Blogging the democratic revolution
No, not in the Middle East. In Venezuela. A first. A crusading journalist who asked too many questions about aluminum mining, the same damn industry the Russian mafia hits journalists for. By terrorists. With never-before-seen-in-Venezuela methods. To terrify. Alek Boyd now has an update here. It turns out they didn’t completely chop his head off,…
Nicaragua’s slimey unelected Sandinista bureaucrats may have finally cornered President Enrique Bolanos who busted them and their nasty rightwing allies for bonafide corruption. Now, they are demanding that he step down for ‘violating the constitution.’ Don’t tell me this isn’t political. And ominous. Read it here.
I haven’t given this idea thought before. Very interesting. (Hat tip: New Mongols) ULAAN BAATAR, Mongolia — While the world powers grapple with how to check North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, Mongolia has quietly engaged the country and is pressing it to undertake reforms in a more direct manner. The primary tool to woo Pyongyang is…
Boli-Nica has a couple of amazing posts on the growing evidence against Hugo Chavez in the bankrolling of the blockades against Bolivia’s cities this month, the purpose of which was to starve the citizens into submission until they agreed to nationalize Bolivia’s energy resources. Seriously good blogging. Read it here and here.
City government machines are usually filthy even in the most ideal of first-world political conditions, which makes them an ideal operating environment for Venezuela’s dictator, Hugo Chavez. That may be why he’s growing active there. Alek Boyd recently questioned the brazen use of London municipal resources for Chavez’s government propaganda effort and got an amazing…
Mass resignations are following Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez’s decision to honor Cuban dictator Fidel Castro at Venezuela’s Independence – that’s right, Independence – Day, parade. Venezuelan troops seem to think Castro’s hand makes a mockery of independence. After all, he is a tyrant. It’s too much for the troops. Read it here.
Chris Borgen over at Opinio Juris has a couple of engaging posts on international institutions and the building of a global liberal order. He argues that Clinton was more successful at promoting a desirable world order because of his support for international institutions, and his greater preference than the White House’s current occupant for treaty-making….
The Moldovan parliement recently signed a Ukraine-drafted accord on how to move forward with the Transdniestria separatist conflict. HISINAU, June 10 (Itar-Tass) – Moldovan parliament has approved a plan of settlement of the conflict with the breakaway Dniester region proposed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. Parliament also has adopted an address to the Organization for…
Once again, the brilliant Carlos Alberto Montaner writes what I wish I’d written. He is awesome, awesome. He tells why President Carlos Mesa was not fit to govern, the sad subtext to all the turmoil in Bolivia. Read it here.
King Gyanendra ended the three month state of emergency this past April 30, meaning he was supposed to ease up tight controls on civil liberties imposed since February. Of course, that didn’t happen. In the most recent example of his power grab, over 100 journalists were arrested for protesting against the restrictions. Police arrested nearly…
Having been out of the blogosphere for a week due to conflicting obligations, I’m back and I’ve put up a Middle East Week in Review looking at the major events. The main events centered around Lebanon’s elections, but Iraq made progress in facing down terrorists and Iran moved close to its “elections,” such as they…
Yesterday I posted on the third round of the elections in Lebanon taking place in Bekaa and Mt. Lebanon. It was termed “the mother of all election battles” because it pitted in tightly contested races the electoral lists of the now split opposition led separately by Hariri-Jumblatt and Aoun. A lot of the success of…
Military troops threatening to seize western oil fields. Read it here. UPDATE: Miguel has a superb explanation of what’s really going on in this case. He also notes some of the implications. Read it here. UPDATE: Daniel has a first-rate analysis of further trouble in another quarter of the military, the rebellion against Chavez’s honoring…
Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit is hosting this week’s carnival of revolutions, catching you up on everything that has gone down this week in the democratic movement. “So let????????s cut to the chase, down to this past week????????s developments in democracy, elections, tyrannous acts, human rights, and pie. Apple pie.”I knew that quote would come…
This is big. Keep reading, you’ll see why. Hundreds of women staged an unauthorized demonstration in Tehran today, protesting sex discrimination under Iran’s Islamic leadership just days before the June 17 presidential elections. The protest was the first public display of dissent by women since the 1979 revolution, when the new regime enforced obligatory veiling….
It looks like the Kuwaiti government has made good on its promises. When women got the vote, they promised that they would appoint women to the government. Bingo. KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwait named its first woman cabinet minister on Sunday, less than a month after giving women the vote, a key plank in its democratic…
Miguel Centellas gives it till the end of the year. Read it here.
Lebanon went to the polls for the third time today (I think they like it!) in the districts of Mt. Lebanon and Bekaa. Usually I would do a really long post and analysis, given that most news stories fail at covering the event well, but An Nahar did such a good job that it will…
Everything you wanted to know related to Iran, published in a single sweet post. Also, make sure to check out the schedule of pro-democracy events over the coming week.
The Philippines is seeing massive protests over the discovery of a tape which purports to show that that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the daughter of a founding president of the nation, rigged her re-election last year, a contest she just barely won. She got her initial power in a People Power coup in 2001, an…
Miguel at MABB on Bolivia has a very significant item utterly ignored in the U.S. media about how Bolivia’s protestors are being coerced. They are being shaken down by Marxist social movements like Evo Morales’ ally FEJUVE, which sends block committees into neighborhoods of El Alto, checking to see that at least one member of…
I just finished reading through a bombshell scientific survey conducted by the Iran Institute for Democracy to gauge public opinion in the country. It’s the only one of its kind out there that is so thorough and well-done that it is truly a must-read. For the complete executive summary, click here (corrected: this summary is…
Music to my ears. When Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon back in April, it was pretty obvious to the world that it left behind a thick residue of intelligence agents. The several bombs that have gone off, and the targetted assassination of an anti-Syria journalist, are part of a general pattern of political intimidation….
Randy at Beautiful Horizons has an important item on the potential for Ecuador- and Bolivia-style unrest in Peru. It’s growing. Like the other two nations, Peru has weak institutions and grinding poverty and growing discontent. The Shining Path has made some frightening recrudescences in Andean villages, scaring the locals who want that era over forever,…