Hundreds of Danish veterans and supporters staged a silent march on Jan. 31 from the historic Kastellet fortress to the US Embassy in Copenhagen as part of a “No Words” mobilization to protest recent US rhetoric that organizers said demeans Denmark’s combat contributions alongside American forces.

Organizers also linked the march to the status of Greenland, upholding the right of self-determination for the Danish island territory. Recent demands by President Donald Trump for US annexation of Greenland, and comments seeming to question the courage of Danish soldiers, have stirred a sense of betrayal for many in Denmark, particularly those who fought alongside US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The march gathered at the Monumentet for Danmarks Faldne (Monument to Denmark’s Fallen) inside Kastellet, began with one minute of silence before departure, and concluded with five minutes of silence at the embassy. Organizers advised attendees to wear their service medals and stated that flags and banners were welcome.

In published remarks, organizers stated that 52 Danish flags bearing the names of Danes killed in US-led post-9-11 operations would be planted in front of the embassy following the march. Participants then faced the embassy in silence to honor the fallen.

In an English-language address prepared for delivery outside the embassy, organizers recalled how Denmark “immediately” joined the international response after the invocation of NATO Article 5 following the World Trade Center attacks. Over 27,000 Danish soldiers served in US- and NATO-led operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, with over 200 wounded and 52 killed. Denmark’s Armed Forces separately noted that 44 Danish soldiers died in Afghanistan while serving in NATO-led missions.

Greenland is governed under Denmark’s 2009 Act on Greenland Self-Government, which recognizes Greenland native inhabitants as a “people” under international law, with a right to self-determination, and sets out procedures for any future change in status. The march invoked core international law constraints, including the UN Charter prohibition on threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of states, and the centrality of self-determination to the international system.

In a Jan. 14 statement, UN experts urged the US to respect international law and Greenland’s right to self-determination, warning that rhetoric suggesting plans to “take” or control the territory undermines the UN Charter and international order. Protesters similarly accused the US of failing to respect alliances and the rule of law, emphasizing Denmark’s sacrifices in post-9-11 coalition missions and Greenlanders’ right to determine their political future.

Denmark and Greenland leaders have adamantly rejected US designs on the territory following the US appointment of a special envoy to Greenland in December. Last month, President Trump threatened tariffs on EU and Nordic countries that do not support his efforts to annex Greenland, but has since walked back his threat.

From JURIST, Feb. 2. Used with permission. Internal links added.

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Greenland is also home to around 31.4 billion barrels of oil, which the territory gave up trying to extract in 2021, citing the global climate crisis. Potentially even more significant are large volumes of untapped critical minerals—necessary to power the technology needed for the transition away from fossil fuels. China currently controls most of the global market, and a White House document released this week explicitly framed critical minerals as vital to US national security.

From The New Humanitarian, Jan. 16. Slightly editied. Internal links added.

Photo: Pixabay

Greenland party leaders issued a joint statement Jan. 9 asserting that the autonomous territory rejects the US calls for acquisition. Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four other party leaders stated: “We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders.”

The world’s largest island, an autonomous territory under the Kingdom of Denmark, has been at the center of international controversy since President Donald Trump announced his ambition to acquire Greenland for the United States, citing a supposed design on the territory by Russia and China.

President Trump commented also Jan. 9 that the US is “going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.” Trump’s interest in Greenland goes back to his first term, when the president acquiring the territory “essentially a large real estate deal.”

According to the Atlantic Council, the Arctic is now the scene of a large contest, in which Russia and China are increasing their footprint in the region. Greenland is an important asset, with its defense mechanisms, such as early warning systems and missile tracking radar feeding directly into US homeland defense.

In a poll carried out by Verian for the Danish news outlet Berlingske and the Greenlandic media house Sermitsiaq, 85% of Greenlanders do not want to be a part of the US, while 6% replied that they do.

Reacting to the dispute, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the US is exempting itself from the international rules it had long promoted until just recently. Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul stated that the “fate of Greenland will be decided by Greenlanders and the Kingdom of Denmark,” adding that the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of borders are UN principles which must be upheld.

From JURIST, Jan. 11. Used with permission.

Photo: Peter Prokosch

Did Delcy capitulate?
Meanwhile in Washington, White House officials were briefing members of Congress, who were not notified beforehand of the Jan. 3 military operation in which Maduro was captured.

And in Venezuela, Maduro’s groomed successor, newly inaugurated acting president Delcy Rodríguez, showed signs of capitulating to the pressure from Washington. After the Pentagon raid in which Maduro was taken (which also claimed the lives of at least 60 people, including civilians and several members of a Cuban security detail), Rodriguez defiantly stated in a televised address: “There is only one president in Venezuela, and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros.”

But the next day, she struck a conciliatory tone, writing on social media: “We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence.”

Bellicose mid-flight press conference
Rodríguez is under explicit threat from Trump, who told reporters on a Dec. 4 flight from Florida to DC that if she doesn’t cooperate “she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro.” When asked about his boast that he will “run” Venezuela, Trump responded: “We’re dealing with the people. We’re dealing with the people that just got sworn in. And don’t ask me who’s in charge, because I will give you an answer and it’ll be very controversial.” When the reporter took this bait and asked him what that meant, he replied: “It means we’re in charge.”

Trump was similarly lacking subtlety in his claim to Venezuela’s oil: “The oil companies are ready to go. They’re going to go in. They’re going to rebuild the infrastructure. You know, we built it to start off with many years ago. They took it away. You can’t do that.”

Apparently refering to Venezuelan efforts to extend state control over the country’s oil resources following US investment in the sector over a century ago, he added: “It was the greatest theft in the history of America. Nobody has ever stolen our property like they have. They took our oil away from us. They took the infrastructure away and all that infrastructure is rotted and decayed, and the oil companies are going to go in and rebuild it.”

And indeed, shares of Chevron, the last US oil company that was authorized to operate in Venezuela, soared as much as 10% in pre-market trading after Trump’s comment. Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips shares also rose around 4%.

Queried about his supposed isolationism and antipathy to “nation-building,” Trump explicitly invoked the notion of Latin America as a US influence sphere, which was articulated in his recent National Security Strategy. He said of Venezuela: “This isn’t a country that’s on the other side of the world. This isn’t a country like we have to travel 24 hours in an airplane. This is Venezuela. It’s in our area, the Donroe Doctrine.”

Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Greenland
He went on to directly threaten Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro: “He has cocaine mills, cocaine factories. He’s not going to be doing it very long.” So there will be another military operation?, the reporter asked. Trump: “It sounds good to me.”

Mexico was next. Invoking the flow of migrants across the US southern border, Trump reiterated his recent threat of military intervention: “Mexico has to get their act together, because they’re pouring through Mexico, and we’re going to have to do something.”

And even Greenland: “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you. You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security in Greenland? They added one more dogsled. It’s true.”

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen prompty responded: “This is enough. No more pressure. No more innuendo. No more fantasies about annexation.”

And Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a statement: “It is necessary to reaffirm that in Mexico the people are in charge and that we are a free, independent and sovereign country. Cooperation, yes. Subordination and intervention, no.”

But Secretary of State Marco Rubio meanwhile warned that Cuba could be next, responding to a reporter’s question at a DC press conference: “Yeah, look, if I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned.” (PBS NewsHour, FreedomNews.tv, CNN, The Hill, Politico, NDTV, NBC News)

Photo: US Navy via Latin America Reports

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Photo: rare earth mine at Mountain Pass, Calif. Credit: Tmy350 via Wikimedia Commons

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In 2019, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) were higher than at any time in at least two million years, and concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years. Global surface temperature has increased faster since 1970 than in any other 50-year period over a least the last 2,000 years. Temperatures during the most recent decade (2011–2020) exceed those of the most recent multi-century warm period, around 6,500 years ago, the report states.

The global mean sea level has risen faster since 1900 than over any preceding century in at least the last 3,000 years.

The report emphasized that there is still time to act. Wth strong and sustained cuts in emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, global temperatures could stabilize within 20 to 30 years.

“It has been clear for decades that the Earth’s climate is changing, and the role of human influence on the climate system is undisputed,” said IPCC Working Group I co-chair Valérie Masson-Delmotte of France. “Yet the new report also reflects major advances in the science of attribution—understanding the role of climate change in intensifying specific weather and climate events.”

The United States joined the other 194 IPCC member governments in approving the Working Group I report. “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) newest report makes it clear–climate change is already a crisis,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Most importantly, the report finds we are already edging closer to a 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer world, and every day emissions rise the prospects for averting the worst impacts of climate change become dimmer. This is why it is essential that all countries—in particular the major economies—do their part during this critical decade of the 2020s to put the world on a trajectory to keep a 1.5 degrees Celsius limit on warming within reach.”

“This is why the United States has committed to a 50-52 percent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels in 2030 and is marshaling the entire federal government to tackle the climate crisis,” Blinken added.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the Working Group’s report is nothing less than “a code red for humanity.”

“We are at imminent risk of hitting 1.5 degrees in the near term,” Guterres said. “The only way to prevent exceeding this threshold is by urgently stepping up our efforts, and pursuing the most ambitious path. We must act decisively now, to keep 1.5 alive.”

Condensed from Environment News Service, Aug. 9

Note: The 2015 Paris Agreement sets a 2 C rise within the current century as a maximum, but urges countries to work toward a 1.5 C rise. Recent studies have found that the 1.5 C rise will be reached within five years.

Photo: CalFire