JUST SAYING
BY RAUL HERNANDEZ
Washington Post’s Christian Caryl’s op-ed about (below) an under-reported story, the frail Russian economy and why Putin and his gangsters are worried is an excellent piece.
Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin warned last month that the country could be heading for a recession if things don’t change, according to Caryl’s op-ed.
No doubt that there is trouble in the Workers’ Paradise, and this is making Putin jittery.
The former KGB gangster always believed that he could give Russians a taste of capitalism, and they won’t notice or be concerned about the murders of journalists and others who oppose Putin or the further erosion of bare-bones human rights in Russia.
However, a weak Russian economy hampers Putin’s ability to create problems around the world and to spread the despot gospel and enslave others in other countries.
The Russian military is crippled by a weak economy, paying for jet fuel and tanks cost money.
Recently, Deutsch Bank turned over documents to authorities linked to the Trump investigation that include bank records of Russian billionaires including Putin, who have been stealing billions from the Russian treasury to enrich themselves.
These financial records should be made available throughout the world so the Russian people and others know who is robbing them blind and how.
The recent and harsh crackdown of Russian protesters in the streets of Moscow isn’t going unnoticed by Putin who is accustomed to killing his enemies one at a time.
Despots and dictators get nervous when they see hundreds of thousands of people on the streets.
Hong Kong economy could collapse if the protests there lead to more violence and deaths.
Those protests began because China wanted to enact a policy to extradite perceived Hong Kong troublemakers, journalists and community activists to China’s “justice” system or other countries like North Korea, which would be a death sentence.
If massacres of Russian protesters occur, this will sink the economy to the point that hundreds of thousands of hungry, desperate and angry people will return to the streets.
The key takeaway in Mr. Carly’s op-ed is this: “The Financial Times notes that the real incomes of Russians have been steadily falling over the past six years, and are now 10 percent lower than they were in 2013 — the year before Putin annexed Crimea and went to war with Ukraine. Even if the economy grows a bit this year, many of Putin’s compatriots, who live in one of the most unequal societies in the world, won’t feel much benefit.”
The United States Congress should use very strong sanctions against the Russians if Putin and his thugs meddle in the 2020 elections.
Putin would tread lightly before helping his pal Trump win another election.
