
This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- N. Korea threatens death to America for U.N. Security Council vote
- Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez’s body will be kept on permanent display
N. Korea threatens death to America for U.N. Security Council vote

N. Korean rally in Pyongyang in front of billboard that depicts a large bayonet pointing at U.S. soldiers and reads, ‘If you dare invade, only death will be waiting for you!’ (AP)
The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution onThursday imposing new restrictions on North Korea in the areas oftravel, banking and trade. The sanctions were imposed as punishmentfor N. Korea’s recent tests of long-range missiles and nuclearweapons, in violation of United Nations resolutions. Even Chinasupported the new resolution, having frequently expressed itsstrong disapproval of the tests.
In the last few days, N. Korea’s public rhetoric has been gettingincreasingly shrill. First, they’ve said that they’re canceling the1945 armistice agreement that ended the fighting in the Korean War,even though we’ve technically still been at war ever since. Itthreatened “precision nuclear strikes” that will create a “sea offire.” And on Thursday it threatened to “exercise the right to apreemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressorsand to defend the supreme interests of the country.”
Would North Korea actually go ahead and launch a nuclear attack oneither South Korea or the U.S. (assuming that it’s really capable ofdoing so)? Many analysts point out that any such attack would be metwith massive counterstrikes by both countries. In fact, the SouthKorea government announced on Thursday that in case of any provocation,they would target the highest ranks of the North Korean regime:
“When we refer to command, it usually signifiesdivisional or corps commanders. But if Seoul comes under attack,the top levels of North Korea’s regime including [leader] KimJong-un could become targets.”
However, we have some recent history that suggests a differentscenario. In 2010, North Korean launched two separate attacks onSouth Korea, one a missile attack that sank a South Korean warship ininternational waters, and another that killed civilians on an offshoreisland. In both cases, N. Korea simply denied that they wereresponsible, and China backed them, even though no one doubted whatthey had done. The N. Korean denial gave cover to the South Koreansto back down and not retaliate in any way. So the N. Koreans simplygot away with these deadly attacks on S. Korea.
So one could imagine that the N. Koreans learned a simple lesson fromall this: If you’re going to launch some kind of nuclear attack onS. Korea or the U.S., then do it in such a way as to preservedeniability, and you’ll get away with it. And the way to do it andpreserve deniability is to smuggle some kind of nuclear device intothe target area and set it off remotely. There will be weeks ormonths of forensic investigations to prove that the N. Koreans did it,but in the end, the proof will never be 100% certain, and the Chinesewill back them. LA Times and Chosun Ilbo (Seoul)
Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez’s body will be kept on permanent display
Following the death of Venezuela’s president Hugo Chávez,acting president Nicolas Maduro said:
“I want to tell the nation and the world … it hasbeen decided to prepare the body of the comandante president,embalm it, so it can be eternally open for the people to have itthere always.
So, like Ho Chi Minh, like Lenin, like Mao Zedong, the body of ourcommander-in-chief will remain embalmed … for our people to beable to have him forever.”
The glass tomb will rest forever inside a future Museum of theBolivarian Revolution.
One of the most amazing things about this situation is that themainstream press is totally oblivious to what’s going on here. I’veheard one commentator after another express amazement at how wildlyand enthusiastically beloved Chávez was, even after over a decade inoffice. I heard words like “unbelievable” and “it’s a conundrum.”
That’s why when I wrote the article reporting Chávez’s death, I emphasized that he was a mestizo (mixedblood), and that he was a hero to the other mestizos, comprising about70% of Venezuelan population. Racial feelings run very deep in LatinAmerica, and that 70% majority had been oppressed for decades by thegovernment and businesses until Chávez was able to defeat them — justas Simón Bolívar had defeated them two centuries ago. That’s whyChávez was so wildly popular, even after over a decade in office:Because as badly as he messed things up in Venezuela, he was stillconsidered hugely beloved since he had defeated the Europeanoppressors.
As I understand it, Chávez has left a major bombshell behind for hissuccessor. He won reelection for president last year, and he did soby borrowing huge sums of money, putting Venezuela very deeply indebt, and used the money to buy votes. The constitution calls for anew election within 30 days, and Chávez’s anointed successor, NicolasMaduro, is expected to win. He’ll have to deal with the debtbombshell, and he doesn’t have even a fraction of the charisma ofChávez. Latin American Herald Tribune
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