David E Kenyon

King's College London - Urban violence - Rio de Janeiro 🇬🇧🇧🇷

[Ben Obese-Jecty MP @BenObeseJecty]

I am English.

I’m old enough to remember when considering yourself to be English meant that broadly speaking you’d been born here, grown up here, went to school here, lived here, followed English cultural customs and to all intents and purposes, were English.

It wasn’t controversial.

Most normal people who describe themselves as English mean this, in much the same way as they would describe themselves as a Londoner, or a Mancunian or a Brummie.; They aren’t referring to their ethnicity or trying to erase yours.

It’s not complicated.

The racists and grifters desperately trying to carve out careers as political commentators or angling to be Restore Britain candidates are redefining it exclusively as “ethnically English” because, much like the Black Lives Matter activists, their racial identity is their entire grift. They need to shift the Overton Window on the idea.

Given most people would struggle to name their great-great-grandparents the idea that you should be able to trace your lineage back to the Domesday book is ridiculous.

English is my national identity. It’s taken until I was middle-aged for it to suddenly be questioned. I’m not about to stop being English, supporting the England team or start having to justify my Englishness to satisfy anybody’s “papers please” witch hunt.

I’ll die on this hill.

First they came for anyone who wasn’t ethnically English…

[BBC News Brasil @bbcbrasil]

Em setembro de 1822, Maria Quitéria cortou o cabelo, vestiu a farda militar do cunhado e, sob a alcunha de "Soldado Medeiros", foi lutar na Independência do Brasil: https://t.co/pUn9NDvGxe

#ArquivoBBC

[Toby Muse @tobymuse]

Now gangs in Europe are calling themselves cartels and adopting acronyms like the Mexican outfits.

I fear we're watching a slow Latin Americanization of the drug trade in Europe. And that could be very bloody.

[David E Kenyon @DavidKenyon1990]

@TimberSashSE how much on average does this cost?

[David E Kenyon @DavidKenyon1990]

@willnorman @Royal_Greenwich @TfL looks great! Any plans for catford and lewisham ?

[Ioan Grillo @ioangrillo]

The horror of the Ardillos gunmen displacing indigenous villages with drone bombs and bullets is the result of the rise of paramilitary organized crime over decades.

We can blame many things: US guns + drug users, corrupt Mexican mayors, governors, poverty. But this has to stop

[The Football History Boys @TFHBs]

Has there ever been a more beautiful goal in football history? 😍

Brazil 🇧🇷 vs 🇮🇹 Italy (1970)

[Aaron Bastani @AaronBastani]

Bro just turned Seven Sisters road into Marylebone village.

An integrated, mandatory design code and…awnings. It’s that easy.

[Vinnie Sullivan @VinnieSull1van]

The chilling tranquillity of a Sunday in 1970s London.

[Jack Prandelli @jackprandelli]

Critical minerals... The US–Brazil deal 🇺🇸🇧🇷

#China controls 90% of #rareearth processing. That’s the real choke point 🇨🇳
#Brazil holds the 2nd largest reserves, but produces and processes very little 🇧🇷

Washington sees the gap.

This week, the US DFC announced $565m to finance rare earth extraction in Brazil.
That’s not diplomacy.
It’s supply-chain strategy.

Why it matters:
• 🇺🇸 needs alternatives to China
• 🇧🇷 has geology, lacks capital and tech
• 🇨🇳 weaponizes processing dominance

With the right investment, Brazil can become a 2nd global hub for critical minerals. Quietly and Strategically.

[David E Kenyon @DavidKenyon1990]

@AaronBastani Well said!!

[Brian Winter @BrazilBrian]

It's clear the Trump administration wants a Venezuela that is less likely to export drugs and migrants, and more likely to export oil & other minerals to the US. They put lives of US troops, and broader credibility of military & American power, at risk to get this outcome

Whether Delcy Rodriguez and other regime figures are more likely to deliver in short term than Maria Corina Machado & her team amounts to a bet that may be debated for years to come.

Was it "worth it" -- the naval buildup, the bombings, the operation Saturday -- just to leave chavistas in power for now? Or is this truly the most realistic path to a free Venezuela over time, given political and economic power of their military? Is Trump willing to do a second strike, or third or fourth, if Delcy fails to deliver? Will there be a backlash in US? Does this all damage the prospects of Trump allies facing election in places like Colombia or Brazil, or is Maduro so widely hated in rest of Latin America (see Latinobarómetro, other polls) that there will be no meaningful anti-yanqui wave?

Day 2. Still more questions than answers, for me at least

[Gerardo L. Munck @GerardoMunck]

Income Inequality and the Erosion of Democracy

In this study, Rau & Stokes conclude that “income inequality is a strong & highly robust predictor of democratic erosion”

A reminder that problems of democracy are related to the social context

Open Access: https://t.co/uw3tD1hLYe

[Cecília Olliveira @Cecillia]

"Violência armada custa 556 milhões ao SUS em 10 anos" - mas na vdd é mais. Pq, pra variar, não temos todos os dados: "A análise se restringe aos gastos federais pq não há dados que permitam mensurar quanto estados e municípios investem nos atendimentos" https://t.co/UIIBCUKUFE

[David E Kenyon @DavidKenyon1990]

@willnorman @Brenda_Dacres @LouiseKrupski @LewishamCouncil Looks great!! Any progress on it being extended to Catford ?

[Luís Adorno @LuisAdorno]

Série de reportagens do Globo mostra como a estratégia de expansão do CV passa pela cooptação de pessoas cada vez mais jovens, quase sempre vindas de famílias desestruturadas e seduzidas por promessas de poder e dinheiro fácil: https://t.co/AclcFauLEr

[Brian Winter @BrazilBrian]

I do not believe the rightward shift in Latin America is just another short-lived or “pendulum” swing against incumbents. It’s bigger.

Organized crime is the top voter priority in numerous countries today. The rise of Evangelical Christianity is also pushing voters right. The collapse of Venezuela has discredited the left in a way that Cuba never did — dragging down even relatively moderate leftists, fairly or not. Migrants fleeing those twin disasters have also caused a backlash in “receiving” countries like Chile, Peru and Colombia (all voting in next 6 months)

Add it all up, and this moment reminds me of the 2000s, when the “pink tide” swept the region, moving it to left. Consequences were real — poverty & inequality fell, proposed trade deals died and there was certain collaboration among regional govts

Now, we may see similar phenomenon— but on the right. More countries cracking down on crime in manner of Bukele (or similar), slashing state like Milei, worrying less about climate and deforestation, and broadly aligned with the Trump White House

Time will tell, but it may prove more dramatic than many expect

[King's Global Affairs @Kings_SGA]

🚨 Just another day of terror in Rio?

David Kenyon unpacks the politics, violence & broken security logic behind Operation Containment

https://t.co/uAJzeVq2ql

#Brazil #RioDeJaneiro #PublicSecurity #Politics #KingsGlobalAffairs

[David E Kenyon @DavidKenyon1990]

Some reflections on Rio's most violent police operation. https://t.co/OCQhVuCxbV