Foreign Digest: Slovakia, Peru, Bolivia, Iraq, Belarus and Georgia

Slovakia: The European Union’s main center-left parliamentary group, the Party of European Socialists, expelled the ruling left-wing party of Slovakia for violating its principles. The populist Prime Minister of Slovakia is pro-Russian and undermines the rule of law. Slovakia is an ally of the United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but is a weak link in the chain of defense against Russian aggression. Peru: The center-left President of Peru was impeached and removed from office for “moral incapacity” for corruption, in votes by the national assembly from across the political spectrum earlier this month. After a series of corruption allegations and a violent response against protestors, she had lost support from her own party. The Peruvian President had taken office after the impeachment of her predecessor for corruption. The President of Congress has acceded to the presidency—the seventh person to hold the office since a center-right President’s term ended in 2018. Bolivia: The presidential run-off between two conservatives was held in Bolivia last week. A conservative was elected, after 20 years of Socialist election wins. The Socialists had led, except for a brief interruption after the increasingly authoritarian President fled the capital after a popular uprising when he sought a fourth term, despite a two-term limit. The Senator who was elected, was referred to by the liberal professional media as a “centrist,” but he is center-right and pro-free market. The election result in Bolivia is a major blow to the left-wing revolution fomented across Latin America by the late Socialist dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who was elected in 2004 and became increasingly authoritarian. Iraq: As per an agreement with the Iraqi Government, the United States is keeping a presence of several hundred advisors in parts of Iraq beyond northern Iraq, to continue to coordinate with Iraq versus Islamist terrorists in Syria, such as al-Qaeda and its offshoot, the Islamic State. Belarus and Georgia: Two imprisoned journalists, one Belarusian and the other Georgian, won the Andrei Sakharov prize, the European Parliament’s human rights prize. Andrej Poczobut of Belarus, was arrested in 2021 and convicted for covering protests against the authoritarian regime of the pro-Russian Belarusian dictator and the dictatorship’s violent response, and has been held under inhuman conditions. Mzia Amaglobeli of Georgia, was arrested early this year and convicted for her reaction against state violence in a protest against the increasingly authoritarian pro-Russian Georgian Government. Both arrests have been condemned by media outlets, human rights organizations and the opposition.