Blogging the democratic revolution
Boz at Bloggings by Boz did something a little different this week and focused on the biggest election in the hemisphere, Mexico’s, which will be held this Sunday. He’s got the final polls and lots of bullet-point analysis on the how that race is going. Want to know who is most likely to win in…
Joining its close ally, El Salvador, as well as Nicaragua and Honduras, Guatemala has today fully entered the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Two more countries are yet to ratify their entry, but Guatemala has gotten it together and today is a happy day. Trade, in and of itself, is why the U.S.’ economy has…
Shamil Basayev, the radical field commander who ordered the hostage-taking of Beslan schoolchildren, has been appointed vice president of the Chechen seperatist government by the new president. Which means, should President Dolu Umarov be killed, he will become the new leader of the separatist movement. In so few words, that is not good. PRAGUE, June…
Bolivia’s industrious, anti-communist Santa Cruz citizens rally for autonomy Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News Not every Bolivian likes to be under the thumb of Hugo Chavez’s Marxist mini-me, Evo Morales. Residents of the eastern province, Santa Cruz, which is full of industrious immigrants and enterprising native-indigenous Bolivians who’ve moved there, want instead to have autonomy….
Terrific news! Peru’s Congress passed the Free Trade pact with the U.S., after months of contentious debate. They took one look (well, probably several) at the $11 trillion economy they have the opportunity to freely trade with and decided it was worth it. They passed the measure, despite fears that they wouldn’t. They ignored the…
Have you seen the Venezuelan movie, Secuestro Express? It’s my favorite current movie. It’s also the most popular Venezuelan movie in history. The only other Venezuelan movie I have seen is Manuela Saenz, and that was weakly done. Secuestro Express is in a league with the best Mexican and Colombian movies, a real chair-gripping suspense…
Malaysia’s Former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Democratic revolutionary Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia is being approached by … well, someone … to apply for the top United Nations post, to succeed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. I think it’s a great idea! Anwar is a terrific leader whose appeal extends borders…
Earlier this week, Mexico’s election board nixed some campaign ads from the conservative PAN party as too fear-mongering, for their warnings about the danger of electing leftist PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador president of Mexico. Election day is July 2 in Mexico. The ads compared Lopez Obrador to Hugo Chavez, with big pictures of…
Babes of Beirut cheer Brazil Source: AP, Reuters, AFP, via Yahoo! News What’s up with the Babes of Beirut? They’re busy cheering Brazil, which beat Ghana today, moving on to the semifinals in the World Cup! One day it’s a democracy struggle, and as democracy wins, next up, it’s soccer. It’s the same babes, and…
French fans cheering their team’s victory Source: AP, Reuters and AFP, via Yahoo! News Here’s why soccer is fun – France unexpectedly beat powerhouse Spain in the quarter finals of the match, 3-1, in a very good game. Nobody expected France to do it, not even me, but sure enough, they did. Spain’s a very…
Isn’t it funny that while Algerians are debating whether or not to abolish term limits for their presidents, Mauritanians have just approved a constitution that provides for term limits on presidents (and compels the president to pledge before God that he will not attempt to modify these limits), and other checks on the executive? 77%…
Carlos The Jackal, in his yeayyy-babeeee days Source: 24-Hour Party People Just as Venezuelan Hugo Chavez plays the role of clown-dictator in the world Axis Of Evil, so does Venezuelan terrorist Carlos The Jackal play the bozo in the world War On Terror. It’s like a bad parody that keeps repeating itself. Not that his…
Washington Post has an extraordinary good essay on the parlous and deteriorating state of Egypt’s democrats as the Mubarak dictatorship grows stronger and the U.S. loses interest in democratic revolution. The author is writing a book on Middle Eastern democratic revoltutionaries. It’s a sad but important story. It is a must-read here.
In Venezuela, the ruling Chavistas are starting to implode as an organization. The reason for this is Chavez has gotten rid of all institutions of government and left only the political-party and campaign apparatus as its substitute. Imagine Karl Rove running the Supreme Court, the Congress, the White House, the election apparatuses, the district attorneys,…
Now that all the media glory for France’s masked shop-trashing thugs is over, something sad and quiet has happened in the wake of their violent “victory.” France’s best and brightest are leaving France. One by one, they are leaving their homeland, in search of work, and a better life. They are heading to the savage…
It feels good to be right sometimes. Really good. When Mauritania’s military staged a bloodless coup against the president last year, I thought it might be wrong — especially given the focus of this blog — to support such a move. Every government in the world was condemning it; the United States more than anyone,…
After much suffering and a red card for one of the Italian players, Italy won 1 – 0 against Australia. Yes, it was due to a penalty kick, but our Francesco Totti scored just a couple of seconds before the end of the match! Below some photos of this much-suffered match! Before scoring: Getting ready…
It is not surprising that Sherif Hamdy can write in the Daily Star that China is getting close to beating out the United States in the arena of public relations in the Arab World. I have seen maybe one or two American officials speak Arabic on Al Jazeera or Al Arabiyya regularly, and, according to…
Oh man, this is disgusting. You know how Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez likes to break into all the television channels on occasion, with long Castro-style speeches, just to hear his own voice? Well, as All Venezuela has stood by, mesmerized at the World Cup on TV, he’s decided that this would be the perfect opportunity…
The national conscious of the Nazi atrocities in German memory has led to cautiousness towards conflict in the German public and government. While this position is a natural reaction and in many respects noble, it has unfortunately decreased Germany’s ability and consequent role to be an international peacekeeper and decision maker. Indeed, Germany’s relations with…
What do you do if you are a Venezuelan? Your country is ruled by a madman, a communist, a tyrant. You are steadily watching as all of your freedoms erode. Your country’s institutions are being rapidly politicized, the gears of your own power are being stripped and you are powerless to stop it. The U.S….
U.S.-Japan anti-ballistic missile test in the Pacific Source: Honolulu Star Bulletin OK so the U.S. and Japan don’t have such great soccer teams this year. The trans-Pacific allies seem to do other things better. Like blast incoming nuclear missiles out of the sky. In news that just feels good to wake up to, a U.S.-Japan…
Nogales is a city on the border, split right down the center, with a wall running down the middle of it. The line separates more than the city itself, though. The two sides are worlds apart. In American Nogales, tourists cruise across the border within minutes into a mile-wide arena of discount pharmacies and craft…
Not long following the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Russian government has killed its own most wanted terrorist, Chechen rebel leader Adbul-Khalim Sadulayev. PRAGUE, June 17, 2006 (RFE/RL) — Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov announced on June 17 the death during a special operation in the town of Argun, east of Grozny, of Abdul-Khalim…
Less than TEN DAYS to go for the most important, as well as the very closest race of the entire year – MEXICAN ELECTIONS! As Mexican voters make up their minds, Boz has the latest poll numbers, showing a slight lead in many cases for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. But it’s not all of them…