Blogging the democratic revolution
As Lukashenko’s regime continues to move in on Belarus’ largest civil organization, the Union of Poles, and Europe now promising funds for opposition groups, tensions between the country and the rest of Europe are escalating dramatically. The EU sent a delegation to investigate human rights and democracy in Belarus, and they actually had the cojones…
What, still no election results? Speaking of elections, Japan has unfortunately rejected Prime Minister Koizumi’s proposed privatization of ludicrous government “programs,” leading to elections. The story has details, for those who haven’t been following closely. Caroline Glick at JPost analyzes Netanyahu’s resignation, possible outcomes, and what this means for the future of Israel at a…
There has been much debate over whether Abdullah’s formal succession to the throne will allow reform to begin its progression in Saudi Arabia; a task that no doubt has odds generated by entrenched totalitarianism stacked against it. A move that looks promising, and is hopefully an indication of things to come, is that Abdullah just…
After the government of Azerbaijan accused the opposition of being funded by Armenian intelligence and NDI for a coup, the political progress in the country seems to be degrading quickly. In my analysis of what happened, I wrote that, “using Armenia is probably the best way for the Azeri government to discredit the opposition in…
Click here, trust me. TechCentralStation.com published my article about it. Hope you like! PS: Carnival of revolutions.
The great V.S. Naipaul, whose glorious fiction and non-fiction books critically delve into the world of the revolutionary countries now democratizing, shares his insights in a truly fascinating interview with the New York Times. It’s a must-read if you like literature or revolution. Read it here.
Developments after the military coup continue to be interesting. Since the disbanded the parliament, they have adopted a new transitional charter in order to oversee the process of democratization Here are the details. DAKAR, Aug. 6 (Xinhuanet) — The Mauritanian junta Saturday adopted a charter on the organization and power allocation in the transitional period,…
First reports are in on today’s municipal elections in Venezuela. Hugo Chavez is “winning.” But turnout is so thin that the government has extended voting by two (update: now three) hours to try to make it a double-digit turnout. First reports say it’s running at about 8%. Updated, with the polls closed, the turnout is…
6.4% GDP Diversified economy 3.1% inflation 17% stronger peso Tax cuts Pensions Competitive advantage $3 billion budge surplus equal to 3% of GDP Revolution iVIVA CHILE!
We’ve discussed Belarus quite a bit over the past few days, including an item showing that Congress approved $24 million of funding for opposition parties in the countries. Now, it seems as if the EU has finally moved beyond “stern condemnations” to real action, by getting ready to set aside funds for similar measures that…
El Universal’s Roberto Giusti has an insightful interview with a top pollster in Venezuela who’s found that President Hugo Chavez is rapidly sliding in the popular approval polls. Among many reasons, he’s found that poor people can only be bought off with ‘social programs’ for so long. Chavez also has dropped in a relatively short…
With news of the draft constitution circling the streets, women aren’t all that happy knowing that legislation will be based on sharia and certain rights won’t be given. So what do they do about it? Make their views known by exercising their right to assembly! This was the first civil rights protest held by women’s…
The consensus, left and right, is that Colombia is an good place. And it’s getting better. And better. Colombia is in fact a bright rising star. And for all the criticism I read, left and right (but mostly left), on Plan Colombia, it doesn’t really get at what is going on in Colombia. It’s called…
Election day is tomorrow in Venezuela. It’s more awful than anyone realizes. Not only are the results stacked and foreordained, the electronic evidence one leaves at the ballot box is easily traced to the individual voters, effectively nullifying secret ballot. What will follow will be retribution for dissidents. No one will be permitted to dissent…
Eurasia Daily Monitor has a very in depth article concerning the parliamentary and government rivalries going on in Ukraine. In particular, PM Tymoshenko wants President Yushchenko to break with parliamentary speaker Lytvyn and put together a parliamentary majority so that they can finally get WTO legislation passed. In this case, the problem is in the…
As most House spending bills do, this one almost slipped under the radar. They just approved $24 million dollars to fund democracy in Belarus. The U.S. House of Representatives voted late Wednesday to earmark $24 million for promoting democracy, development of political parties and independent media in Belarus over the next two years, the RIA-Novosti…
The new terrorist president of Iran will have to give an address to the United Nations soon. The Bush administration is thinking of preventing that from happening. The Bush administration is considering taking the unprecedented step of preventing a visting head of state from addressing the United Nations in New York by denying a visa…
I’m watching this very closely, because it’s so interesting and complex a situation. Seventeen soldiers stage a coup while President Taya is out of the country, people rejoice in the streets, and everything goes back to normal. There’s more to it than that, but the normalcy is what makes it such an interesting case. The…
The leader of the Yeni Fikr youth movement has been arrested by authorities, who are claiming that he took money from Armenian special intelligence in order to prepare a revolution in Azerbaijan through a plot hatched by the United States NDI. Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor-General’s Office announced on 4 August the arrest of Ruslan Bashirli, leader of…
Meanwhile, down at the Crawford Ranch… Source: Associated Press …too bad I don’t have a good horsy picture with ten-gallon hats, but a pickup-truck picture will do. Venezuela’s dictator can only wonder what his next door neighbor is laughing about with President Bush right here – because it’s almost certain Chavez’s name got brought up…
Miguel has first details of the broadcastings of the TeleChavez network. It’s totally weird. BLECCCCHHHHHH!!!!!!
Earlier this morning Robert posted an entry on some Poles in Belarus who happen to be rock music lovers using their passion to protest against the government, based on a Radio Liberty report from yesterday (Aug. 3, see Rock Against the Regime!). Whether this was related to today’s crackdown or not, Le Monde is reporting…
Here’s a small item that looks like real news – Nick Burns, the number three guy at State, insists that the Andean Free Trade Agreement (this is CAFTA, but for Andean states like Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) is advancing nicely. News sources have repeatedly said that the bloody and terrible Congressional battle to pass CAFTA…
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, a vile Maoist terror group enamored of Pol Pot terrorized the Peruvian countryside. They were communists known as the Shining Path and along with their ugly cousin known as Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), they specialized in murder. Being cowards, they didn’t just go after ‘oligarchs’ (whom they never…
Amid growing signs of discontent in Cuba now, George Moneo at Babalu blog proposes a new meme for Cubans on the island, to remind them and reinforce them that the vile Castro regime is over and it’s time for the birth of freedom. His words, which he urges Cubans to utter, write, engrave, graffiti and…