2 August 2006

Stories from 2 August 2006

Indonesia: Middle Income Country Status

  2 August 2006

Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) says that Indonesia is now a middle-income county. Blogger Indcoup says “But while BPS’s statement may boost the egos of some high-ranking govt officials like Yusuf Kalla who recently said Indonesia had already “come out of the 1998 economic crisis”, there may be a...

Cuba: Fidel in High Spirits

  2 August 2006

Writing from Venezuela, Daniel Duquenal pokes fun at Fidel Castro's opening sentence of a message to the Cuban population (available in its entirety (ES) at Juventud Rebelde) assuring his good health and high spirits after undergoing surgery. Agnerys Rodríguez Gavilán adds (ES) that, while Castro recuperates, “the Cuban Revolution will...

Bangladesh: Political allies

  2 August 2006

In politics bizarre things happen as ‘today’s enemy can be tomorrow’s friends.’ In Bangladesh, Prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia's party BNP agrees to form a coalition with the ex-dictator HM Ershad, a man accused of playing a role in the assassination of her husband, President Ziaur Rahman in 1980. Her party fought with others succeeding in bringing down the Ershad government in 1990 to establish true democracy in Bangladesh. imperfect | world | 2006 criticizes BNP's move and the oppositions' reactions.