Blogging the democratic revolution
In Caracas, there are very few green spaces, other than the Avila mountain range, which ruffles the northern side of the vast Venezuelan capital city. The rest is pure urban concrete. Of those few green spaces, even fewer are safe enough to go to without needing a bodyguard or a bullet-proof automobile. But there is one important exception – it’s in the municipality of Chacao, and it’s called the Country Club. I was there – and it’s not quite as elite as you might think. The Country Club is a private recreation club where any resident in the area can…
Remember Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador? The Obragore of Mexico? Today Mexico’s election arbitrators told him to get lost. Mexico’s electoral tribunal making its ruling on July 2’s election Source: AFP, via Yahoo! News Today the Mexican electoral tribunal ruled that there was no cheating in Mexico’s July 2 presidential election, and all of his 300-plus claims of irregularities were baseless. And that means free-market Felipe Calderon has won the presidential election and will take office in December. Felipe Calderon speaks at a press conference after his victory is certified Source: AFP, via Yahoo! News So much for the AMLO tent…
For a long long time, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez polled high numbers in opinion polls. Often it was as high as 70% approval. When I was in Caracas, a prominent think tank analyst pointed out to me that about 7% of the population was and always would be hardcore communist. Another 30% to 40% after that were happy to take handouts in exchange for political support. Another 20% were middle class and detested the Thug who was ruining their country. And there was a remainder in the middle known as ‘ni-ni’s – people who couldn’t stand any politicians no matter…
How is this for a new idea? States that have more squiggly borders, on the whole, have more stability and cohesion. States that have harsh, arbitrary ruler-drawn line borders have a terrible tendency toward internecine warfare. Any student of African politics knows something about this, but perhaps for the first time, economists have tried to quantify this. Via RealClearPolitics, I found the intriguing new essay by Bloomberg’s Amity Schlaes describing the findings for this new idea that’s well worth a click.
Look, I haven’t even gotten used to the idea of San Francisco raves! Ten years ago, they used to be this thing people I knew did at old warehouses in the South of Market in San Francisco. I think I went to see an indy flick at the Angelica Theatre in New York about these things, I recall it was pretty good, but cripes, it was about taking drugs! I never went to a rave itself on my own. But I had a roomate, Melinda, who always did. She was one of the cool people, and I adored her. She…
There’s a new U.S. development on the horizon that’s coming on us like a Singapore sunrise – which is to say, fast. Small towns in America are rebelling against unchecked immigration, which has spread well past the big cities like Los Angeles and deep into the small towns of America. Tiny Hazleton, Pennsylvania got itself a slew of lawsuits from leftwing lawyers like the American Civil Liberties Union for passing some of the toughest anti-illegal immigration muncipal laws in the country. The small city, population 31,000, made English its official language, vowed to fine anyone who rents flophouses to illlegals,…
Do my eyes deceive me? The most leftwing alternative-media newspaper, SFWeekly, in the U.S.’ most leftwing alternative city, San Francisco, has given one heck of a thrashing to the world’s most leftwing alternative Sandalista nuisance group, Global Exchange. The leftwing newspaper’s charge? Rampant Sandalista meddling! SFWeekly is laying it on thick against the leftwing “revolutionary” tourism group, led by Medea Benjamin, whose other group, Code Pink, famously photoshopped one of the Iranian freedom babes seen on this site here into a war protestor, which she was not. The alt-media newspaper warns that Global Exchange is spreading LIES about the Mexican…
Val Prieto, the estimable and amazing Cuban-American blogger at Babalu blog has been asked for advice about creating a post-Castro Cuba, along with Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Carlos Eire and others luminaries, by none other than the White House and its top policy makers. He’s obviously been watched and read for a long time by the White House and the leading policy makers in the U.S. for a post-Castro Cuba. I am not surprised. Val projects a warmth, a soul, an unerring sense of timing, a social intelligence, and a referent power. He’s someone everyone in the Cuban-American community (and well…
Venezuela has a peculiar economy. For many decades, it’s been known as Saudi Venezuela, in reference to its vast oil reserves, reserves so high, and so profitable, that it brings in huge dollar reserves. Those dollar reserves strengthen the currency to such an extent that it’s very difficult for exporters in other industries to get their businesses off the ground, because compared to say, their neighbors on Colombia, they cannot compete, given what they must be paid in. This is known as ‘Dutch disease’ or, the curse of oil. But it’s also switching to a tried-and-failed Marxist model on top…
Curious about the political temperature in this hemisphere? Wondering what the average Mexican thinks of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s nonstop protests? Want to hear how the Panamanian public feels about the canal expansion or what the Ecuadorean public thinks about its current plate of candidates for its election, come October? Check out Boz’s poll roundup for the past week to see what’s going on around our regional neighborhood here.
The British are rebelling. Their target is their own idiot authorities, the lunatic leftists who’ve managed to get into power on the coattails of the estimable Tony Blair, who’s from the Labour Party, which attracts all kinds. They’ve gotten control of the BBC, of the city of London government, of the regulatory agencies. They are the ones who are putting out all these politically correct rulings, rulings designed to appease local Islamofascists and far-leftist lunatics eager to meddle with and remodel British life, while British voters suffer. That’s why they are rebelling. The Dihly Mail, a newspaper that I had…
Campaign kickoff rally for Manuel Rosales in Caracas Saturday Source: The Devil’s Excrement, which has a lot more here Is there any greater losing proposition than trying to win an election as a non-Chavista in Venezuela? The courts are stacked, the electronic fingerprint machines ensure that HOW you voted is recorded and delivered to the authorities, the vote-tallying machines by Smartmatic can report any result they like regardless of how you voted, the whole election apparatus can be rigged to ensure that if you live in a middle class neighborhood, you’ll stand all day in the sun to discourage your…
Note to readers – due to technical issues, I couldn’t post the image described in graf one but will do so later -Mora The image above shows a corpulent former Russian President Boris Yeltsin bedecked in toga and driving the ???????young farm girl??????? and ???????young factory fellow??????? from a famous Soviet monument like horses before his chariot. The caption reads: ???????Corruption: An impediment to progress.??????? Will Russia fall as Rome did, it seems to ask? Yeltsin was justly criticized during his reign for personal and systemic corruption but in fairness we must ask: Was it any difference before or since…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez broke off diplomatic relations with Israel this week in a bid to grandstand with various Arab states, saying he was doing it to protest the war in Lebanon. Now, Chavez could care less about dead bodies, given the far-higher murder rate that has overtaken Venezuela. Deaths don’t bother him. This move instead is part of a geopolitical game he’s playing. He’s doing it because he’s seeking Arab support for a seat on the UN Security Council, and despite having all the extremist credentials, he’s apparently having a terrible time getting it. In a way, it’s not…
Miami Cubans celebrate the coming demise of a brutal dictator Source: Rick at Stuck on the Palmetto blog As the hemisphere’s worst-ever dictator slides into death’s embrace, the mainstream media sweetly qualifies the Monster of Havana, one of the century’s worst tyrants, as a ‘maverick’ and other crap, Val at Babalu blog is providing some of the best real-time coverage and insightful commentary I’ve ever seen on a blog – EVER. EVER. I am too busy at work over these very events to be able to blog much and in any case I would not be able to top the…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez embraces Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! America, behold the future! Carlos the Jackal’s biggest (and fattest) fan embraces 1979’s Iranian “student” hostage-taker of American diplomats ringleader in an epic spread-the-love embrace. I’m gonna throw up. I can’t blog anymore after looking at this. If you aren’t, Quico at Caracas Chonicles has a whole gallery of photos of all the other dictators Hugo’s embraced down the side of his page here.
Between meaningful embraces with Iran’s leading U.S. hostage-taker and quality time frolicking on The Stalin Line at the Happy-Hitler Meadows, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez still finds time to hawk toothpaste, too. He’s a busy man, a man of the world, but the Pitchman Supremo still manages to get it all in. Last year he was hawking corn flake crunchies, this year it’s bright red communist toothpaste. Oh that Hyuug! What would we all do without him? How would this stuff ever get sold? And there’s nothing more important than getting teeth as pearly white as Chavez’s. Must be read to…
…and anti-democratic leaders. Maybe it’s a pirate thing? Boli-Nica has some intriguing observations in a neat little photoessay here.
Here’s an amazingly elaborate YouTube satirizing Iran’s loathesome president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Even without being able to read or understand the language, you can see exactly what the sentiment is and marvel at how well done and funny the little parody film really is, making the Iranian president look like a clown. All this is a sure sign of a dynamic Iranian democratic opposition. See it here.
Venezuelan and Belarusian dictators strut before lines of troops in Minsk Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! First, take a look at the top of line weaponry Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is buying from Vladimir Putin of Russia, to aim at us, just 1350 miles from our shores. This is but one step removed from another Cuban Missile Crisis. That’s a main reason for this junket to Belarus and Russia. So much for peace and friendship. What’s peace and friendship compared to advanced weaponry! Miguel Octavio at Devil’s Excrement in a brilliant essay, writes of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez’s visit with Aleksander…
Today’s El Universal reports an increasingly serious situation with Venezuela’s oil supply, which is sure to have implications for its largest buyer, the U.S. Not only is the country running its oil industry into the ground with fires and accidents, something that’s never occurred until these Chavista years, a result of the firing and blacklisting of all of Venezuela’s talented and dedicated engineers and managers – who have since been replaced by Chavista operatives known for their political loyalty and not their expertise – intransparency has grown. Citgo recently announced that it would end supply to gas stations in 10…
Pitched battle on the streets of Kinshasa, ahead of a controversial election Source: AP, via Yahoo! News Ahead of Congo’s first democratic election in 45 years on Sunday, street battles are engulfing the capital of Kinshasa. At issue is electoral fraud. And the indifference of the international community, which, having spent $400 million for supposedly free and fair elections in its most complex election ever, just wants to hold the thing, get it over with, pull up stakes, and get the heck out. Opposition leaders to Congo’s incumbent Laurent Kabila regime say not so fast. Congo’s authorities have overprinted ballots,…
Boz has lots of bad news for Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, in new polls from Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and all the other hot spots around the hemisphere. It’s an edifying read this week in this post here.
I’ve discovered an interesting new blog called Cubanology which has encouraging words for Cubans and Cuban exiles in a new iSi se Puede! – ‘yes, you can’ – campaign. It’s got an interesting colorful layout, and sterling reporting on all the doings in Fidel Castro’s Cuba. See it here.
Alvaro Vargas Llosa is now in Lebanon and writing of the experience from his brilliant political and economic perspective, as well as from his eyes on the ground. Like some of our Publius posters, he warns that Israel risks destroying Lebanon’s vibrant civil society, just as it’s beginning to regain its confidence, even as it must end the terrorism that is destroying it. It’s a very tragic picture. With the destruction of all Lebanon, what is likely to happen is that Hezbollah barbarians will fill that civil-society void, because they are never happier than when they are in a failed…