Foreign Digest: Hungary, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Thailand

Hungary

            The far-right illiberal Hungarian Government recently forced the Central European University, a U.S. registered and accredited school, to leave Hungary.  It also blocked a meeting between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, of which it is a member, and Ukraine, despite the recent Russian naval attack on the latter, and refused to extradite two suspected Russian arms dealers to the U.S., handing them over to Russia instead.  Hungary continues to become increasingly authoritarian, as administrative disputes were removed last week from the jurisdiction of the judiciary and placed with the executive branch.  There have been protests in favor of liberty and the rule of law.

Bolivia

            There were recent protests against the President of Bolivia for violating the constitutional term limits because the national election commission is permitting him to stand for reelection, despite the rejection in 2016 of a referendum to amend the constitution to eliminate term limits.  The Catholic Church has led the objections to electing a president for life, in the model of Venezuela’s late Socialist tyrant Hugh Chavez.

Nicaragua

            The Marxist Sandinista regime continues to become increasingly authoritarian.  Last week, it barred the operation of non-governmental organizations that were critical of the government and raided and occupied the offices of the opposition center-right media.  Meanwhile, the United States Congress unanimously passed a bill to impose economic sanctions on Sandinista regime officials who commit human rights violations.

Thailand

           Thailand’s ruling military junta has announced new elections in February of 2019 for the first time in four years after seizing power after a democratic impasse.