Blogging the democratic revolution
It’s final. A court in Colombia has ruled that President Alvaro Uribe can run for office again. A constitutional change is now in effect to allow a president to run for a second term. We’ve been waiting for this news for a long time and it’s reason to celebrate. Uribe is the most popular leader,…
After more than a half century of war and the threat of nuclear disaster, in which tens of thousands of civilians have been killed by military personnel and terrorist groups, peace between India and Pakistan may closer than ever. Ever since the threat of a new war in 2002 sparked international fears of nuclear annihilation…
While much of South America continues to wrassle over whether free trade is of any benefit to them, Asian giant India – once an inward-looking, narrowly nationalistic state – has now called for a free trade pact for South Asia – or, SAFTA. What a democratic revolution, given what India was in, say, 1970! With…
Last week, CUD opposition leaders called for people to take to the streets against Prime Minister Meles, who has become ever more authoritarian following fraudulent parliamentary elections. When they did, the police descended on the demonstrators and killed hundreds, injuring thousands more. They then rounded up the CUD opposition leaders and threw them all in…
A few days ago I predicted that the riots in France would become fodder for the French far-right — the Le Pen and National Front types oft considered xenophobic zealots. Because of the high amounts of violence coming from immigrants, and the weak response by the government, politics will move further to the right. Le…
Boz has an excellent roundup of all the week’s polls around Latin America as this critical coming election year beckons. It’s two weeks’ worth this time. Read it here.
In the post-Summit-of-the-Americas, wake, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has lashed out at Mexican President Vicente Fox, publicly hurling a slew of insults at the unexpected star of the Argentina gathering. Fox was so brilliant and forceful in his advocacy of free trade for the Americas that he actually did manage to draw a few cameras…
As the French riots near the two-week point – 13 nights now – there is a debate both as to whether a moderate drop-off in violence Tuesday means it is winding down or just fluctuating, as well as the broader question of what the riots mean socially and religiously for France. The purpose of this…
Egypt held it’s parliamentary elections earlier today. Here’s a great overview of what it’s all about and what’s at stake. Here is another list of resources. They marked a huge improvement over the last parliamentary elections, with almost no instances of violence. It’s a step, but still a leap away from real elections. Here’s a…
There are a lot more blogs from Belarus now than there was when Publius was first started. Given that Belarus is biggest focuses for democracy promotion going, I think it would be good to get out the word on some of these blogs; which, by the way, make for very good and interesting reading. –…
And now for a truly satisfactory little tidbit, The Hill Rag reports that the 15 brave pro-CAFTA Democratic Congressmen who bucked their party leadership in the name of free trade for Central America, and who were politically threatened by vengeful union thugs for doing it – are now reaping big rewards from campaign contributors grateful…
A crowd of over 15,000 demonstrators gathered in Baku’s Victory Square to protest Sunday’s fraudulent elections. The protests had been sanctioned by the government for today, but it is unlikely that further protests will be officially allowed. Opposition leaders have vowed to continue taking to the streets through the weekend, and if history is any…
Jacques Chirac was swept into power in the runoff presidential election of 2002 with 82% of the vote. He achieved this unprecedented tally because his opponent was Jean-Marie Le Pen, a xenophobic man often called a French fascist. Le Pen’s defeat was preceded by a million man march in which the whole country, except for…
Investor’s Business Daily has an excellent editorial up about President Bush’s visit to Argentina for discussion about the FTAA. It lashes at the negative media portrayal here in the United States, despite the fact that the vast majority of countries are on board with it. Make sure to check it out.
Maybe this is why I’m so hesitant about Chinese aggression in the future: SHANGHAI: When it comes to their sex lives, Chinese are among those who “can’t get no satisfaction.” Chinese are among the groups that are the least happy with their sex lives, according to the 2005 Global Sex Survey results released yesterday by…
California Conservative has a roundup of the special election in California. Wholly believing that long-engrained special interests control the government there and have morphed it to efficiently serve their needs instead of those of the people, I believe that these reforms have been a long way coming and need to pass. I generally don’t support…
Here’s a quick roundup about what all the regional blogs are saying, and then below that will be the aftermath of election day. – New Eurasia is blogging a storm. Just scroll. It includes on the ground reporting, pictures of campaign posters, exit poll information, and an appearance by Ariel Cohen calling the election the…
The Mehlis Report, otherwise known as the Report of the International Independent Investigation Commission charged with investigating the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on Feb. 14 of this year, indicated that high-level Syrian officials and their agents in Lebanon were behind the assassination. I posted a brief entry on it when it…
Parliamentary elections are due to be held in Azerbaijan on November 6, and the opposition hasn’t held back in making it known that it intends to attempt a colored revolution in the event of fraud. However, most observers believe that this event will be more violent than velvet, a repeat of the October 2003 street…
There will be a large demonstration in Boston tomorrow in support of the more than 20 million slaves left in the world. It is hosted by iAbolish, an organization bringing together the modern-day abolitionist movement. This is a really good cause to get involved with. I’m posting all the relevant information below. If you want…
After the opposition called for protests against the government over the fradulent May elections, and people began taking to the streets of Addis Ababa on Tuesday, the unrest has spread beyond the cities with thousands of people demonstrating against the government. Could this be the start of a revolution, or will this one be silenced…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has hurled a major strike at the free press. Patricia Poleo, the fearless journalist who exposed government shenanigans over a mysterious car-bombing last year of a prosecutor, has been arrested — and along with a military man, a banker and a Cuban exile, charged with the murder herself. The background to…
It’s time for the Summit of the Americas again, and that means leftists from all over will be flocking to Argentina to protest… well, they don’t really know what, they just know that oil-stealing Bush guy from Texas will be there. And they’ll be in great company, with the likes of Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales,…
Hardcore leftwing ‘activists’ aligned with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, Cuban despot Fidel Castro and Bolivian coca-growing champion Evo Morales have served legal papers charging genocide to Bolivia’s finest former president, the elderly Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, a superb democratic revolutionary leader who in the early 1990s slew South America’s highest-ever inflation rate, began Bolivia’s natural…