The above image was made with stable diffusion using the prompt 'Cuban restaurant at sunset.'
The craziest headline in today's news was 'Cuba says it uncovered a human trafficking ring that sends Cubans to fight with Russia against Ukraine.' Here's some of what the article said:
In a press release, Cuba's foreign ministry said it "has detected and it is working to neutralize and dismantle a human trafficking network that operates from Russia in order to incorporate Cuban citizens living there and even some living in Cuba, into the military forces that participate in military operations in Ukraine."
The piece alleged that Cubans were offered money and Russian passports to go to Russia for work. The article implies that these Cubans were later ending up on the front lines in the war in Ukraine, but there were no details about how exactly this occurred. Were they sent to some Russian military facility for training? Were they just dropped off near the front lines and handed a rifle?
Taken at face value, this news has a few implications. It implies that Russia is so desperate for troops that it's tricking Cubans into fighting. It implies that Cuba is on top of the situation and is responding appropriately. Overall, it supports the official story in the US, which is that Russia is weak and growing desperate. But dig a little deeper and matters become less clear. From the same article:
The ministry's press release also said "Cuba's enemies are promoting distorted information that seeks to tarnish the country's image and present it as an accomplice" of these actions. The statement appeared to be in response to claims made in some of Miami's media that the two countries had entered into an agreement to hire Cuban mercenaries in exchange for support the communist government has been receiving from Russia. Cuba and Russia's strong relationship dates back to the Cold War. Cuba has been roiled in an economic crisis for the past three years and Russia has been supplying it with food and oil. Russia, which does not require visas for people from Cuba, is a popular destination for Cubans who travel there to purchase merchandise to resell in Cuba.
I'm not sure why human traffickers would promise Russian passports to their victims when Cubans can already travel without visas in Russia. This discrepancy is small but important. To me, it suggests that the official story was constructed too hastily. Like there wasn't enough time to get all of the facts straight.
Reading between the lines, I speculate that Russia is indeed recruiting Cuban soldiers, but openly, using standard military recruitment tactics. If this were happening, the US government would know about it, and wouldn't be happy. Under pressure from the US, Cuba would have to publicly demonstrate its opposition to Russian military recruitment of Cubans. Cuba's foreign ministry did this by characterizing military recruitment as trafficking, putting it on par with this kind of stuff.
Of course, it is always possible that gangs of Russian agents really are roaming the globe, conscripting unfortunate souls into the service of war. Perhaps it's these conscripts and not patriotic Russian youth dying in droves over there. The truth is that we in the US have no idea what's going on in Ukraine. Censorship and propaganda ensure this.
Recently I've been hearing talk that the conflict may continue into 2027 and beyond. I can't even describe how crazy that sounds to me. Some people think that the US should be doing more to help Ukraine fend off Russia. I think we should provide only humanitarian aid and allow the actors in the region to resolve their own disputes.
One thing we're seeing more and more of in this war is drones. Ukraine has been using them to significant effect and both sides are likely manufacturing the weapons as fast as they possibly can. The tech is evolving at breakneck speed. It disturbs me to consider what might become possible by 2027.
Read my novels:
- Small Gods of Time Travel is available as a web book on IPFS and as a 41 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt.
- The Paradise Anomaly is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Psychic Avalanche is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- One Man Embassy is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Flying Saucer Shenanigans is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Rainbow Lullaby is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- The Ostermann Method is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Blue Dragon Mississippi is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
See my NFTs:
- Small Gods of Time Travel is a 41 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt that goes with my book by the same name.
- History and the Machine is a 20 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt based on my series of oil paintings of interesting people from history.
- Artifacts of Mind Control is a 15 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt based on declassified CIA documents from the MKULTRA program.