Blogging the democratic revolution
I awoke to a Google News alert to this fantastic editorial describing how Togo was betrayed its rightful place among democratic nations. It has only been a few weeks since terribly falsified elections were held in that country, and the political crisis has only deepened since. After hundreds were killed in the aftermath, thousands more…
I admit that I ran across this item on accident, because as under-publicized as it is, that would be the only way to find it. While speaking to the International Republican Institute — one of the main organizations that allocates democracy building aid — President Bush proposed creating a special corp of federal workers that…
The Council of Europe ended its third summit since 1949 in Warsaw on Tuesday with everybody calling for democracy in Belarus, which is the only European country that cannot attend the event. Out of all the countries, however, Poland really stood out with its calls. WARSAW – Calls for democracy in Belarus and agreement on…
Alek Boyd has some shocking information about the extent of Hugo Chavez’s international networks. Not only is the Venezuelan dictator suspected of being fully engaged in meddling in the internal affairs of Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Grenada, Argentina, Chile and Mexico – he’s meddling in France! That’s right, the thug is buying up the…
Venezuela’s vindictive dictator, Hugo Chavez, was revealed in all his glory to be the author of the infamous ‘Tascon List’ – a blacklist of all the people in Venezuela who legally and openly signed the referendum petition to recall Hugo Chavez last year. The price they paid for that was high. The Thug of Caracas…
Note: I posted this earlier at Bloggledygook, but then realized that the back story has a lot to do with the struggle for Cuba. Make no mistake: there are those who will do anything to make excuses for Fidel. A post in abdymok on Reporters Without Borders (or RSF for Reporters sans fronti????res) caught my…
Here is the first mainstream media editorial I have seen hailing Cuba’s brave democratic revolutionaries – it can be read here.
Miguel has some new developments on the Posada Carriles case that illustrates just how weird this case is getting. There’s all kinds of information the mainstream media hasn’t touched on yet, and should. Why does the government of Venezuela really want this guy back? That it does doesn’t make sense, so it’s going from bad…
Thousands of people crowd the city square, moving as a singular mass. It stared upward, demanding liberalization and an end to corrupt governance. Looking back downward, with scorn, was another mass; armed with machine guns and a stake in using them if the situation out-stepped its bounds. And then they used them. Hundreds dead, multiples…
I hadn’t really discussed it because, as far as superficial information goes, the mainstream media and famed international election observers like Jimmeh Carter went ahead and gave the whole thing the green light. WILLisms has a great roundup of the media coverage during the past week, and yes, Ethiopia is one of the more progressive…
President Mesa declined to sign or veto the oil and gas tax bill on his desk Tuesday. As a result, the Senate leader ratified it this morning. Energy royalties will now be raised to 18%, on top of 32% taxes, both steep hikes. The move is expected to chase out $10 billion in foreign investment,…
Miguel Octavio explains in a good piece the dynamics of oil production in Venezuela, all of which proves that Venezuela’s oil production is severely lower than anyone thought, and its earnings are crippled. That’s bad news for dictator Hugo Chavez who depends on oil earnings to buy the loyalty of his shantytown voters. It’s worth…
Right on the heels of the U.N.’s oil for food scandal, where much of the U.S. is appalled at the chutzpah of British MP George Galloway and his defensive tantrum in U.S. Congress today over his oil for food take, who should come along but some bureaucrat from Mayor Ken Livingston’s office – that’s ‘Red…
Is it me… or are these becoming more frequent? Hundreds of demonstrators have rallied outside Syria’s feared state security court, chanting for freedom and demanding an end to the 42-year-old state of emergency. “Long live liberty,” the protestors on Sunday chanted in Arabic and Kurdish as the trials of three Kurdish activists got under way….
Our dear friends in Central America are fighting for their survival. Carlos Alberto Montaner has an important essay out about what he saw in the eyes of Central America’s presidents as they came to Miami to plead for the DR-CAFTA trade bill. He warns that is this bill does not pass, it will be to…
Castro’s henchmen have disappeared their first delegate to the Conference on Civil Society. His name is Antuan Clemente Hernandez. His event is to be held this weekend. They know what a threat it is to the communist regime. It’s Cuba’s Charter 77, its Declaration of Independence. And its participants face the same risks as those…
I can understand why the U.S. government has been hesitant to call shots on the events unfolding in Uzbekistan. Good information has been rare, and they are obviously waiting to see what political and strategic maneuvers to make. But come on, enough it enough. With every report indicating massive deaths in the hundreds, this is…
Tens of thousands of union supporters from El Alto, apparently, people even more extreme than Evo Morales, have begun roadblocks through Bolivia to shut down the country until it comes around to their point of view about developing Bolivia’s natural gas resources. And they’ve since raised earlier demands from a mere 50% royalties to full…
The wording of the election law amendment is vague on some points, but it appears that the women of Kuwait have been granted the right to vote and run in elections. The prime minister, Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, said that he planned to name a woman minister. “I congratulate the women of Kuwait for having achieved…
Our good friend blogger Stefania in faraway Sardinia alerts us that Cuba’s brave civil society delegates, seeking to forge a free Cuba out of the ruins of Castroism, in a conference this week, are now being abused by Castro’s goons. My writeup on Babalu is here.
Word is out that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez was ranting and raving about this El Universal piece we linked this morning here. Chavez angrily cited it by name, calling it all lies. The piece itself was built around the first-rate research and writing of Gustavo Coronel, whose essay this morning we linked here. Coronel clearly…
Looks like ol’ Shirin’s figured out how the world works much better than the rest of us. American Revolution? Orange Revolution? Tulip Revolution? That’s just wrong! The best means to help create democracies in societies ruled by tyrannies is through negotiations, and if that fails, by resorting to the United Nations,” she pontificated. “This is…
Profoundly good analysis by Gustavo Coronel. A must read. Read it here. UPDATE: My own take here. UPDATE: Another good take from El Universal. (Man that must have been a beach to translate!)
Andy from Siberian Light is hosting this week’s carnival. Check it out for link-filled goodness reviewing democracy movements over the past week.
I’ve just posted to my own blog a piece on Pan-Arabist political movements in response to an email from an Egyptian reader who has just started a new blog to promote his. I post about 20% of my entries here on Publius Punditbut I’m not posting this one because (1) most of it doesn’t deal…