The Autocracy Virus

[Michie]

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER: Autocratic tendencies run deep in Latin American politics. But the same kinds of power grabs seem to be spreading like a virus to all corners of the globe, including here in the United States.

A woman holds an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe with the words Free Venezuela during a vigil called by the opposition demanding freedom for political prisoners arrested during protest following the contested re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, August 8, 2024. (photo: Yuri Cortez / Getty )

It is often said that we get the leaders we deserve, but no one deserves Nicolás Maduro, least of all the hard-pressed people of Venezuela.

Since his narrow election as president 11 years ago, nearly 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country in response to crippling hyperinflation, soaring crime, dire shortages of food and medicine and a steady erosion of democracy and basic human rights.

Humanitarian experts now fear another mass exodus triggered by the July 28 presidential election, which Maduro claims to have won despite overwhelming evidence that he lost in a landslide.

In an Aug. 22 interview with EWTN Noticias, Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, decried the tragedy of government-induced “forced migrations” like the one that’s now underway in Venezuela.

Continued below.

The Autocracy Virus

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER: Autocratic tendencies run deep in Latin American politics. But the same kinds of power grabs seem to be spreading like a virus to all corners of the globe, including here in the United States.

www.ncregister.com

 

[Wolseley]

In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has also cracked down on NGOs he doesn’t like, is pushing sweeping constitutional reforms targeting the country’s judicial system.

His plan to replace Mexico’s current judicial appointment process with popular elections for all judgeships at the federal and state level might sound democratic — except for the fact that López Obrador’s Morena party will effectively decide who the candidates are.

Sound familiar?

Who decides what candidates will be placed on ballots in the erstwhile USA?
HINT: it darn sure isn't the People. It's a couple of political parties, who write, control, and manipulate the election laws.