Blogging the democratic revolution
How low can it go for Venezuelan sciences? Apparently much lower than anyone imagined in Hugo Chavez’s pseudo-revolution. Venezuela’s IVIC, which had been the finest scientific research institution south of the Rio Grande, is now being forced to conduct research not based on what will advance science but what will advance the Chavez party. That means no more petroleum engineering discoveries for efficient production but instead new orders from on high to conduct “scientific” experiments on what the best Orisha voodoo methods are for divining the future and getting back at one’s enemies. If you can stand to read more,…
The battle over the impeachment of Mexico City’s popular leftist mayor is heating up, with demonstrations planned for Sunday. They are hoping to get up to 400,000 people. A rally planned for Mexico’s capital city on Sunday could prove the defining moment in the complicated legal tangle involving Andr????s Manuel L????pez Obrador, Mexico City’s popular leftwing mayor and presidential aspirant. There are two possible outcomes. A big, non-violent ???????silent march??????? the mayor’s strategists hope for 400,000 protesters would show the nation that popular support is not waning for Mr L????pez Obrador, who faces arrest on a contempt-of-court charge. Demonstrations are…
Earlier this week, Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky announced that he had offered 10 CDs of the Melnychenko recordings to Viktor Yushchenko. Now, the Parliament has denied Berezovsky an entry visa: KIEV, April 22 (Itar-Tass) – The Supreme Rada (parliament) of Ukraine has refused to support the request of MP Alexander Volkov to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on issuing an entry visa to political refugee Platon Yelenin (Boris Berezovsky), who has been invited to Ukraine by a group of MPs. Only 19 MPs voted in support for the request, while the needed number of votes is 226. I have this this…
Earlier today a firefight broke out in Mecca between gunmen loyal to Osama bin Laden and Saudi security forces. This coincided with the third and final round of local elections in that country which have been reported with significant fanfare in the West. This is the latest sign that the on again, off again fight between the Saudis and their Islamist opponents is alive, and raises the issue of the stability of the kingdom. While the overthrow of the House of Saud is still viewed as very unlikely, a degree of instability far short of that would could still be…
Of course, Gutierrez is a scumball for stacking the Supreme Court with his political bed partners and the mass protests against him were totally warranted. But apparently there was something wrong with the vote that kicked him out, and it has the OAS concerned. QUITO, April 21 (Xinhuanet) — The Organization of American States(OAS) Thursday gave the new government in Ecuador 24 hours to explain how the Congress concluded that President Lucio Gutierrez should be removed from office, the local press reported. The request came after Ecuador’s acting representative to the OAS, Jaime Barberis, told an emergency session of the…
Even as he reiterates his commitment to democracy, either he is lying or does not know the definition. The pro-Putin Duma is expected to pass legislation that would further restrict qualifications for parties entering the legislature. Russian MPs have approved a crucial second reading of a controversial law which could increase the Kremlin’s control over parliament. The bill, which is expected to be adopted, would change the way parliamentary deputies are elected. Members of the lower house, the Duma, would be chosen by proportional representation, with parties needing 7% of the vote to get seats. Critics say it will be…
You want it? I don’t have it. But Andy does! Check out Siberian Light for everything that’s happened this week in Russia.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with seven Belarussian dissidents today in Lithuania and assured them that Belarus is on the road to democracy, their biggest chance being the next presidential election. VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Belarusian dissidents Thursday she thinks an end to authoritarian rule in their country is within reach. She drew a rebuke from Russia’s foreign minister for earlier comments about Belarus. After meeting with the seven dissidents, Rice said next year’s presidential election in Belarus offers ééan excellent opportunity” to focus on the need for credible elections in the country,…
The third and last round of the Saudi municipal elections are over. The votes still need to be counted and winners announced, but in any case, they will probably turn out relatively similar to the previous two rounds. Riyadh, 21 April (AKI) – Saudis went to the polls on Thursday for the third and final phase of the Kingdom’s historic municipal elections after twelve days of intense campaigning, which officially ended on Wednesday. Some 140,000 Saudis were expected to vote in the poll, but they are only electing half the members of their municipal councils. The other half will be…
Work, work, work. In the meantime, though, the third round of municipals are starting up in Saudi Arabia. JEDDAH, 21 April 2005 ???????? The business city of Jeddah will go to the polls today with the rest of the Western Region to elect new municipal councils in Saudi Arabia????????s historic democratic exercise. As many as 548 candidates are contesting for seven Jeddah seats, pinning their hopes on some 80,000 registered voters. Saudis in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah as well as Taif, Qasim, Hail, Tabuk, Al-Jouf and the Northern Border Region also go to polls today in the…
UN diplomats, on a fun-packed junket to Haiti, say that the Caribbean nation is not getting the job done: April 20 (Bloomberg) — Haiti’s political leaders aren’t taking steps toward reconciliation needed for successful elections this year and the interim government hasn’t begun reconstruction projects to stabilize the Caribbean nation, U.S. and Brazilian diplomats said. Anne Patterson, the acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who joined Security Council envoys on a mission to Haiti last week, said the government needs to resolve the case of former prime minister Yvon Neptune, an opposition member detained without charges since June 2004.…
In an unprecedented move, the Human Rights Association of Syria has filed the first ever accusations of torture against Assad’s regime. (Via: Norm) With Syria under international pressure over its presence in Lebanon, and amid a wave of agitation for democratic reforms across the Middle East, Syrian lawyers are now daring to file the first cases of torture against the state. The Human Rights Association of Syria (HRAS), a non-governmental organisation operating in Damascus, announced earlier this month that it would launch several cases in a matter of weeks. ….. ÄKÅeeping track of political prisoners is next to impossible in…
Talk about good timing. The ten minute interview was done in the White House and broadcast directly to Lebanon. President Bush has insisted anew that Syria should “get out completely” from Lebanon and let the Lebanese people decide their own future in internationally monitored elections on schedule and free from external influence or intimidation. Bush pledged, then, to drum up global monetary assistance to help “this country back on its feet.” In a rare direct address to the Arab world, Bush also said in an interview broadcast by Beirut’s LBCI television network from the White House he wanted the Assad…
Russia billionaire Boris Berezovsky, now called Platon Elenin, says he wants to meet with Viktor Yushchenko to turn over the Melnychenko recordings from Leonid Kuchma’s office. We’re talking ten CDs that supposedly has all kinds of good juicy stuff on them. I have the latest over at Bloggledygook, with a special gift at the end for Robert.
Congress voted to remove President Lucio Gutierrez from power today, and swore in his vice president, Alfredo Palacio Gonzalez, a St. Louis cardiologist, as his successor. The legislature acted after 50,000 people filled the streets of Quito and fought troops and police in pitched battles. A Chilean photographer was killed and more than 180 were injured. (See the burning tires on the front page of the El Comercio Web site.) Congress was emboldened to make the move after the police chief of Quito suddenly resigned, saying he was unwilling to fire on demonstators. Gutierrez prompted the protests against his two-year…
I know that the third round of municipal elections in Saudi Arabia are coming up, so I checked out Arab News, which has a lot of material up, but I came upon this article noting that legislation had been passed in Kuwait allowing women to both vote and participate in municipal elections. KUWAIT CITY, 20 April 2005 ???????? In a first step toward granting women full political rights, Kuwaiti lawmakers agreed yesterday to allow women to vote and run in local council elections, but the measure requires more legislative action before it would become law. The measure was taken on…
How bad is it for Venezuela? Is it really a colony of Cuba? This essay by Gustavo Coronel should settle the question definitively. Read it here.
Remembering my post from yesterday on Armenian and Azeri opposition groups, I come across this article on RFE/RL describing the Azeri opposition movement. Prague, 19 April 2005 (RFE/RL) — Several opposition leaders and former government officials announced on 12 April the creation of a new election bloc to run for seats in Azerbaijan’s Milli Meclis, or national parliament. The alliance is known as Yeni Siyaset (New Politics). It includes Namazov, the chairman of Azerbaijan’s Public Forum nongovernmental organization, and a onetime aide of late President Heidar Aliyev. Other members are Lale Sovket, the former chairwoman of Azerbaijan’s Liberal Party and…
Yesterday I posted that Georgian President Saakashvili will predict where the next revolution will be on April 22 during the next GUUAM summit. Check out what this article has to say. TBILISI. April 19 (Interfax) – Georgia’s parliament plans to adopt an address that will be sent to the people of Belarus this week. “The parliament of Georgia is confident that the fraternal people of Belarus will be able to overcome all resistance which is being put up by internal and external retrograde forces, and this wonderful European country will not be isolated,” reads the draft document. Chairman of the…
Finally: Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati announced he has succeeded in forming a new government, after a month and a half of political wrangling by pro-Syrian and opposition politicians. Lebanon’s fledgling Prime Minister Najib Mikati made the eagerly-waited announcement that he had put together a new government at the presidential palace. The government, with those named today, he insisted, will be a short-term administration, destined to supervise parliamentary elections, quickly, and within the constitutional time frame, “God willing,” as he put it. Mr. Mikati denied that there had been a tug-of-war between Lebanon’s opposition movement and pro-Syrian politicians, in choosing…
Blogger Tim Russo, who did democracy work in Armenia, tells us not to hold our breath on a united opposition front there. Armenian opposition parties might be the most splintered opposition in the entire former Soviet Union. Almost daily, some guy decides that the other guy running the party doesn’t deserve to run the party, and runs off to start his own party. “Opposition” alliances last about as long as Italian governments. There’s been so many parties, blocs, “unions,” and “fronts,” they’re running out of names for them. The same can also be said for Azerbaijan’s opposition, who had attempted…
Nathan points to an article saying that Georgian President Saakashvili will unveil the next country to undergo a “velvet revolution” at the next GUUAM meeting. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has said that a new velvet revolution will follow the regime changes in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, Rosbalt news agency reports. ???????We have defeated our enemies in these two countries, but there is one more country on our list,??????? he announced at a meeting with the Georgian Prosecutor General????????s Office staff. The president promised to reveal the name of the country at the five-nation GUUAM summit in Chisinau on April 22 that…
I was just sent a link to a photo gallery of all the rulers of “Not Free” countries as ranked by Freedom House. Perhaps this is an obvious common denominator, but they are all ugly people.
More than usual, anyway. The UN Commission on Human Rights just passed a resolution condemning Belarus for abuses. Following the adoption on 14 April of a resolution by the UN Human Rights Commission alleging human rights abuses by Belarusian officials, Syarhey Aleynik, Belarus’s permanent representative to the UN, criticized the document as “another attempt to create a distorted picture of the country’s situation in order to justify the intention of its co-sponsors to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,” Belapan and Interfax-Belarus reported. Aleynik said that the resolution has passed under “unprecedented pressure from the United States,”…
Probably one of the least noticed news items of the day is the results of municipal elections in the Basque separatist region of Spain. BILBAO, Spain, April 18 (Reuters) – Spain’s ruling Socialists declared Basque premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe’s plan for virtual independence from Madrid dead on Monday after he suffered a setback in regional polls. Ibarretxe, who had tried to turn Sunday’s poll into a plebiscite on his controversial plan, emerged weakened. The big winners were the Socialists and a little-known party backed by radical nationalists unable to vote for Batasuna, banned as the political wing of guerrilla group…