CRISIS IN NORTH KOREA? – FROM FOX:   Speculation over internal conditions in North Korea and the stability of its regime is even more rampant than usual.  Reports of food shortages, a COVID outbreak and political volatility have fanned much of the speculation. Kim Jong Un’s recent extended absence from public view simply fueled the fire, triggering renewed rumors of health problems.  Still, it never pays to sell the regime short. It has outlived countless previous reports of its imminent demise.  Kim has now reappeared much thinner than before, but this has only fueled more speculation. His return to the scene coincided with senior leadership meetings in which he warned of dire food shortages, a dangerous influx of foreign influence and a "grave" breach of the country’s defenses against the COVID virus. Some experts interpreted the trifecta of failings as potentially leading to regime instability or collapse.  Kim acknowledged that the country’s food situation is getting "tense," going so far as to warn of another "arduous march," a reference to the 1990s famine that killed an estimated one million people. Crop shortages, skyrocketing food prices and closure of markets have led to increasingly dire conditions.   The Biden administration may soon be facing multiple crises, with no demonstrated ability to handle them:  a possible clash with China over Taiwan; a possible collapse of North Korea; the rise of a new, fanatical government in Iran; and an uprising in Cuba.  We are not in good shape.

THE GRIM REALITY OF CUBA – FROM FOX:   Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Monday questioned an early tweet from the U.S. State Department that seemed to assure Americans that the right to peaceful assembly is observed in Cuba amid new reports of a punishing crackdown by the government and an emerging "list of missing persons."  Cruz, the son of a Cuban immigrant, posted a portion of an article from the Wall Street Journal that mentioned Cuba’s Communist government’s effort to snuff out protests. Havana deployed security forces across the island and arrested dozens. Reuters reported that it appeared police — many who were dressed in plain clothes — were seen beating some demonstrators.  "How is this possible??" Cruz tweeted. "The Biden State Dept told us that the Cuban communist dictatorship protects their 'right to peaceful assembly'?"  Cruz referred to the much-maligned tweet sent out by the State Department on Sunday that read in part, "Peaceful protests are growing in #Cuba as the Cuban people exercise their right to peaceful assembly."  The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to emails from Fox News. President Biden said in an earlier statement: "We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba's authoritarian regime."  The Journal’s report said the Cuban government essentially sealed off much of the country’s communication with the outside world and arrested more than 100 people. The report, citing activists, said that the whereabouts of many protesters are not known.  The American response has been anemic.  This is a decisive moment in Cuban history, and there is no guarantee the protesters will win.   They didn't win in Iran, nor in Venezuela.  Should America intervene more directly?

July 12, 2021