Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Miami/Minsk ... Minsk/Miami ... Hmmm...
NYTimes: Relishing Victory at Polls, Belarus Leader Denounces Critics0 comments
President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko reveled Monday in the results of a constitutional referendum that would allow him to remain in power indefinitely after an election that international observers criticized as deeply flawed and undemocratic.
Mr. Lukashenko, who has steadily consolidated power and crushed dissent in Belarus since he was first elected in 1994, dismissed criticism of the referendum, which lifted the constitutional limit of two five-year presidential terms.
He denounced his opponents and election observers as agents of the West, underscoring the country's deepening isolation from Europe and the United States.
The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, which dispatched 270 observers for the election, released a report on Monday that cited harassment of opposition candidates during the campaign and numerous irregularities on election day.
But this is my favorite part:
"What is said and written is 95 percent lies," Mr. Lukashenko said at a news conference broadcast repeatedly on state television and cited by news agencies. "There is no dictatorship here and no violation of human rights."
Spoken like a true dictator.
And you'll notice that our Supreme Pro-Democracy Leader, George W. Bush, the Divine 43, has said absolutely NOTHING about what is going on in Belarus. Nor in Russia, as it veers perilously towards dictatorship as well.
Could it be that he wants to be a dictator himself one day?
"FreedomTotalitarianism is on the march!" —George W. Bush
And this, from the Don't-Look-for-Help-from-the-Republicans-Department:
U.S. Internet Specialist Is Arrested
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - An American citizen specializing in the Internet was arrested by the Belarus K.G.B. and accused of mishandling funds, Belarus authorities said Monday.
The man, Ilya Mafter, a long-term employee of the Open Society Institute, founded by the financier George Soros, was also a consultant in Belarus for the United Nations Development Program, the agency said.
Mr. Mafter has worked for more than a decade for the Open Society Institute to help build infrastructure in Belarus, Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia, a spokeswoman for the organization, Laura Silber, said in New York.
One of Karl Rove's guys got one of George Soros's guys. That must make him so-o-o-o-o happy.
posted by Gotham 2:11 PM
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