Turkey ‘at the heart of the storm’
Reporters Without Borders placed Turkey – where more than 30 journalists are currently under arrest – 151st on a list of 180 countries in its new World Press Freedom Index,… Read more »
Category: freedom of assembly
No sign of reform, transparency in Castros’ Cuba
Critics of President Obama’s diplomatic outreach to Cuba are claiming vindication this week as the island nation’s Communist Party hard-liners — cheered on by an 89-year-old Fidel Castro — moved… Read more »
Egypt’s hollowed-out civil society
Authoritarian regimes are, in general, averse to a strong civil society. Egypt is no exception, notes Gamal Eid (left), an Egyptian lawyer and the director of the Arabic Network for… Read more »
Cuba minister calls Obama trip ‘an attack’ as Communists defend ideology
U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Communist-led Cuba was an “attack” on its history and culture aimed at misleading a new business class, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Monday,… Read more »
Chavista courts eroding Venezuela’s democracy
Venezuela’s courts — packed by leftist loyalists of Nicolás Maduro only days before they handed over power — have fiercely chipped away at the new legislature’s efforts, leaving some here wondering… Read more »
Venezuela’s failed state: is there light at the end of the tunnel?
“Widespread Blackouts Loom As Venezuela’s Dams Run out of Water” was the ominous headline from the PanAm Post on March 16. And even though the government blames El Niño, engineers apparently have… Read more »
Egypt’s civil society crackdown: rights defenders at risk of prosecution
Fourteen global human rights groups today urged Egypt to halt a renewed crackdown on civil society and rights defenders. The demand came as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced a cabinet… Read more »
Cubama: a ‘new day’ or a ‘slap in the face’ for U.S.-Cuba relations
Change is coming to Cuba, President Barack Obama told his Cuban counterpart today, after Raul Castro called on the U.S. to lift longstanding trade and other restrictions as part of… Read more »
Cubama: what President Obama should say about Cuba
Cuba has released four dissidents and put them on a plane to the U.S. just days before President Barack Obama’s historic trip to the island as part of the rapprochement with President… Read more »
Growing labor unrest worries China’s leaders
Labor unrest is on the rise in China, driven by its economic slowdown and rising expectations for wages and labor rights, and exacerbated by problems in both local governance… Read more »