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Regionalism and Dissent Mark the Start of Run-off in Brazil

Jose Murilo · 23:53 · Brazil

More than 125 million Brazilians went to the polls Sunday to vote for president and to select governors for all 26 states and the Federal District, as well as all 513 Federal Deputies of the lower house and 27 of Brazil's 81 Senate seats. By the end of the day, in a breathtaking counting process that held the nation in suspense waiting for the results, President Luiz Inacio ‘Lula' da Silva missed a first round victory falling 1.4 percentage points short of the 50 per cent he needed to avoid a runoff on October 29. The numbers are the main facts, but the bloggers diverse narratives and interpretations of the results are just the start of a debate that promises to get hot.

“Houve uma surra de Lula no Norte e Nordeste, e uma surra de Alckmin no Sul e Centro-Oeste, enquanto a região Sudeste está dividida”, afirmou. Isso aconteceu, segundo Amorim, porque as regiões Sul e Centro-Oeste, em que o agronegócio tem um peso importante, “estão em recessão”. As economias do Norte e do Nordeste cresceram acima da média nacional, impulsionadas pelos programa sociais do governo e pela redução no preço dos alimentos possibilitada pelo dólar baixo. Já o Sudeste vive uma situação mista, com atividades que estão sendo beneficiadas e outras que estão sendo prejudicadas pela atual política econômica.
Divisão de voto ‘refletiu economia regional' - Actualidade - OrangEye.com

“It was a strong victory for Lula in the North and Northeast, while the same happened to Alckmin in the South and Center-West, while the Southeastern region is divided “, concluded [political science analyst Octavio Amorim Neto]. This happened as a result of the downturn in agrobusiness, which is powerful in the South and Center-West. The North and Northeast economies grew above the national average stimulated by the government's social programs and by the reduction in food prices made possible by the lower value of the US dollar. The southeast presents a mixed situation, with activities that are benefitting and others that are being harmed by the current economic policy.
Divisão de voto ‘refletiu economia regional' - Actualidade - OrangEye.com

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Post Coup Developments in Thailand

Preetam Rai · 17:59 · East Asia

The latest in Thailand is the swearing in of the new prime minister, retired General Surayud Chulanond. General Sonthi's Council For National Security - CNS (formerly known as Council for Demorcratic Reform) is still active and will continue to advise the new prime minister

Agam's Gecko says

Gen. Sonthi vows that the CNS will not interfere in the operation of the new government — as long as things proceed smoothly — but will serve the PM in an advisory role in national security matters. However, the constitution retains the military council's power to sack the PM should things go haywire. It's the reason for not wishing to institute an all-powerful PM position, apparently, until the checking and balancing systems, and independent oversight bodies get repaired in the next permanent constitution. That will be a project for the next 6 months or so.

The blogger adds

It's a shame that this ultimate role will be retained, because it will surely be played up by the foreign media as a point to discredit the next government. But it probably doesn't matter much, because acceptance will only come after our next elections anyway. The Generals are showing that they prioritise national interests above foreign opinion, and I suspect most citizens would agree with that.

In a follow up post, the same blogger analyses the new constitution and counters some of the claims made by the media.
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What Salvadoran bloggers are saying — death squads and golf courses

Tim Muth · 16:11 · Americas

The brutal killing on September 25th of Salvadoran Catholic priest, Ricardo Antonio Romero, has prompted much comment in the Salvadoran blogosphere. Fr. Romero's body was found bludgeoned to death on a roadway 40 miles west of San Salvador. The slaying was added to the daily murder tally(es) at 100 Days in the Republic of Death.

The blogger Hunnapuh notes that there are two operative theories(es)
about the motives for the slaying of the priest. Either he was killed by gangs operating in the region, or he was killed by a death squad because of his work in solidarity with the poor in the region of his parish. Hunnapuh sounds a note of alarm, admonishing those who would dismiss the possibility that “escuadrones de la muerte”, backed by wealthy interests, have returned to El Salvador.

Tepezcuintly, who also blogs with Hunnapuh, has no doubt(es) about the return of death squads and who is backing them. Along with similar blogs, he heaps scorn and hatred on the ARENA government and President Tony Saca. His comments are mirrored on blogs like Chichicaste(es), El Trompudo(es), and Samuel's Blog(es), which are virulently anti-government and anti-American and make their points with satire and parody.
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Poland's Pulse in the Blogopshere

Jordan & Maria Seidel · 14:57 · Eastern & Central Europe

We’re looking through the Polish language blogs first, this time, as the political situation in the country generated a lot of heat in the blogosphere, as well as managed to get the world’s attention for a while.

Here's the low down… After the break up of the coalition, the ruling PiS scrambled for majority. While courting PSL - “the other farmers’ party” in the parliament – they openly appealed to former partner’s MPs to leave Samoobrona and back up the government. Andrzej Lepper was swift to punish the few opportunists – he pulled out promissory notes which he apparently had each party member sign upon joining, and promised to execute the “debts” as penalty. Populists’ leader also told the press that ruling party members were approaching his MPs with “corruption offers.” Two journalists of the private TVN channel decided to follow the story. They came in contact (sources differ on “how”) with Samoobrona’s Renata Beger – a controversial MP with a pending court case for election fraud - and got her cooperation in taping two important PiS politicians negotiating her defection.

The Beatroot offers an English transcript of the secretly taped meeting. Among the demands that they were prepared to meet were: securing Beger a high post in the Ministry of Agriculture and mandates in local elections for her family members. “Negotiators” also suggested that they could help Ms. Beger with her legal problems, and pay off her promissory note with a special fund created with parliment's money.

Bloggers differ in opinion which offer was more outrageous.

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Apocalypso Now: T&T bloggers on last Friday's earthquake

Georgia Popplewell · 12:01 · Americas

FEW THINGS say more about a nation's character than the way its citizens react to a natural disaster, potential or otherwise. Some would suggest that Trinidad and Tobago's bloggers aren't truly representative of the national community, but I'd like to make the case for the contrary, in the form of the following review of the responses of the country's online scribes to the earthquake that rocked the twin-island nation on Friday morning.

The original dispatch from the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Unit reported a “preliminary magnitude” of 5.5, though reports from other sources said it could have been as high as 6.2. All most bloggers knew, however, is that at 9:08am on Friday the place began shaking like crazy. . . . (more…)

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Voices from Zimbabwe

Zimpundit · 09:40 · Sub-Saharan Africa

Years after the first commercial farms were invaded by marauding war veterans and supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF, a new wave of farm invasions has hit the country merely weeks before planting for the upcoming agricultural season is supposed to begin. The Bearded Man has picked up on the story:

So what else is new in Zimbabwe - Mugabe continues to bully the population, the government continues to chase white commercial farmers off their land, while the Zimbabwean economy is in a permanent nosedive with the local currency not faring very well against all other currencies

The government has passed a new law extending them greater liberty regarding how much leverage they can put on commercial farmers who own land the government wants to annex. What is surprising about these new invasions is that the government has announced the end of farm invasions several times over the past year. In fact, there has even speculation that the government was offering land back to farmers who'd lost it during the redistribution excercise. So much for that.
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