Blogging the democratic revolution
The Central American Free Trade Agreement, the treaty to bring our good and faithful friends from Central America into free trade with the U.S. has won – won! – a bruising battle in the Senate. We were terrified all was lost and it was not! This is the greatest victory of the year! Victory! The…
Interesting choice, too. It was a foregone conclusion that Saad Hariri probably wouldn’t try for it, as he and Lahoud would constantly clash — and that’s not good for a newcomer into politics (Lebanese politics, no less). But I thought that they may have stuck with Mikati, who replaced Karami. Here’s the article. By Lucy…
Will Franklin has this week’s carnival of revolutions up at his blog, which takes on all of this week’s democratic developments. By the way, I’ve been in Boston this whole week and have been totally cut off from the internet during that time (my posts were pre-timed to publish, how cool is that?). I’ll be…
Those interested in development issues in the Arab world might find it worth while to read a back and forth discussion of the future of the Arab world taking place between my blog and that of an Egyptian architect-turned-political activist, Karim Elsahy (pronounced es-sahhi, with a hard “h”). Elsahy’s blog, One Arab World, contains a…
Yesterday, I posted “More squawking of a Russia-Belarus union,” though significantly most of that squawking comes from Belarus’ side. Here’s a piece in RFE/RL that adds further to yesterday’s post. KREMLIN ADVISERS SCOLD BELARUS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD… In an open letter to Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka published on 23 June at sovetpanfilova.ru, the Council…
Remember back several months ago when Putin declared that regional governors would be appointed rather than elected. It didn’t really matter in the first place, because those elected were already vetted for approval by Moscow. The reason Putin gave is that he would be able to install more popular and competent leaders should they be…
Viktor Yushchenko seems at time to be more interested in completing assession to NATO than to tackling the problems of his fragile presidency. This is interesting seeing that NATO officials and member heads of state have not exactly thrown their arms around the Ukrainian president as he moves from constituent to constituent trying to rustle…
One of the two key problems facing the new Lebanese government is what to do about pro-Syrian President Lahoud and who to elect to the position of Parliament Speaker. The new parliament, which has not yet convened, has called on Lahoud to resign, a call he is obviously ignoring. WASHINGTON (AFX) – Lebanese President Emile…
There has been some talk about this for awhile now, though it usually amounts to nothing. Lukashenko is basically looking for a way to preserve his power and status through oppression. With so much pressure from the west, he must be counting down the days until the end of his reign. Because of that, he…
Pro-Syria, pro-Hizbollah Speaker Nabih Berri has been re-elected by the anti-Syrian parliament: The 128-seat assembly, dominated by opponents of Syria for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war, voted by an overwhelming majority of 90 for Berri, despite international and local reservations over retaining one of the main enforcers of Syria’s grip over its…
Christopher Hitchens has another must-read article in this month’s Vanity Fair. This time, Hitch visits Iran (now becoming possibly the only “scribbler” to have visited all three Axis of Evil members since 2000). I have a post and link on the article here. Hitchens once again reveals what is at the base of another rancid…
Fraudster to fraudster, who could be more pleased with Iran’s stolen election than Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez himself? I guess this means he’s not the only guy at the election fraud party. Read the whole thing here.
There is no issue, none, more critical today than whether the U.S. Congress passes CAFTA. So much is at stake in the treaty that will show whether the U.S. includes Latin America in to its hopes and opportunity or coldly shuts it out. And don’t think Osama Bin Laden, Hugo Chavez and Robert Mugabe aren’t…
I was just about to post a translation of an article from Al-Hayat on the Libyan opposition’s conference which closed yesterday, and then I noticed that one of my collaborateurs beat me to it with this article a few hours ago (linking to ABC’s website). But the Al-Hayat article takes a different angle on the…
Alek Boyd’s piece on Colombia published here yesterday has drawn a rabid reaction from a tiny shrivelled pro-Chavez news organ, which devoted scads of bandwidth to name-hurling invective. They seem to have a personal problem with Mr. Boyd. This is starting to sound like an embarassing sort of envy. By their headline, they seem to…
Can you stand a story on the Venezuelan national budget? I promise you, it’s got gamy details of swindling, pocket-lining, waste, graft and lying. And given that it’s the main vehicle for the spread of the chavista ‘revolution’ it has relevance to the mission of this blog. It’s what Venezuela’s real revolution is up against….
To give him the boot. A London newspaper is reporting just that. Read it here. One can only hope the same is going on for Hugo Chavez. If only!
It sure looks like it: LONDON Jun 25, 2005 ???????? Mohammed al-Senousi calls himself a prince, although he has had no throne since his grandfather was ousted in a 1969 coup by Moammar Gadhafi. Al-Senousi, 42, joined hundreds of Libyan opposition members in London on Saturday to push for Gadhafi’s ouster their first conference in…
Ever wondered why George Bush was seen meeting with Phan Van Khai, the communist premier of Vietnam? Same as the real revolutionaries like Maria Corina Machado? This editorial has some background here. Hat tip: Real Clear Politics
Daniel has an important post about the growing erraticness of dictator Hugo Chavez’s relationship with the Venezuelan military. Apparently, they can’t stand him. Hugo Chavez is too into Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, for the Venezuelan military’s liking, and ignores the history that Venezuela’s military for years fought off this Monster at Our Door, and at…
Not many revolutionaries make the transition from old 1960s leftwing Castro worshippers into New Style revolutionary in the Age of Orange, Cedar, Rose, Daffodil, and Velvet Revolutions, which we live in today. Daniel Duquenal has a fascinating portrait of Teodoro Petkoff, a Bulgarian-Venezuelan leftist who did a stretch as a guerrilla in the mountains long…
Colombia’s president Alvaro Uribe faces mounting opposition from what it seems to be a united front of the liberal party and other more preoccupying factors. A coalition of former presidents -Cesar Gaviria, Ernesto Samper and Andres Pastrana- seems to have found common ground, leaving behing past rivalries, to attack the policies and performance of former…
From South Africa to Nigeria, leaders from all around Africa are saying “no” to pressure on Zimbabwe’s Mugabe for his eviction of hundreds of thousands. The African Union itself has said, “If it is in the interests of the Zimbabwean government to prevent crime or improve sanitation or ensure the health of the people or…
The world could be coming to an end as we know it, but I’m enjoying a family BBQ. More blogging tomorrow, and I’m putting together a bunch of posts so that I’ll have something on the site while I’m in Boston on Monday. Meanwhile, definitely keep tabs on Regime Change Iran.
It’s jackass season in Washington and with it comes threats from Congress to harass China over its trade gap. Larry Kudlow outlines the incredible progress China has made since 1978 – 1978! – and warns that the U.S. has got to stop hectoring China for doing all the right things. China’s stable currency, its trade…