Blogging the democratic revolution
With Monday looming as the deadline to submit the Iraqi constitution to the National Assembly for a vote, we’re all sitting here wondering, “Will it be done on time?” President Talabani thinks so. In fact, he’s saying that it will be done early. BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – Iraqi leaders rushing to finish a constitution Saturday…
Daniel at Venezuela News and Views has a STUNNING piece about what the Venezuelan opposition should do now in the wake of Venezuela’s failed municipal elections this past weekend. It’s is AWESOME, beyond Daniel at his finest to something quite godly. He’s like Alexander Hamilton in his suggestions for the opposition of what arguments to…
As the deadline for drawing up the new constitution for Iraq is approaching, women and civil society groups are becoming more and more vocal of their opposition to groups who wants sharia to be the civil law of the land. However, whenever they take to the streets to protest, their stalkers arise out of the…
When Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. troops and handed over to Iraqi democracy to face justice, just about every Western ambulance-chasing lawyer on the left leapt to his defense. They were a seasoned lot, having one way or another defended every tyrant they knew, some from the days of Daniel Ortega in…
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…
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 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…
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…
Developing countries almost never have civil society organizations, making them vulnerable to tyrants who are always happy to fill the void with … tyranny. Rare indeed are the PTAs, the Elks, the Kiwanis, the Ladies’ Auxilliaries, the Neighborhood Watches, the Surfriders’ Foundations, the Explorers’ Club, the Roadrunners – and all the much-maligned but critically necessary…
Alexis de Tocqueville, the extraordinary French observer who chronicled how democracy rose and developed in America, is 200 years old today. In the Age of Democratic Revolution & Civil Society, he gave us all a roadmap that is more important than anyone ever realized. Great economists like Hernando de Soto, who first underlined the importance…
Ugandans went to the polls today to vote in a referendum on allowing multiple parties run in elections. Political parties were effectively outlawed 19 years ago, but President Museveni is being pressured by foreign donors, who supply half of the government’s budget, to enact reforms. Turnout was very low largely due to torrential rains and…
Greenpeace recently told Venezuelan activist Alek Boyd it had better things to do than defend endangered species in Hugo Chavez’s slash-and-burn Venezuela. So, rare-songbird soup is back on the menu in Chavistaville. A private nature conservancy full of rare animals and plants unique to Venezuela, Hato Pinero, is under the machete by Chavez’s Marxist-Leninist land-confiscators…
On July 19th I posted on a leak of the draft Iraqi bill of rights, which was published in Arabic on June 30 and translated to English on July 6. After I posted about that draft, a new one was released on July 20 and subsequently translated by Nathan Brown at the Carnegie Endowment for…
People in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi demonstrated for the second day against proposed constitutional changes that will leave the country with a watered down premiership and an ultimately authoritative presidency. The government has banned the demonstrations, but protestors say they will take to the streets for a third day. Clashes are also being reported in…
The al-Mada newspaper on June 30 published what is apparently a draft version of the equivalent to the Bill Of Rights that is being worked on by a subcommittee in the Iraqi legislature. Omar from Iraq The Model first reported this on that day and provided his commentary on the document, but ultimately it was…
It’s going to be a horror show. Sumate, the voter-rights civil society group whose leadership is now headed for Hugo Chavez’s dungeons on treason charges, warns that the next election will not be fair. Hugo Chavez has gerrymandered and manipulated it already in his favor. He can’t lose. But that doesn’t mean Venezuelans aren’t trying…
No sheet Sherlock, Papillon’s qualified to vote in Venezuela’s next election. Yeah, that guy, the Devil’s Island movie guy, Butterflies Are Free – him – dead since 1973, he’s on the Venezuelan voter rolls. It’s that bad. Don’t believe me? Read it here. Daniellllllll!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve heard about this for two weeks and have been awaiting its release. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) and Co-chairman of the Helsinki Commission has introduced legislation into the House entitled the Central Asia Democracy and Human Rights Act. Under CADHRA, all non-humanitarian assistance to each government covered under the legislation would be conditioned on the…
This Investor’s Business Daily editorial, now available on Alek Boyd’s Web site, describes Sumate’s hard work of creating civil institutions in a democracy and explains how they function as a bulwark against tyranny. That’s what Sumate leader Maria Corina Machado has done, and that’s why Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez wants to put her in prison….
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…
Article 72 of Hugo Chavez’s custom made constitution reads “All magistrates and other offices filled by popular vote are subject to revocation.” With such revolutionary prevision as background let me expand into the most notorious case of political prosecution in today’s Venezuela. Since there are no precedents of a systematic attempt at silencing and imprisoning…
Chris Borgen over at Opinio Juris has a couple of engaging posts on international institutions and the building of a global liberal order. He argues that Clinton was more successful at promoting a desirable world order because of his support for international institutions, and his greater preference than the White House’s current occupant for treaty-making….
Miguel at MABB on Bolivia has a very significant item utterly ignored in the U.S. media about how Bolivia’s protestors are being coerced. They are being shaken down by Marxist social movements like Evo Morales’ ally FEJUVE, which sends block committees into neighborhoods of El Alto, checking to see that at least one member of…
Alek Boyd has Mary Anastasia O’Grady’s superb WSJ essay on Venezuela’s courageous freedom fighter Maria Corina Machado, who she is, and what she is up against in dictator Hugo Chavez’s nightmare regime. Read it here.
The awesome President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia and all of his presidential challengers are setting up blogs for the upcoming presidential race. It’s going to be hotly contested, but I defy anyone to outdo President Uribe in sheer eloquence. He’s a quiet little academic-looking man, but his power is in his thinking, and not only…