Blogging the democratic revolution
My gift this year was the flu from my family. I wish they could have included some Tylenol with that! Anyhow, loyal readers, what are you all doing today?
The animals are at it again. They got caught trying to kill President Uribe of Colombia. The story is here. COLOMBIA-PRESIDENT Explosive found near ranch of Colombia President Uribe Bogota, Dec 24 (EFE).- A bomb made up of some 46 kilos (101 lbs.) of explosives and shrapnel was found near the ranch of Colombian President…
Sounds insane, but it’s true. Venezuela has the world’s finest coffee, but when I looked around in the shops of Caracas for some bagfuls to take home for Christmas presents, there were none to be found. (I had trouble finding the Hugo Chavez Action Figure for Christmas, too. Not even the buhoneros had it in…
With the recent magazine photos of the sexy young bin Laden niece – tell me THAT girl isn’t, in her own way, a revolutionary – I thought it would be worth it to note that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has wealthy young offspring who like to party it up in Havana, too. But unlike the…
Christmas is barely legal in Fidel Castro’s monstrous dictatorship in Cuba, and this year more than most. There is a sullen, sad atmosphere in Havana these days, partly from want, and partly from the sour, tired nature of the regime on its last legs. That’s why Val Prieto at Babalu blog came up with the…
David Sasaki and Juliana Rincon Parra at Global Voices have something very special in their Bolivian blog roundup – a slew of translations from the original Spanish. If you had always wanted to be able to read the Spanish blogs but couldn’t do it, they’ve opened that window and have a long, beautifully done roundup…
Daniel in Yaracuy has another elegantly done post comparing and contrasting two court verdicts in two highly politicized cases, one for the opposition, and one for the ruling party. As may be imagined in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, the reality shows that Chavistas get about three times as much ‘justice’ as Venezuela’s battered opposition. I’ll add…
In one of his finest posts, Daniel in Yaracuy province describes the curious reverse phenomenon now seen in Venezuela under the Hugo Chavez regime: the effort to eradicate all symbols of secularism and holiday cheer in Venezuela, in favor of a highly politicized, chavista-cized more ancient Christian model. It’s a strike against globalization and the…
They grossly undercounted the amount of support shown by Evo Morales in that strikingly well-executed election this past Sunday. Boz goes into several reasons why in an extremely interesting post here.
The Sunni lists, along with ex-PM Iyad Allawi’s multi-confessional secular list and others, have joined together to contest the results of the December 15 election in order, at the least, to have the results reviewed and their complaints addressed. At the most, some members of this new coalition have called for new elections altogether. BAGHDAD,…
It looks like more truth is coming out about the Russian government’s 1) disregard for the hostages and 2) its attempt to cover up the raid on the Beslan school that was under siege. While the Russian government maintains that it stormed the school after terrorists explosives went off, new evidence shows that this was…
I’m going to be starting a new feature here at Publius, where I take excerpts from books I’m reading or have read and post them along with some additional background or commentary. The first book we’ll be going over will be Kremlin Rising, a detailed look at Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union,…
Supreme Court says swinger clubs A-OK. I wonder if our contributor, Daniel Holt, will be able to do some — er — investigative journalism for us?
Sunnis and secular parties are uniting in calling out the blatant fraud carried out by the Election Commission. BAGHDAD, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Iraq’s Sunni Arab and secular parties threatened on Wednesday to boycott the new parliament after alleging massive fraud in last week’s election, ramping up pressure on the triumphant Shi’ite Islamists to share…
Gateway Pundit has a roundup of the good news.
All parties that are not from the religious Shia coalition or Kurdish parties are doubting the legitimacy of the Iraqi election preliminary results, and despite the title of this Washington Post article, it’s not just the Sunnis. Reading deeper, it’s independent Sunni parties, ex-PM Allawi’s multi-confessional secular list, and others. Even Moqtada al-Sadr, who allied…
Afghan parliamentarian Malali Joya stood up to warlords in the parliament’s first session, accusing them of human rights abuses and refusing to be quiet when they told her to. It was just a blurb in most reports, but this article uses the incident as its main focus. It’s highly symbolic and female Afghanis looking on…
First it was September, then July, now March?? The Parliament in Belarus voted Friday to hold the countryés next presidential election in March, opening an accelerated campaign between its authoritarian leader, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, and a beleaguered opposition movement. The election will be a watershed for Belarus, which Mr. Lukashenko has led since 1994 with…
It’s a nine hour flight for me today. Be back when I get off the plane!
In the twilight of Iraq’s latest successful election, and before the doomsayers have a chance to get back on their callused feet, it’s worth taking the time to examine Iraq’s inexorable progress in gaining freedom — an immense project that is changing not just the lives of twenty-five million people (a praiseworthy feat in itself),…
Far-left and strongly anti-U.S. Evo Morales has won a decisive victory as president of Bolivia with over 50% of the popular vote, preventing any moves in Congress to deliver the election to any other candidate. There was nothing fraudulent about it, and voter turnout was an amazing 80%. Bolivians who are celebrating this are happy…
…according to exit polls. The AP report is here: COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (AP) – Bolivia’s Socialist presidential candidate Evo Morales, who has promised to become Washington’s “nightmare,” held an unexpectedly strong lead over his conservative rival in Sunday’s election, according to two independent exit polls. The wide margin means Morales, a coca farmer who has said…
Source: El Universal Two years of riots, roadblocks, and instability have culminated in today’s impossibly important presidential election in Bolivia. Bolivia matters because as Bolivia goes politically, so goes South America. The country is often compared to Tibet but politically, it could also (imperfectly) be compared to Iowa, Ohio, or Peoria, Illinois. What direction this…
Saturday, I watched as about 1000 Venezuelans rallied at Altimira Square in Caracas for jailed union leader Carlos Ortega who was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison for organizing the great oil strike of 2002-2003. Ortega is a union leader whose career somewhat parallels that of Lech Walesa, but who also is a member…
It’s the weekend and, as always, posting resumes on Monday. For anyone whose interested, Publius ranked fourth — from last — on the Best Group Blog awards. Which is pretty sweet because I was thinking much worse. Thanks to everyone who voted! My travel schedule will be a little hectic over the next few weeks….