Blogging the democratic revolution
Among the Chavistas and their shills, there are always strange dynamics. Alek Boyd notes that apparently one of the worst pro-dictator shills for the Venezuelan regime in the U.K. is openly fighting with his Chavista masters in Caracas. The issue of course is money, and comically enough, the shill’s paymaster paid him in worthless, unconvertible…
Miguel Centellas at Ciao! reports an alarming development about the military as it dispatches troops around El Alto, La Paz and Santa Cruz – it’s using constitutional language about mandates and law but its actions show that it’s clearly acting on its own. This is the era of autonomous stateless social movements, why not autonomous…
Miguel has translated a bitter but very funny essay that appeared in the Caracas press about all the hardships Venezuelen dictator Hugo Chavez must go through to be the revolutionary leader he is. Be sure to get to the part about his nostalgia for ketchup on pasta. Gross! Read the whole thing here.
The two-day work stay away that didn’t turn out so well yesterday fizzled again. A two-day strike called to protest a crackdown by President Robert Mugabe’s government on informal traders headed for a total collapse on Friday when most businesses opened as usual for the second consecutive day. A coalition of civic groups, supported by…
Alek Boyd has Mary Anastasia O’Grady’s superb WSJ essay on Venezuela’s courageous freedom fighter Maria Corina Machado, who she is, and what she is up against in dictator Hugo Chavez’s nightmare regime. Read it here.
Joe Katzman from Winds of Change pens how Mugabe changed his mind about guns. As many of you know, I’m from Canada. We have a pretty different attitude to guns up here, and I must say that American gun culture has always kind of puzzled me. To me, one no more had a right to…
In deepest Venezuela, blogger Daniel Duquenal reports that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is about to make a conqueror’s triumphant return to Caracas. Although the Cuban dictator’s faithful houseboy, Hugo Chavez, has flown to Cuba to worship at the Beast’s feet every weekend or so, Castro’s last trip to Venezuela was three years ago. Now, Daniel…
Eduardo Rodriguez, president of the Supreme Court will take the job vacated by President Carlos Mesa, a journo source tells me. Forecast: this won’t satisfy the angry mobs of Evo Morales and worse. UPDATE: Confirmed, hot off the press. UPDATE: And Rodriguez is calling for early elections. In the fervor of the moment, this could…
Mark Steyn’s latest is out, and it’s absolutely stunning. I won’t even bother to excerpt anything here, just go and read the whole thing.
Background: Zimbabwe officially Mugabe’s fiefdom, Opposition to protest Zimbabwe crackdown. It seems that this country, long tortured by tyranny, is at a crossroads in which there is no turning back. Mugabe is crushing the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, imposing a forced famine, and preparing to scatter his urban opposition to the country…
Like Rwanda 1994, Bolivia grows worse, and worse. It’s collapsing as a nation. No one is at the helm of leadership, and no consensus on any leadership is on the horizon. The angry indigenous groups seem to be energized by growing strife and are rising in numbers. There seems to be an equally determined group…
Many of you may remember Le Sabot Post-Moderne, where the Discoshaman pretty much live-blogged the Orange Revolution in Ukraine during those amazing months. He’s back. Check him out.
A chilling, disturbing account of a society splitting apart as terror muzzles the media. Miguel has the proof, it’s only available on blogs now, read it here.
THIS IS HUGE! Iran scored a 1-0 victory against Bahrain, securing a place in the World Cup. And the crowd goes wild, taking advantage of the joyous event to shout against the regime. Iran erupted in a frenzy of raucous celebrations after the Islamic state booked its place at the 2006 World Cup soccer finals…
London 08.06.05 ö I come from a country where people spend time discussing the relevance and implications of a photo op. Since enough water has passed under the bridge I’ll take the liberty to give my humble opinion vis-a-vis Maria Corina Machado’s encounter with George W. Bush. There is a saying back home that goes…
Still breaking and unconfirmed of yet, but (via: Registan) Reuters is being told that 600 people are protesting in Samarkand. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has picked it up too. TASHKENT, June 8 (Reuters) – Hundreds of opposition supporters in eastern Uzbekistan held a rally on Wednesday in a rare protest since a bloody crackdown last…
Joshua Landis, living in Damascus, has a media roundup from around the world and talks about all of the proposals. The press, for the most part, has seen this as a “great step forward” — Ba’ath words actually — in reform toward democracy in Syria. But if that sounds too good to be true, then…
Gateway Pundit has been doing a fantastic job rounding up what’s been going on for the past two days. Students all over the country were peacefully protesting the rigged elections, when the army and police broke it up with brutal force. At the Addis Ababa Tegbare’ed (Technical School), police tried to disperse about 200 peaceful…
Victor Mallet of the Financial Times seizes on Rumsfeld’s recent comments on June 4, in which he said that China needs to open up its political system. Victor argues that economic growth and western influence — one in the same in China’s case — will bring with it inevitable internal democratic reform, even as the…
President Mesa offered his resignation to Congress as huge protests engulfed the capital for the past two weeks. These protests were led by angry leftist and Indian groups, demanding nationalization of Bolivia’s energy industry. But they are not the only angry group in the country – there are equally angry people in Santa Cruz, where…
Two disasters happened this morning in South America. A slew of bombs went off against U.S. retailers in Buenos Aires, Argentina from a previously unknown ‘revolutionary’ group that’s suddenly got a lot of money for bombs. The bombers made no secret of their anti-American intentions as they hit a Citibank, a Blockbuster and attempted to…
Where is dictator Hugo Chavez taking Venezuela? Straight to hell. Two powerful essays by Gustavo Coronel and Carlos Alberto Montaner, about the deteriorating situation, one that will cost Venezuelans three generations of progress, are out with the same conclusions about the Chavez vortex of destruction. This is the reality. Don’t miss either of them, this…
The awesome President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia and all of his presidential challengers are setting up blogs for the upcoming presidential race. It’s going to be hotly contested, but I defy anyone to outdo President Uribe in sheer eloquence. He’s a quiet little academic-looking man, but his power is in his thinking, and not only…
Miguel in Caracas, Venezuela has a fantastic picture show, comparing and contrasting the people George Bush associates with, and the people dictator Hugo Chavez associates with. Take a good look and draw your own conclusions about who’s the democrat, who’s the authentic revolutionary. Go see the amazing photos here.
Welcome to this week’s Carnival Of Revolutions! I’ll take a cue from Nathan and not pull out the humor. I don’t know where I’d pull it from. 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. General: The World has a…