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 is a straight pointed knife down the center of Latin America, poised to bring democracy and kill off terror forever. This is very big news. These two nations know the sorrow of war like no others. They are unyielding allies of the U.S. in the…
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 agree that this is the state of chaos to come in Venezuela given the destruction of democratic institutions and avenues of dissent. As I warned earlier in some of my writings. The mob is angry at Chavez and it’s heading for Thermidor. Read it here.
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 speed up the process of land-reform through government redistribution. The land reform conference didn’t explicitly state that they were taking Mugabe’s lead, but based on what I know, I assumed it. Well, my assumption was correction. South Africa’s deputy president is saying that, with regards…
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 not allow it. Russian president Vladimir Putin stressed that the constitution of the Russian Federation did not allow him to remain the head of state after 2008. ???????I may want it but the constitution doesn????????t allow me to do so. I think the most important…
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 says that taking absolute control was necessary in order to crush the Maoist insurgency because the parliament was too ineffective. Yet there has been no progress against the Maoists, and now civil society is in turnoil because of the King’s actions. Because of this, the…
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 next month, Chavez moves Venezuela ever closer to pariah-statehood, forcing it to join the ranks of Burma, another narcostate that fails to cooperate on drug enforcement, and edging toward the kind of relationship the U.S. has with Fidel Castro. It’s an interesting coincidence that the…
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 and inverting the yield curve. And an inverted yield curve NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THEY TELL YOU THIS TIME IT’S DIFFERENT – is always a harbinger of recession. It was last time, the time before, and the time before that. Despite what ‘experts’ claimed…
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 CAFTA victory for Central America and El Norte, it may well be that Hugo Chavez is crumbling on his southern front as well. Economists say that if anything can’t go on, it won’t. Read it here. UPDATE: Miguel Buitrago at the estimable MABB blog has…
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 them all over his Web site and babbles endlessly about standing tall and straight like a rainforest penguin as he prepares to challenge the Mexican political establishment. Boli-Nica, for one, thinks the guy has gone Kurtz on us. Too much time in the jungle. Ate…
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, it’s no different this year in Caracas where Sandalistas from mostly commie countries but at least 300 from the states are partying hearty. Amid all this joint joy, in came the penguin-shaped Hugo Chavez, bellowing that he would repel a U.S. invasion with both hands…
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 mist. These stalkers aren’t men, but other women who are perfectly willing to see them subdued. It’s a game of demonstrators versus counter-demonstrators. BAGHDAD (AFP) – A group of ultraconservative Iraqi women confronted a protest by their liberal opponents in central Baghdad as tensions mounted…
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 — not to mention falsified every election he ever held. When the coup first happened, everyone from the AU to the EU to the US to every other acronym organization condemned it. That line of thought is now changing. NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) – Western nations will support…
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 and shooting of student protestors. The government is really after Jimmeh Carter’s naive little heart (who, by the way, certified the elections after walking around a bit even when EU observers would not). Even after all of this, who still wins? You guessed it. Ethiopia’s…
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 much as I am?
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 stuff here.
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 Marxist Nicaragua, and some from even earlier, as in the days of Vietnam or Stalin’s USSR. They were in the same package of people who come to commie countries to cut cane sugar or teach ‘literacy’ in the name of propping up some dictator. But…
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 to turn them away! Hrodna, Belarus; 8 August 2005 (RFE/RL) — Belarus today denied a delegation from the European Parliament permission to enter the country. Polish diplomat Bogdan Adam Klich, chairman of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with Belarus, told RFE/RL: “I don’t understand…
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 critical juncture. Iran restarted its nuclear weapons development uranium conversion program. Annan urges Iran to exercise “restraint” with nuclear program. Publius commentator urges pre-emptive strike on Iran. There’s never anything wrong with linking to the latest Mark Steyn. And surely by now there’s no one…
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 pardoned high-profile reformists who were jailed simply for their dissent. JEDDAH, 9 August 2005 ???????? In a day of dramatic developments and in a show of magnanimity, King Abdullah just seven days into his reign, pardoned three jailed high-profile reformists and a group of Libyans…
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 one sure-fire nationalistic sweep.” Indeed, now pro-government and opposition groups are clashing in the streets over the allegations. (AFP) – Some 300 pro- and anti-government demonstrators in Azerbaijan showered each other with stones and bottles Monday in a clash over an opposition leader’s alleged contacts…
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, the national radio said. The 11-point document, approved by the coup leaders’ Military Council for Democracy and Justice, stipulates that the council should honor all the country’s international commitments, abide by human rights laws and rules of international organizations, particularly those of the African Union…
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 estimated at 20%. That’s an 80% abstention rate. What a sad sorry affair this is. About 3350 municipal positions are at stake. Jimmy Carter must be so proud of his job instilling confidence in the system last August, which by his own words, was the…