Stories about Politics from August, 2006
Cuba: Between the lines
The Cuban news daily Granma reports that a Syrian ministerial delegation has been received in Cuba by Raul Castro — and Luis M. Garcia (and, presumably, other watchers of the Castro regime) try to figure out what it means: “We are a sad, pathetic bunch, I know … A bit...
Malaysia: National Day Wish
Malaysian politician Lim Kit Siang talks about pressing issues that Malaysia is facing this National Day(31 August).
Serbia: Unemployment and Low Salaries
While Serbian citizens are preoccupied with bare survival, the country's media and politicians focus on the need to extradite individuals wanted by the Hague tribunal. A few days ago, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica announced he would not put up with people like Mladic, who is accused of committing atrocities...
Mexico: Electoral Tribunal Rejects Acusations of Fraud
Erwin Cifuentes, Ricardo Carreón, Ceci Connolly, and Eduardo Arcos (ES) on the electoral tribunal's rejection of complaints made by presidential runner-up Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Kazakhstan: US Relations
Sean Roberts details the tensions and issues in US-Kazakhstan relations.
Georgia: Gangster's Paradise
Carpetblogger reports on Batumi, the capital of the Georgian region of Ajaria, saying that autonomy was far from kind to the city.
Guyana: Election watch
On Monday 28 August, an estimated 300,000 Guyanese turned out to vote in elections for the unicameral National Assembly. Elections in Guyana have historically been fraught with public anxiety and violence. The two leading parties, the People's Progressive Party (PPP/Civic) and the People's National Congress (PNC/Reform) have traditionally drawn their...
Albania: Greater, or Natural, Albania
Our Man in Tirana writes about ‘Greater Albania’ or, as it was called in a recent interview by the political adviser to the Albanian Prime Minister, the ‘Natural Albania': “Citing the example of Montenegro which chose to split from Serbia, Danaj suggested that Albanians in Macedonia and Montenegro should also...
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Karadzic Sightings
Balkan Ghost of Finding Karadzic visits Trebinje and Lastva in the Republika Srpska to investigate Radovan Karadzic sightings there: “While in the west we treat Karadzic sightings with alarm, they are commonplace around Trebinje. And even if the locals wanted to talk about it, the western press and local EUFOR...
Russian-Language Blogs: Miscellanea (3)
Israeli blogger pilka writes (RUS) about a surreal experience of eating next to three clowns at a hospital in the wartime Haifa: […] I had breakfast with clowns today. I work at the children's department, okay? So strange, a clown on the right, a clown on the left, a vegetable...
Cuba: Sex tourism
Luis M. Garcia reports briefly on the Cuban government's irate response to “a Spanish academic who says as many as 200,000 Spaniards travel to Cuba every year to engage in what he politely termed turismo sexual.“
Cuba, Bahamas, USA: Moral authority
Rick Lowe takes issue with the Cuban ambassador to the Bahamas's declaration that the US lacks the moral authority to criticise Cuba.
Bahamas: Not so far from the Middle East
Nicolette Bethel's analysis of an African-American commentator's views on white guilt and anti-Semitism prompts her to think about Israel's position in the Middle East: “We Bahamians should take heed. After all, there is not a huge difference between the plight of the Palestinian Arab or the young men who identify...
Barbados: Political dads
Barbados's opposition leader gets the chance to take a enviable swipe at the Prime Minister, who's apparently been cagey about the five year-old daughter he has with the woman he recently married. “Maybe it’s a low blow,” says Titlayo, “but you can’t say it isn’t a solid punch.”
Kenya: Praise piles up for Obama visit
Whispering Inn joined other Kenyan bloggers welcoming the visit of Barack Obama, the USA's only black senator, to the country. “[Obama has been] chewing out president Kibaki for State-sanctioned corruption, encouraging folks to fight AIDS by getting tested, advocating media freedom at the Standard Newspapers, touring Kibera, and giving a...
Zimbabwe: Mugabe's security expenses slammed
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been on a spending spree, bulking out his motorcade with brand new outrider motorcycles and Mercedes saloons. “Now, in a country where there is no war, no threat to his life as he has such a tight control over everything, is it necessary to travel...
Malaysia: Mahatir's Lament
Ktemoc covers the latest attempt by former Malaysian prime minister Mahatir to claim back the centrestage in Malaysian politics. Mahatir was one of the longest serving leaders in the world. He retired from active politics after handing over the power to Ahmad Badawi [AAB] couple of years back. Recently, Mahatir...
Afghanistan: President & Compromises
Dialogue 3 says Hamid Karzai, Afghan President has done a lot of compromises with warlords and has lost his credibility among Afghans. According to the blogger poverty, corruption, and insecurity are dominating Afghan society and Afghan President is unable to solve them.
Venezuela: Chavez's Next Term
Assuming that Hugo Chavez is victorious in December's presidential election, Oil Wars takes a look at what may lie ahead for Venezuela.
Mexico: Recount Results and Analysis
Eduardo Arcos has the freshly released numbers by the Electoral Tribunal following a partial recount of the July 2 vote. Despite a greater quantity of annulled votes, Mark in Mexico writes that “the 7 magistrates who have the final say in the July 2 presidential election, will, according to this...
Chile: Political and personal
Liz Henry returns to El Diario de Carolonline to find a developed cocktail of personal and political by the socialist, Chilean blogger.
