It's incredible this was the treatment received by Mr. Ramaphosa, who in his early years negotiated the agreements to dismantle apartheid, was jailed for his activism, and led the national miners union. Reframing the farmers as "civil rights leaders" precisely in front of Mr. Ramaphosa is insane.

In my opinion, he does understand and inflicts harm on purpose. Chaos is profitable for oligarchs -- they profit in financial and power terms.

The reign of terror of Pablo Escobar in Colombia targeted countless judges who threatened his interests or led investigations of his crimes. The wheels of justice were slowed down, halted, or corrupted with many judges killed, forced out, or compromised. Is this where we are headed in the U.S.?

You are right... Russian oligarchs fell out of windows all over Europe at the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

Thanks for this analysis. Excellent name for the shakedowns we continue witness: "protection racket diplomacy." Conveniently, law enforcers and intelligence experts who understand how to take down these rackets are being fired.

I look forward to your piece on the parallels with decolonization.

It is baffling for Rubio to be supporting all of this warming up to Putin coming from a family of Cuban exiles. So interesting to see how being a hardliner against communism in Miami has changed so quickly.