Stories about Politics from June, 2006
Aruba: Rumblings about indepdence
“Unless there is a drastic, drastic change in Aruba's economy and politics, we are simply not ready to go about it our own,” writes ArubaGirl, in a post prompted by a Bermudian blogger's musings on the subject of independence.
Russia: Article on Chechnya
Sean Guillory discusses (and recommends) an article by Anne Neistat, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, on her recent trip to Chechnya's capital Grozny.
Poland: Communism Vs Capitalism
An angry comment forces the beatroot to continue an endless debate on whether life was better during communism.
Belarus: Chavez to Visit Minsk in July
Hugo Chavez plans to visit Belarus at the end of July, reports TOL's Belarus Blog: “Finally, the two outspoken haters of U.S. will meet. I am sure they have a lot of things to discuss, and I assume some spicy joint anti-Washington statements will be made during the visit.”
Nepal: Politics and Alliances
Nepali Netbook comments on the changing face of alignments and alliances post the upheaval in April. “A passionate realignment of politics seems to be underway. To be sure, the precise motives and possible outcomes remain obscure. Yet this much is clear: In the run-up to the constituent assembly elections, Nepalese...
Armenia: Interesting Politics
Onnik Krikorian reports on interesting political developments in Armenia as the 2007 parliamentary election approaches.
Arabisc: Arabic Bloggers Ken, War and Women Rights
Summer holidays, women rights, war in Iraq and war in Palestine. These are some of the permanent scene in the Arabic language blogsphere these days. Here is some of what few bloggers said: The daily life of a normal Iraqi is not what one can wish to go through. Tara...
Indonesia: Jakarta's Next Governor?
Martin Manurang is hoping that an exceptional candidate wins the election for Jakarta's next governor and helps bring in positive change.
Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome
Its been a fascinating week – with so much to read I don't know where to begin. So here is my best effort. Read how the a mainstream media company created a blog that actually matters, how one Iraqi blogger wants to make peace with Israel, how bloggers rate the...
Latin America: Comparison of Presidential Salaries
Peruvian blogger Eland Vera has an interesting list of the salaries of various Latin American presidents.
Venezuela: Translations
Francisco of Caracas Chronicles has translated excerpts of a piece by Juan Carlos Zapata, which argues that a new power dynamic is evolving in Venezuela. Another translation comes from Guillermo Parra, who offers the english version of Antonio López Ortega's reflection on Arturo Uslar Pietri and the concept of “mestizaje”...
A conversation about US foreign policy
Trinidad-based Jeremy Taylor and his American friend “Roger” continue their cordial but rigorous e-mail exchanges about the state of US foreign policy.
Iran: Rationing Gasoline
Yek Livan Chaye Dagh criticised government's decision to halt gasoline imports from September 23 and start rationing gasoline supplies to motorists because of budget constraints. The blogger says government wants to reduce about 42 percent gasoline offer in Iranian market. According to the blogger this means more people will need...
Voices from Central Asia and the Caucasus
Standing at the edge of the abyss close to Kyrgyzstan's Pik Lenin, let's not waste any time to present you the highlights from two weeks of online conversation from Central Asia and the Caucasus. Armenia: Onnik Krikorian posts another one of his indispensable roundups from the Armenian blogosphere on his...
Venezuela: “A bad day for Venezuelan democracy”
Both Miguel Octavio and Daniel Duquenal are disheartened by opposition electoral NGO, Sumate's decision to forego primary elections. Duquenal says that “the electoral trickery of chavismo is so blatant that it seems impossible to have a free and fair election in December,” however, Oil Wars disagrees, describing the opposition as...
Mexico: More on the electoral use of welfare
Michelle Dion says that “the use of social welfare for political gain is nothing new” in Mexico, an observation supported by two recent studies that suggest the Oportunidades program has been politically manipulated by local governments.
Taiwan: Chen corruption scandal
“Is President Chen [Shui-bian] implicated in any of the scandals that have surrounded him lately?” asks Politics From Taiwan blogger David. “Who knows. However, it's encouraging to see that there are real investigations going on into these cases…”
North Korea: Test-fire fears
As fears increase that North Korea will go ahead with plans to test fire a long-range ballistic, North Korea Zone blogger Barry Briggs looks at the situation in ‘Why Haven't They Launched?,’ in which he writes: “if China can prevent the launch, the US will refrain from direct action; which...
Japan: PM goes to Graceland
Perhaps having realized his trips to the Yasukuni war shrine were losing him votes, as seen on Mutantfrog, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is making a trip to a different, more widely-accepted shrine.
Romania: Plans To Withdraw From Iraq
Doug Muir of A Fistful of Euros writes that the Romanian PM plans to withdraw the Romanian battalion – 900 soldiers, the 5th largest coalition member – from Iraq.
Poland: Troops to be Relocated from Iraq to Afghanistan
The beatroot writes that 500 Polish troops are being transfered from Iraq to Afghanistan: “This will be a much more dangerous mission than the one the Poles got involved in, in the quiet area of central Iraq near Babylon after the invasion to oust Saddam.”