MIAMI — A Miami Herald columnist is reporting this morning that no “Latin American” country has made Putin’s list of “unfriendly countries.”
Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, so I guess Andres Oppenheimer gets a pass.
“(red pyramid emoji) OMG (red pyramid emoji) We (PR flag emoji) have been included in Russia’s list of “unfriendly” countries/territories,” PR Informa said today.
But some surprising Caribbean countries made Russia’s “Shi-ite list” such as Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.
If Road Town, Tortola poses a threat to the Kremlin, the world really has turned upside down.
The list of course includes: the United States and Canada, the EU states, the UK (including Jersey, the BVI, Anguilla and Gibraltar). Also: Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Albania, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, North Macedonia, and also Japan, South Korea, Australia, Micronesia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan (considered a territory of China, but ruled by its own administration since 1949).
In all, some 43 countries were blacklisted by the Russian Federation, according to Tass.
Russia’s economy has come under immense pressure from the international sanctions, with the rouble weakening to 133.5 to the dollar — a 40 percent drop in value compared to before the invasion of Ukraine.
Russian state media has portrayed the measures as a retaliation to the sanctions brought in, which have almost entirely cut the Russian people from international payment systems.