Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

Chávez in perpetuity

Monday, February 16th, 2009

He’s won today, and has laid down the road to his own perpetuity in power. And in response, Bolívar turns in his grave:

“Las repetidas elecciones son esenciales en los sistemas populares, porque nada es tan peligroso como dejar permanecer largo tiempo en un mismo ciudadano el poder. El pueblo se acostumbra a obedecerle y él se acostumbra a mandarlo; de donde se origina la usurpación y la tiranía. Un justo celo es la garantía de la libertad republicana, y nuestros ciudadanos deben temer con sobrada justicia que el mismo magistrado, que los ha mandado mucho tiempo, los mande perpetuamente.”

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Tags: democracy, hugo chavez, no, perpetuity, politics, si, simon bolivar, socialism, venezuela

Underwater Fiber-optics Cable between Cuba and Venezuela

Monday, February 9th, 2009

Yeah, this one’s old news, but felt like posting it anyway, especially seeing as it’s set to go into operation next year:

“Como elemento integrador [entre Venezuela y Cuba] el cable submarino puede proporcionar comunicaciones seguras y con mayores prestaciones que las proporcionadas por los enlaces satelitales [comerciales de uso actual] en combinación con las redes terrestrales.”

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Tags: democracy, espionage, hugo chavez, internet, politics, socialism, surveillance, venezuela

Free speech, the state and the individual

Monday, August 4th, 2008

Last night a good friend forwarded an article from Maclean’s, a Canadian weekly. The themes discussed in the article center around the issue of free speech in the international community, and particularly at the UN. Specifically, there has been an effort over the past decade to introduce international standards defining the limits of free speech.

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Tags: free speech, individual, religion, state, UN