Foreign Digest: China, Iran, Russia, Sudan, Italy and Austria

China

            There have continued to be mass protests in Hong Kong, the special administrative territory of Communist China, against violations of the city-state’s autonomy and freedom, despite Peking’s promise to guarantee them when Hong Kong reverted from British rule in 1997.  The demonstrators have been successful in blocking a proposed extradition law that would have allowed extradition to mainland China, which could have been used against dissidents, but are standing for other demands for liberty.

Iran

There were more protests in Iran, despite the bloodiest crackdown by the Islamist theocratic tyranny since the Islamic revolution of 1979.

Russia

            The opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s organization was raided and he was detained by the tyrannical Russian Federation regime of Vladimir Putin, in advance of its planned expose of corruption.  Navalny has been arrested many teams as Putin does not tolerate the freedom to assemble peacefully.  Critics, journalists and opposition leaders are routinely prosecuted, driven into exile or murdered.

Sudan

            Freedom of religion for Christians has been returning to Sudan under the transitional military-civilian government, which includes a Christian, that replaced the longtime Islamist tyrant.  They were able to celebrate Christmas openly for the first time in decades.

Italy

            Italy approved its budget that avoided a sales tax increase.  The budget does not raise other taxes, but relies on cracking down on tax cheating.

Austria

           Three months after the parliamentary elections, Austria will have a new government, as the ruling center-right party that won the most seats in Parliament has formed a coalition with the Greens.  The center-right had been governing in a coalition with the far-right, but the latter party’s leader was forced to resign after being caught in a video soliciting Russian campaign contributions; his party then withdrew from the Government, necessitating new elections.

Merry Christmas

           I wish you all a Merry Christmas!  May you be filled this Feast of the Nativity of Jesus with Light, Hope and Peace.

Foreign Digest: Turkey, Algeria, Germany, Bolivia, India, Belarus and Afghanistan

Turkey          

            There were hundreds of more arrests in Turkey that were blamed by the Islamist dictatorship on the failed 2016 military coup.  Tens of thousands of Turks have been arrested and many others fired as the regime uses the coup as an excuse to increase its authoritarianism to maintain its hold on power.

Algeria

            The incoming President of Algeria has pledged to implement a presidential term limit of two terms.  He was recently elected despite a boycott by the democratic opposition that had forced the resignation earlier this year of the longtime President who had become authoritarian.         

Germany

            The German Parliament approved a resolution to ban activities by Hezbollah, the Iranian-sponsored Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization and calling upon the European Union to list it as a terrorist organization.

Bolivia

            An arrest warrant has been issued for the former Chavist President of Bolivia by the new interim government for sedition and terrorism.  The increasingly authoritarian President had fled Bolivia after his government made dubious claims that he had been reelected to a fourth term, despite a constitutional term limit of two terms.

India

            There have been protests against the Hindu nationalist Indian Government’s new law that provides for asylum for non-Muslims fleeing persecution from Muslim areas through citizenship registration by creed.

Belarus

            There were protests against encroachment on the independence of the former Soviet Republic of Belarus from the Russian Federation, as Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin tries to force a union of Russian and Belarus.  The Belorussian dictator usually does not tolerate the freedom of assembly, but allowed the protests as a signal to Russia, with which Belarus has close ties, that it is leveraging its independence for energy concessions, which Russia declines to grant in order to force a union.

Afghanistan

           Presidential elections were conducted in Afghanistan today.  The incumbent President won a majority.  Afghanistan continues to fight an insurgency by the Taliban, who were overthrown in 2002 by an American-led coalition because they had harbored the al-Qaeda Islamist terrorists who had been responsible for the September 11 Terrorist Attacks.  The United States continues to lead an international coalition assisting Afghanistan in defeating the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

European Union Digest: Italy, Greece, Russia and the United Kingdom

Italy and Greece

            The United Nations Secretary General praised Italy last week for its migrant rescues that have saved tens of thousands of lives, but said that the Italy and Greece have not been financially supported adequately for their efforts by the European Union.

Russia

            The European Parliament blamed the 1939 Nazi-Soviet pact for contributing to the Second World War in a resolution last week.  Because of the pact, the Soviets conquered the Baltic States and, after the German invasion of Poland from the West, the Soviet Union invaded Russia from the East.  Russian Federation tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer, who reacted angrily to the resolution, has been trying to minimize the role of the Nazi-Soviet pact.  He regards the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 to have been a disaster and has been attempting to rehabilitate the Soviet image and to reconstitute the Soviet empire.

           Meanwhile, the United States has imposed economic sanctions on the Europeans because of their acceptance of natural gas through a new Russian pipeline.  Russia uses its supply of energy as political leverage.  Russia’s resources benefit its oligarchs, not its people.

United Kingdom

           The withdrawal bill for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union was approved preliminarily by the House of Commons last week.  It must also be approved by the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Parliament.  The deal commits the UK to leave the EU by the end of January and to conclude a free trade deal by the end of 2020, without any delays, meaning that the lack of a deal could leave the British without any trade relations with the EU.  The deal follows the elections that gave a majority to the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was elected on a mandate to complete the withdrawal approved by voters in June of 2016 to leave the EU.

Conservatives Won the British Parliamentary Elections; the UK is to Leave the EU

           The Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, won a majority in the British parliamentary elections Thursday.  Their election was a mandate for the deal he negotiated for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union to regain its sovereignty by early next year, which would fulfill the referendum of June 2016 to leave, as opposed to departing in a disorderly manner without a deal.  

           A deal for the UK to leave the UK had failed to pass Parliament while the coalition Government the Conservatives led with the unionists of Northern Ireland had lost its majority.  Johnson and the Tories will now be able to govern without a coalition.  The unionists had been an obstacle to a deal particularly over the Irish border.    

The main center-left opposition party, led by a far-left leader, took heavy losses, while the liberal Scottish separatist party made gains and is expected to demand another referendum on independence, as Scotland is pro-EU.  The United Kingdom Independence Party, which was formed to advocate leaving the EU, won no seats in Parliament, as its issue was advocated by the Conservatives.

After leaving the EU, the UK would be able to establish bilateral trade relations with non-EU members. Leaving the EU would open the door for a trade agreement between the UK and the United States, its ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Foreign Digest: Algeria, Sudan and Protests around the World

Algeria

            Algeria conducted presidential elections last week, the first after the resignation of the longtime President earlier this year.  Although there were no reports of significant irregularities, the opposition had boycotted the election between candidates close to the previous regime.

Sudan

            The longtime Islamist tyrant of Sudan who was overthrown earlier this year has been sentenced to prison for corruption and money laundering.  A military/civilian transitional government will lead Sudan to elections within three years.

Protesters

            The “Person of the Year” Time magazine chose as the one who affected the news the most in 2019 was a Swedish environmental advocate, who, other than raising awareness, has admitted not to having accomplished anything substantial.  Around the world this year, however, peaceful protesters, often in mass demonstrations, have been able not only to raise awareness about corruption or authoritarianism, but to effect major changes, of which I have posted about many.  

As mentioned above, protesters in Algeria succeeded in preventing the longtime president from seeking another term and in resigning, and in Sudan in overthrowing the Islamist tyrant.  The authoritarian Chavist President of Bolivia was forced from power by protests after claiming to have won a fourth term, despite a two-term constitutional limit.  The Prime Minister of Lebanon resigned after mass demonstrations.  The President of Chile made concessions in the face of protests, as did the Peking-backed territorial government of Hong Kong, which withdrew a proposed extradition law.  Peaceful protesters in Venezuela, Russia and Iran, among other States around the globe, gave witness to repression. 

May such popular efforts be fruitful in advancing liberty in the years to come.

Foreign Digest Updates: Iran, Venezuela, China and Ethiopia

Iran

The protests in Iran were more deadly than originally known, with at least hundreds killed by the Islamic Republic.  There were thousands of arrests of peaceful protesters.

Venezuela

            Two democratic opposition members of Venezuela’s assembly who were among those who had taken refuge in the Italian embassy from the Socialist tyranny have gone into exile in Italy.  The leader of the assembly, Juan Guaido, invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself interim president after the Socialist tyrant had supplanted the opposition-led assembly.

China

            There have been continued mass protests in Hong Kong, the territory of China against the Communist government’s violations of the city-state’s autonomy and liberty it had promised.  The protests have been met with violence and arrest by the Peking-dominated territorial government.  Hong Kong’s territorial government had withdrawn its proposed extradition law that could have been used against dissidents to extradite them to mainland China.  Pro-democracy candidates had won the elections last month for the territorial assembly. 

Ethiopia

           The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his successful negotiation of the end of the war between his State and Eritrea last year.  The border dispute had lasted twenty years and claimed tens of thousands of lives.  The Premier has somewhat liberalized Ethiopia.