Blogging the democratic revolution
An informative and disturbing essay from Bolivia here.
Remember the Venezuelan reporter whose house was raided and trashed by dictator Hugo Chavez’s security agents? We wrote about her here, here and here. She’s now being prosecuted. The interior minister is believed to be targetting Patricia Poleo because some think he wants to erase his role in a 1992 coup attempt from history, and she’s written about it. Alek Boyd has a summary here. In the middle of all this, there’s a grotesque picture of someone, accused by Poleo of being the interior minister himself, of posing over a dead body from the 1992 coup attempt here she wrote…
As we wrote here, Venezuela’s mayor of Caracas and some other offiicials paid a visit to Boston where they were met by starry-eyed officials, were dished heaps of praise, and were taken around town in the proverbial dog and pony show. The Venezuelan blogosphere, however, did more than just write words to reply this time, they also organized a counter demonstration, getting their word out to event-goers with a demonstration there and printing up a flyer. Details of the successful counterdemonstration are here and in the comments section here.
Herbert Meyer, a brilliant thinker and a leading architect of the demise of the Soviet Union during the Reagan years, has written a dazzling essay that will forever change how you view this Age of Revolution we are chronicling at PubliusPundit. Meyer’s analysis about how revolutions start and why they will continue is not only strikingly original but logically compelling. It’s grounded in experience and a deep understanding of human nature – a powerful wisdom. This is the kind of essay you are going to refer back to as long as you live. I’m tempted to put in an excerpt…
Jennifer McCoy, who led the disastrous Carter-Center-sanctioned destruction of democracy in Venezuela, is now trying to defend herself to Venezuela’s bloggers. A little spin control, I suppose, in light of just how deeply the Carter-endorsed fraud in Venezuela’s recall referendum has sunk into American consciousness. This shows the power of Venezuela’s tenacious bloggers in getting the truth out when the media first wouldn’t. The media has largely changed its line of course, so now the Carterites are on the defensive, but still defending the indefensible.
Castro apologists – in the media, in Hollywood, in education, in every corrupted institution of America are always bleating about the ‘virtues’ of ‘free’ Cuban health care. Sure, Cuba may be an odious tyranny whose citizens would walk across a bed of landmines to flee or climb aboard a leaky tire raft headed for the high seas to escape … but it’s still got all that free health care. They parrot this line all the time. Val Prieto at Babalu blog shows firsthand evidence with photos the condition of Cuba’s best hospital. He’s got powerful commentary giving context, too, and…
Tomorrow will mark the second anniversary of Operation: Iraqi Freedom. Glenn over at Instapundit said it, I think, better than anyone. WAR CRITICS want to mark the anniversary of the war — there will be an “antiwar protest” at my local mall tomorrow and there are all sorts of events planned worldwide — but a proper way of marking the date would be with a mass apology to the Iraqi people, and to George W. Bush, for taking the wrong side at a crucial moment in history. Sackcloth, ashes, and signs reading: WE WERE WRONG, SORRY WE TRIED TO BLOCK…
The fourth straight week after Friday prayer? Interesting. Hundreds of men and women shouted slogans against the Egyptian government and clashed with security forces Friday in a protest against the mass detention and alleged torture of relatives suspected in last year’s Sinai resort bombings. Some 500 protesters demonstrated after Friday prayers outside the al-Rifai mosque, one of the main mosques in the north Sinai town of El-Arish, shouting, “Freedom, freedom.” A large force of riot police surrounded the protest and dispersed the men, beating some with electric prods and batons. Ten men were detained, police officials said. The men dispersed,…
Josh Landis has a response to the coup rumors up at his site. It starts off like this: “I spent most of my day trying to deny that a coup had taken place in Syria.” That is how the US military attach????, David Jesmer, accounted for himself yesterday when he came to dinner with a lively crowd. I was gratified he didn’t bring his bullet-proof vest. If anyone is interested in how a blogger’s hoax can cause a stir, the Syrian coup alarm is a good starting place. Here is the email that greeted me as I began my morning…
Earlier today the Palestinian Authority and several Palestinian terrorist organizations, including, most prominently, Hamas, wrapped up their meeting in Cairo with an agreement to extend their ceasefire with Israel until the end of this year, assuming Israel meets a variety of conditions. As I watched the press conference and statements by leaders of the various organizations on Al-Jazeera earlier, the most oft-repeated demands were “and end to Israeli aggression” and “freeing of the prisoners” – the latter a reference to terrorists which currently inhabit Israeli prisons. The Islamist daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi phrased the united position this way: ÄQuoting Amr Sulayman,…
Given that I recently posted an entry, Jordan’s Civil Society Crackdown, which was somewhat critical of Jordan, I thought that it would be appropriate to link to a transcript of an interview with Jordan’s King Abdullah from Middle East Quarterly, posted on Regime Change Iran, since it shows his strategic insight. He talks about a variety of subjects in the interview, including how to combat militant Islam, and I can assure you that Abdullah is not one of those Arab leaders who says one thing in English and another in Arabic. He also discusses at length the threat that Iran…
In Caracas, Venezuela, a controversial mayor there is a guy who once chased a potbanging protestor around with a broken booze bottle at Caracas airport. Well, he’s now in Boston to instruct the Ivy-Leaguers at the august institutions of Harvard and MIT. He’s a real charmer. Read the whole thing here, and here.
Congressman Bill Delahunt of the U.S. wrote a rosy piece for the Boston Globe this week, touting the glories of Chavista Venezuela. Everything he said looked like it was lifted from the playbook of the Venezuelan Information Office, the propaganda arm of the Marxist Venezuelan regime. Venezuela’s Gustavo Coronel corrects the record in an eloquent essay here.
Andy over at Siberian Light has his weekly news roundup for Russia up. Check it out!
There were some reports earlier that the China-Russia joint military exercises were changed to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan. The Russian army chief categorically denied this. BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhuanet) — Visiting Russian army chief said here Thursday that the preparing Russian and Chinese joint military exercise is not targeted at any third country. “The first joint military exercise is a new way of cooperation between the two militaries,” said Yury Baluyevsky, Russian chief of general staff, who is on his first trip abroad since he took upthe post last July. Instead of being targeted at any third country,…
I meant to get this up this morning. My latest on Ukraine is up at Bloggledygook. The country’s Prosecutor General Pyskun has granted Mykola Melnychenko (Tape Man!) immunity in absentia. Also, Tape Man is under the protection of Boris Berezovsky, who has an interesting history of his own. Also, an interesting idea for a South Africa-style truth commission and some color commentary from former PM Pavel Lazarenko, who has had some, uh, legal problems here in the States. Go on a wade through the byzantine splendor of it all!
Cubans and Cuban-Americans who oppose tyranny have an unusual problem in the United States: It’s not just that they are shut out from all participation in American culture, such as films, books and television. It’s also that they are openly abused and derided by the most powerful cultural exporting machine the world has ever known – Hollywood. This juggernaut has not only slammed the door on Cuban-Americans but hurled rocks at them from the window. Val Prieto at Babalu blog has seen a new example of this cultural attack on Cubans in the U.S. in an American television show that…
You have to be there to know. And to appreciate. As Ireland struggles to shake off the gang violence and thuggery of the IRA in this Age Of Freedom, it makes an intriguing impression on a Venezuelan who is watching events unfold from the U.K. Read Alek Boyd’s fresh insights on what this world revolution is all about as he compares the two struggles here .
As always, Nathan has the scoop. Here’s the introduction to the post: EDM????????s report on the election is probably a good place to start. In sum, President Akayev has a huge majority in the new parliament, protests have spread, and an opposition congress has called for Akayev to resign. If that isn’t the lead in to an action movie, I don’t know what is. Check all three pages worth out. MORE: Another update.
The Lebanese Foundation for Peace is reporting that a military coup has swept Assad’s regime because of disputes over the withdrawal from Lebanon. A Coup d’ Etat took place in Damascus late last night. Intelligence reports coming from within the Syrian Military Command indicate the following: A rebellion split The Syrian Army in two factions . Since yesterday , Damascus is under the de facto control of the Syrian Army, under the command of Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, and supported by Syrian Intelligence General Rustom Ghazaleh, Syrian military General Ali Safi, and Firas Tlass son of former Minister of…
Now this, found on Coyote Blog is really funny! You Know its a Dictatorship When: Michael Moore portrays the country as a kite-flying paradise Jimmy Carter sanctioned their last election The UN certifies that there is no genocide They sign friendship pacts with other dictatorships (also here and here and here too) Read the whole thing here. Hat tip: Winds of Change
Today is the celebration of Chaharshanbe Soori, an ancient Persian tradition in which Iranians jump over a fire to leave the mistakes of the past in the flames. The mullahs regime has tried to prevent the celebration from occurring, and it is causing clashes between people and the security forces. This is while OPEC meets in Tehran, and the Iranians are breaking loose. Read this report: Sounds of firecrackers are heard throughout Iran. In Tehran a large crowd is moving towards “Rajaei Shahr Prison”. Callers describe some areas as “war zones”! The power of some fireworks have crushed the windows…
Europe is busy telling Castro’s communist Cuba to ‘dialogue’ with it on human rights. Carlos Alberto Montaner argues that if Europe is serious about human rights in Cuba, it will ask Castro’s regime to dialogue with Cuba’s opposition instead of Europe itself. Given Europe’s tendency to side with failed regimes over ascendent peoples, jealously undermine successful nations that don’t, and stew about its lack of influence in the world because of these repeatedly bad choices, I can’t see them taking him up on this idea. However, Montaner is right.
The outrages and tyrannies engulfing Hugo Chavez’s communist Venezuela are coming faster and more furious than anyone can keep up with. Blogger Daniel in Yaracuy has got the news roundup here.
I personally relate the IRA in many respects to Hizb’allah and Hamas: a bunch of thugs who use coercive intimidation and commit crime because they can’t do policy in a democratic society. Here’s an article on the debate between Labour and the Tories. And while Blair is obviously on the winning side, I believe he is on the wrong side when it comes to dealing with the IRA. Luckily, Sinn Fein is recently getting the cold shoulder from Washington. ÄWorld NewsÅ: WASHINGTON, March 14 : The U.S. government told Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams to avoid fundraising during his U.S.…