O Iceberg

The empire doesn’t negotiate with the Global South. It punishes it. But its local clients don’t just fail—they collapse, taking the people’s savings with them. Look at Paraguay. Santiago Peña was the perfect comprador. An IMF economist, a close US ally, he joined Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” coalition and aligned with Washington on everything from Taiwan to Israel. His government promoted Ueno Bank, a digital lender where he had held shares. The bank serviced 3 million customers—60% of Paraguay’s adult population—and held $850 million in public funds, including pension money. Then the scheme collapsed. The bank froze accounts, paralyzing the economy. Retirees and workers marched, demanding their money back. Peña resigned minutes before the Chamber of Deputies voted to impeach him. This is the material reality of the neoliberal model in the periphery. The comprador elite enriches itself, then flees when the architecture crumbles. And what does the empire do for its fallen ally? Nothing. The US doesn’t bail out Paraguay. It blockades Cuba into a humanitarian crisis, calling it a “naval blockade”. It slaps 50% tariffs on Brazil and sanctions Supreme Court justices for jailing coup plotters. It punishes sovereignty, not incompetence. The victory in Brazil was a defensive line. Now, the empire is trying to drown the rest of the region in blood and debt—while its own clients rob the people blind.