Blogging the democratic revolution
Colombia and El Salvador, two nations that have known war and terror, have joined forces to beat the hell out of terrorism. So if Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez or Al Qaida or the Maras or the FARC have designs on the region, the entire Western flank is about to strike first. This dual axis…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, like Evo Morales of Bolivia, has enemies among leftwing extremists. Strange but true. And they are angry about the election – apparently, none of their votes were counted. Now, they are rioting, against Hugo Chavez. Miguel has the first reports here. Daniel has the bigger story with photos. He and I…
NOT. Hey, that was a pretty funny joke right? Just about as funny as the racial justice jokers in the South African government. In a previous post entitled “South Africa Speeding Up Land Reform,” I talked about how President Mbeki is ideologically sympathetic with Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and how the country is planning to…
Poor President Putin. According to Russia’s constitution, he won’t be able to run for the presidency again when his second term ends in 2008. Speculation is always rampant about whether or not he will run again, and just a week ago he was lamenting the fact that he cannot run again because the constitution does…
Even though the King imposed a state of emergency in February that was constitutionally lifted three months later, he still retains his powers and Nepal’s democratic process is still suspended. Protests are still broken up, hundreds of political prisoners are still being held, and the media still isn’t allowed to operate freely. Why? The King…
The U.S. is preparing sanctions against Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, based on its cutoff of drug cooperation. Hugo Chavez, along with Fidel Castro, is creating a drug corridor to the U.S. for the benefit of their FARC allies. It’s a chilling new front in the war on narcoterror. With sanctions on the horizon, as early as…
The world economy runs on what happens in the U.S. economy. That has potential to affect the outlook for every revolutionary country on earth. At the center of this phenomenon is Alan Greenspan, who yesterday hiked interest rates yet again. He’s hiked and he’s hiked – ten times in the past ten quarters. It’s flattening…
Bolivia’s cocalero chief, Evo Morales, an open supporter and covert supplicant of Hugo Chavez, is losing allies in the upcoming December election. This is probably a significant piece of news. Throwing his lot with Venezuela’s hated dictator is obviously lucrative, but no way to win votes. With Venezuela’s entire diplomatic thrust moved south since the…
Nobody uncovers weird stuff like Boli-Nica, but this time, the weird stuff has left him flabbergasted. Subcommandante Marcos, the white-skinned, blue-eyed Latin American Idiot who says he’s really (deep down) an indigenous Indian from the Lacandon Rain Forest in Chiapas making 1960s-style ersatz commie ‘revolution’ has a new obsession, are you ready: Penguins. He’s slopped…
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has made his first address to the World Congress of Youth, one of these Soviet-era leftover mega-events that young Sandalistas from the West go to, along with their communist-youth cousins from communist countries. I’ve been to these, still have the photos, the main purpose is to get drunk and laid. Apparently,…
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…
Several days after high-brass military men ousted President Taya from power in Mauritania, diplomats are finally taking my line on this: cautious optimism. I’ve been arguing consistently that this may just be what Mauritania needs to order to secure real democracy in the face of a dictator who cracked down on all political opposition —…
It has almost been three months since Ethiopia held its parliamentary elections, and the results have been delayed over and over and over. And the results aren’t all that surprising, especially after all the lack of transparency in the counting process, the putting opposition leaders under house arrest, the banning of protests, and the beating…
RFE/RL has an interview with Ukraine’s leading lady who we all laud over, Yulia Tymoshenko. It covers a range of topics marking the 6th month anniversary of the new government coming to power. UPDATE: Meanwhile, Russian nationalists are filming a porn movie about Yulia and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Is anyone else anticipating this as…
They are edging in, and splattered all over the election commission’s Web site for non-easy reading. Miguel has an absolutely fascinating description, which suggests this was a disaster for the Chavistas they are trying to hide. Check out the Zulia numbers – Zulia is where the oil workers live. It’s here. Daniel has more excellent…
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…
As Lukashenko’s regime continues to move in on Belarus’ largest civil organization, the Union of Poles, and Europe now promising funds for opposition groups, tensions between the country and the rest of Europe are escalating dramatically. The EU sent a delegation to investigate human rights and democracy in Belarus, and they actually had the cojones…
What, still no election results? Speaking of elections, Japan has unfortunately rejected Prime Minister Koizumi’s proposed privatization of ludicrous government “programs,” leading to elections. The story has details, for those who haven’t been following closely. Caroline Glick at JPost analyzes Netanyahu’s resignation, possible outcomes, and what this means for the future of Israel at a…
There has been much debate over whether Abdullah’s formal succession to the throne will allow reform to begin its progression in Saudi Arabia; a task that no doubt has odds generated by entrenched totalitarianism stacked against it. A move that looks promising, and is hopefully an indication of things to come, is that Abdullah just…
After the government of Azerbaijan accused the opposition of being funded by Armenian intelligence and NDI for a coup, the political progress in the country seems to be degrading quickly. In my analysis of what happened, I wrote that, “using Armenia is probably the best way for the Azeri government to discredit the opposition in…
Click here, trust me. TechCentralStation.com published my article about it. Hope you like! PS: Carnival of revolutions.
The great V.S. Naipaul, whose glorious fiction and non-fiction books critically delve into the world of the revolutionary countries now democratizing, shares his insights in a truly fascinating interview with the New York Times. It’s a must-read if you like literature or revolution. Read it here.
Developments after the military coup continue to be interesting. Since the disbanded the parliament, they have adopted a new transitional charter in order to oversee the process of democratization Here are the details. DAKAR, Aug. 6 (Xinhuanet) — The Mauritanian junta Saturday adopted a charter on the organization and power allocation in the transitional period,…
First reports are in on today’s municipal elections in Venezuela. Hugo Chavez is “winning.” But turnout is so thin that the government has extended voting by two (update: now three) hours to try to make it a double-digit turnout. First reports say it’s running at about 8%. Updated, with the polls closed, the turnout is…