this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2026
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Image is one of many rallies in Iran in support of the government and the leadership.


short summary here, longish summary in spoiler tags below: Western standoff munition stockpiles now substantially depleted, therefore Western aircraft activity directly over Iran increasing (as is footage of attempted and actual hits against them) as the US attempts to transition more to using bombs dropped directly onto targets, Iran is increasingly in the driver's seat and controlling the conflict, world economy is fucked and yet could still get much worse very soon, if you require a car to live (especially if it's not electric) and cannot work from home then you have my sincere condolences

longish summary hereWhile I've seen several estimates on the current stockpiles of US and Zionist missiles and interceptors - somewhere in the realm of a third depleted, perhaps even up to half - it seems like we're reaching the point at which the US does not want to commit even more standoff munitions and is trying their luck against the Iranian air defense network directly.

We have already seen footage of Iran attempting to shoot down, and sometimes actually striking Western fifth generation planes like the F-35, and more footage along those lines is appearing for other plane models (with one side claiming that they evaded interception and the other claiming they hit it, etc etc, propaganda is everywhere, you know the drill). How much the US is willing to test their planes against Iranian air defense is a matter of debate. Strictly speaking, a few fighter jets and bombers shot down would be no catastrophic loss in the grand scheme of things, as the US has hundreds. However, the narrative of such a thing would be quite bad for the US - "You're telling me an OBLITERATED Iranian military can shoot down some of our most advanced equipment?? What are we gonna do against China?!" - and given Trump's deranged jingoistic rhetoric aimed to buoy markets, it's clear that he cares very deeply about narratives. Additionally, with Chinese exports of several critical metals to the US banned, the prospect of replacing these aircraft (and indeed the standoff munitions and the interceptors and the ground radars etc) is looking questionable.

All the while, Iran continues its strikes across the Middle East. Missile and drone strikes are reportedly on the uptick again, demonstrating that Iranian military capabilities have by no means been "destroyed" as Western propaganda claim, though it's impossible to sure there was ever a significant downtick due to Western censorship and outright fabrications. People around the world are gradually realizing the magnitude of the economic disaster that is occurring and may yet occur. Refineries and factories which deal with oil and gas directly are starting to slow down or stop production, and those who make products downstream of those are starting to follow them like dominoes. Outrage at gas station prices is rising, and many countries are considering limiting civilian driving and implementing work-from-home policies akin to the coronavirus pandemic. And now, threats are being made by Trump against both Kharg Island (where most Iranian oil is shipped from) and the Iranian electrical grid - which is highly decentralized and would require a prolonged bombing campaign to completely take out -and the promised Iranian reprisal would be apocalyptic to the Middle East. It would make oil prices rise to previously unfathomable heights as oil infrastructure turned off and remained off for months, perhaps years, and set in motion one of the world's greatest humanitarian catastrophes as the desalination necessary for tens of millions of people is shut down. It would also not be a symmetrical problem, as Iran does not rely on desalination for its water supply.


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Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
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Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
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https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
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[–] jack@hexbear.net 17 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Here's a comment I wrote earlier today about Ecuador in particular but which I think is largely applicable to Chile, Peru, and Bolivia as well:

Revolution in Ecuador?The Ecuador tag People's Dispatch gives a good overview of different stories I'm synthesizing for this conclusion. https://peoplesdispatch.org/custom/regions/latin-america-caribbean/ecuador/

And Lenin says:

“A revolution is impossible without a revolutionary situation; furthermore, it is not every revolutionary situation that leads to revolution. What, generally speaking, are the symptoms of a revolutionary situation? We shall certainly not be mistaken if we indicate the following three major symptoms: (1) when it is impossible for the ruling classes to maintain their rule without any change; when there is a crisis, in one form or another, among the ‘upper classes’, a crisis in the policy of the ruling class, leading to a fissure through which the discontent and indignation of the oppressed classes burst forth. For a revolution to take place, it is usually insufficient for ‘the lower classes not to want’ to live in the old way; it is also necessary that ‘the upper classes should be unable’ to live in the old way; (2) when the suffering and want of the oppressed classes have grown more acute than usual; (3) when, as a consequence of the above causes, there is a considerable increase in the activity of the masses”

(1) Noboa is extremely unpopular and dependent on foreign support from the weakening US empire. He needs a mixture of drug crime, direct US military intervention, US financial backing, and inactivity of the people to continue what he's doing.

(2) Ecuador has experienced the most dramatic decline in living conditions anywhere in Latin America, from a relatively peaceful and prosperous country under leftist Correa to where it is now due to, first, betrayal in office by Correa's successor and, second, blatant election theft by the current right winger. They've had it demonstrated repeatedly and in different ways the failure of the electoral system to respond to democratic demands and the people's needs.

(3) There had been substantial activity in the masses. Last year's diesel price protest lead by CONAIE was massive and debilitated the country - Noboa had to deploy massive state violence to crush it. CONAIE has topples ruling coalitions through protest before, though not through to a full revolution. They are resilient and will come back from the repression when the masses have the motivation to do so.

I believe with dramatically rising oil prices, Noboa's openly dictatorial behavior, global unrest and instability, and a well-organized multinational movement with historically demonstrated revolutionary potential, Ecuador has the right mix of conditions for a proper revolution or AT LEAST the removal of Noboa and new, more democratic elections. CONAIE is a key piece of the puzzle. For what it's worth, I think Bolivia, Chile, and Peru are all in similar places, but I have the most trust in CONAIE to carry out the task.

To expand beyond just Ecuador, my analysis is combining a few important factors that are common across Western/Andean South America right now. Some of this will echo what is written above and a lot of it applies in other parts of LatAm too.

The four Andean countries I'm looking at - Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile - are all in a very similar geopolitical position right now. In more or less recent history, each of these countries had a leftist in power. Bolivia for two decades was lead by MAS, carrying out (imo) the most successful electoral socialist project in history; Ecuador under Correa from 2007-2017 successfully implemented many components of Socialism in the 21st century in close allegiance with Bolivia. They both became "Plurinational" republics. Peru had Castillo, a communist, removed in a legislative coup. Chile had weak-ass Boric and nearly elected a communist in his wake. Each of these leftist efforts, mostly legitimate attempts at socialism, were undone by US interference and internal contradictions. There's no need to dive in detail in each of them, but the important conclusion is that each country is undergoing a hard right-wing turn at the highest level imposed by the US with very little popular support (popular support is the reason I'm not really considering Argentina in this, where US-style Nazi tendencies are much stronger and Milei is inexplicably popular). Militarism that resembles the late 20th century is being re-imposed on the large indigenous, campesino, and working classes of the Andes.

In each country, to varying degrees, those classes are well-organized along leftist lines. Again, this looks different in each country. CONAIE in Ecuador and the post-MAS Evo-led movement in Bolivia are indigenous driven and, in their ways, committed to a socialist vision. The various communist and popular movements in Peru are collectively large and can carry out major mobilizations , and even effectively ousted the right wing president, with a leftist interim caretaker currently in the presidency. Chile is the shakiest case of these, but the new Nazi president Kast is already enormously unpopular after defeating a communist candidate running in Boric's coalition.

In South America, diesel fuel is extremely important to the economy and have a huge political influence. The small farmers across this region rely heavily on diesel for all their transportation. Mass protests in the region are often directly linked to rising fuel prices - not to mention being tied to explicitly political demands for democracy, sovereignty, and socialism. The Iran war is going to massively accelerate this contradiction exactly as right-wing, US-aligned governments crumble in popularity on other political and economic issues. This happens while Colombia under Petro is doing pretty good, he's hugely popular, and it looks like the elections this year will go in his party's favor. Oil reality will end up playing in Venezuela's favor this year, I believe, as the revolution on the ground there remains strong and in control despite the kidnapping of Maduro and the theft of oil control.

Socialist consciousness and the failures of electoralism are fresh in the minds of the Andean masses. As long as the US is entangled in West Asia, its ability to project power in Latin America is restrained - if it waits too long to withdraw from the Arab world, things in South America will get out of hand as the Pink Tide reemerges to swallow up the right-wing swing.

I'm a believer that Latin American revolution looks a little less revolutionary from the outside than it does in other parts of the world. Democratic systems in Latin America are actually quite strong, relative to Africa and non-socialist Asia, and the Bolivarian Revolution demonstrates that elections can have an important role in a dialectical revolutionary process. When you pair mass movements, on the ground-socialist construction, and electoral victories, you can achieve revolutionary change without quite needing to overthrow a government through force of arms.

I see the Pink Tide not as a phenomena that emerged and receded in a narrow time period, but as one swelling in Latin America's long movement towards sovereignty and socialism. While it may have been beaten back in many countries, it left indelible marks, permanent changes, and a lasting new Acutally Existing Socialist state in Venezuela. It remains more or less in power in the regions two largest countries, Mexico and Brazil. It was the successor to the end of the military dictatorships, and it was followed by what Vijay Prashad calls the "Angry Tide", the reactionary movement that we've seen over the last five years or so. The Angry Tide is a temporary condition. When viewed over time, Latin America as a whole has progressively moved left, secured more sovereignty, and asserted more ability to chart its own course forward, and the setbacks have never been able to outweigh to overall trend.

My prediction is that, in the next decade, we see most of the following play out:

  1. Mexico essentially becomes a one-party state under MORENA due to their enormous popularity and electoral dominance, and they continue to pursue what is the most left-wing possible path for a country 'so far from God and so close to the United States'.

  2. Lula wins re-election in Brazil and PT finally solves the successor problem with a candidate who emerges from the movement centered around MST. The right is crushed through legal means in a continuation of what's been justly done to Bolsonaro.

  3. A Bolivarian-style revolution in one or two of the Andean states - probably Bolivia and Ecuador, Peru maybe, Chile as a longshot - establish new socialist states that are more resilient to outside influence.

  4. Cepede follows Petro in Colombia, marking a permanent break away from the US. He pushes the Historic Pact and his country further left. Similar to Brazil, legal and legislative tools are used to dismantle major right wing forces.

  5. Combining the above, ALBA and MERCOSUR get bigger and stronger than before and Latin American multilateralism builds a meaningful bulwark against US interference. If Ecuador gets its own Bolivarian revolution, then we see it work with Colombia and Venezuela on a Gran Colombia project that looks structurally like the Alliance of Sahel States.

  6. Argentina continues to carry out disruptive new market-driven innovations in becoming the first Fourth World Country, and it acts as a gigantic beacon to the rest of the continent of what happens if you let the US run wild in your country. I do not think a leftist comes to power there any time soon.

The US accelerates all of this by prolonging the Iran war.

[–] Dessa@hexbear.net 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Great post. Thank you, comrade