· August, 2010

Stories about Governance from August, 2010

Venezuela: Franklin Brito Dies After Several Hunger Strikes

  31 August 2010

Franklin Brito, a farmer who had been on a hunger strike since July 2009, died from a respiratory arrest in a military hospital on Monday night. Brito had lived through several hunger strikes protesting the confiscation of his land. Venezuelans reacted to the announcement of his death through Twitter and blogs.

Peru: Site Uses Crowdsourcing to Report Thefts

  31 August 2010

Juan Arellano writes [es] about quenoteroben.pe [es], a site that allows users to report thefts in Lima using Google Maps technology. The post includes two video interviews with the site managers, Gabriela Quevedo and Rudy Jordán.

“I love Malaysia”

  31 August 2010

SK Thew ponders on the problems facing Malaysian society and concludes that there is still hope to reform the system. Malaysia is celebrating its 53rd Independence Day.

Russia: Bloggers Outraged by Putin's Interview

RuNet Echo  30 August 2010

Recent interview [RUS] of Vladimir Putin to Kommersant newspaper outraged many bloggers. They accuse Putin of a lie [RUS], ignorance [RUS], deliberate substitution [RUS] of the terms “police state” and a “state governed by a rule of law.” Other bloggers condemn [RUS] his attitude towards protesters: “You went out [on...

West Africa: Drug Traffickers and Politico-Military Dictators

  30 August 2010

The UN assistant representative in Africa against drug trafficking Cyriaque Sobtafo recently stated that west Africa is now the hub for cocaine trafficking. Many countries are affected and the sudden death of the son of Dadis Camara generated many speculations about the possible involvement of drug dealers in the event.

Guinea-Bissau: An Armored Mercedes Benz

  29 August 2010

António Aly Silva on Ditadura de Consenso [pt] tells of the battles between the widow of assassinated head of state Nino Vieira and the President over an armored Mercedes Benz, given by Muammar al-Gaddafi. He then mentions other security measures taken by politicians – saying “but here, in this country,...

Afghanistan: The Helmand Food Zone Fiasco

  29 August 2010

Joel Hafvenstein writes about the British “Food Zone” program, which was considered to be a better effort comparing to other counternarcotics activties in Afghanistan. But “when examined closely, there’s no reason to think the Food Zone program was effective’, he says.

Russia: Mari Paganism and Charges of “Extremism”

  28 August 2010

OpenDemocracy.net reports: “In their remote forest republic 400 miles east of the Moscow, the pagan Mari people are once again being harassed by the authorities. […] Ethnically kin to the Finns and Hungarians, their profoundly ecological religious worldview challenges Russian-led designs on their republic’s natural resources.”

Russia: “Jailbird Moms”

RuNet Echo  28 August 2010

A Good Treaty writes about two Russian “jailbird moms” – Anna Shavenkova and Yulia Kruglova: “Two court cases in recent weeks have given Russia’s bruised citizenry a few additional reminders that the world is a cruel, extremely stupid place to live. Both these cases involve mothers of young children, but...

Russia: Khimki Forest and Bono's “Intervention”

RuNet Echo  28 August 2010

Natalia Antonova comments on Bono's role in the resolution of the Khimki forest situation during his visit to Moscow earlier this week: “There was an “intervention” on behalf of Bono in regards to the destruction of the Khimki forest? Where is the evidence of this intervention?”