At the same time that Russia was denying having blockaded Ukrainian naval facilities in Crimea, little-noticed reports came out of Moscow saying that Vladimir Putin’s government had ongoing conversations with eight foreign countries with the objective of building overseas military facilities, including in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

“We need bases for refueling near the equator and in other places,” Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, was quoted as saying by news agency ITAR-Tass.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/new...ase-expansion/

Can't criticize Putin. He was invited.

At a time when the Middle East, Afghanistan and China monopolize U.S. foreign-policy, Latin America hasn’t received much attention. Until today, that is, when Secretary of State John Kerry declared the expiration of the nearly 200-year old lodestar of U.S. diplomacy in the Americas.

“The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over,” Mr. Kerry said in a speech at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.

That prompted some tepid applause, which Mr. Kerry encouraged: “That’s worth applauding. That’s not a bad thing.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/1...trine-is-over/