions that liberals periodically disown - the border conflict has simmered at a generally low level. Of the two countries, Thailand is significantly more militarily and economically powerful.

Last Wednesday, a Thai soldier lost his leg by stepping on a landmine, prompting a rapid escalation between Cambodia and Thailand that has since resulted in dozens of deaths and tens of thousands displaced. Cambodia was willing to come to the negotiating table fairly quickly, but Thailand was more hesitant. International pressure on the two countries by Malaysia, China, and the United States eventually forced Thailand to the table, and they have recently agreed to an immediate ceasefire courtesy of ASEAN.

Notably, Trump refused to hold trade talks with either country until they agreed to peace, which suggests that he really wants a Nobel Peace Prize - which he seems a shoe-in for given that he’s met the two most important requirements that several Nobel Peace Prize recipients have needed to meet in the past, which are: 1) start at least one war, and 2) accelerate the genocide of millions of people as billions more people watch on. His policies vis-a-vis ICE creating a domestic terror regime only further increase his chances of winning the prize.

Last week’s thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

Please check out the RedAtlas!

The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.

Israel-Palestine Conflict

If you have evidence of Israeli crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:

UNRWA reports on Israel’s destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.

English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists’ side.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.

Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:

Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    30·
    20 days ago

    Brazil Will Not Negotiate as if It Were a Small Country: Lula da Silva - Telesur English

    Article

    He rejects Trump’s ultimatum as U.S. tariff hike on Brazil looms On Wednesday, The New York Times published an interview with President Lula da Silva, in which he stated that Brazil “will never negotiate as if it were a small country against a big one,” just two days before a 50% retaliatory tariff on Brazilian imports is set to take effect.

    “We are aware of the United States’ economic power. We recognize its military might and technological size… But that doesn’t scare us. It concerns us,” the Brazilian leader said.

    On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump will impose an additional 50% tariff on Brazilian imports. The Republican president has tied the implementation of this decision to the dismissal of charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently being prosecuted by Brazil’s Supreme Court for a coup attempt in 2023.

    The Brazilian government has stated it will not negotiate matters of national sovereignty or judicial responsibilities. It also urged the United States to engage in dialogue to resolve the trade dispute. Lula stressed that Brazil treats everyone “with great respect,” and demands the same in return.

    “Lula, referring to Bolsonaro, says: ‘He tried to stage a coup to prevent me from taking office. He had no courage. He ran away like a rat. He sent his son to Washington to ask Trump to intervene in Brazil. It’s a lack of character. Pay for the shit you did and respect the Brazilian people’.”

    “Democracy is sacred,” he said, showing no indication of yielding to the U.S. President’s pressure regarding Bolsonaro’s criminal cases.

    “Brazil has already lived through dictatorships… We don’t want that again,” Lula said, reaffirming the importance of respecting the separation of powers and the rule of law.

    Two days earlier, Lula had said that Brazil has no conflict with any country and that his intent is to negotiate peacefully with the U.S. “What’s preventing that is that no one wants to talk. We have requested that contact,” he said, referring to communications with the Trump administration.

    In statements to the press on July 11, Trump said of Lula, “Maybe at some point I’ll talk to him. Right now, no.” The Brazilian president called it “shameful” that Trump threatened him via Truth Social.

    “Trump’s behavior departed from all standards of negotiation and diplomacy… When there is a commercial or political disagreement, you make a phone call, you schedule a meeting, you talk, and you try to resolve the issue. What you don’t do is impose tariffs and issue an ultimatum,” Lula said.

    The Brazilian president also lamented the shift “from a 201-year diplomatic relationship where everyone wins to a political relationship where everyone loses,” noting that as a result of Trump’s actions, Americans will now face higher prices on coffee, beef, orange juice and other Brazilian products.