SAN PEDRO SULA, HONDURAS — The shuttle arrived at 5 o????????clock in the morning. Waiting for half an hour outside in Boston????????s extended winter only made me ready to get on the plane faster. Destination: Honduras. The heavy jacket would have to be lost somewhere between Atlanta and the rain forest.

There were nine of us in the group, almost all of us from different regions of the world. I was one of three Americans. A Chilean, a Thai, an Englishman, a Lebanese, a Bolivian, and a guy from Dubai were the others. A veritable bonanza of cosmopolitanism. Only a couple of us spoke any Spanish.

The Englishman, Phillip, had invited us down for the week to stay at his family????????s property. Abject poverty and children with guns isn????????t exactly something I crave to see, but Honduras is one of those places that no one you know has ever been to or even cares to go to. It has a story that can only be fully told when you????????re there, with these words serving as a poor substitute at best.

We took Taca ???????take a chance??????? Airlines, a pretty well-known (and cheap!) Latam carrier. We flew from Boston to El Salvador where we had a layover for seven hours, and from there we went to mainland Honduras, stayed the night, and flew to the small island of Roatan the next morning. The snack was ???????Aerochips,??????? something that looks and feels like potato chips, but tastes a bit closer to styrofoam.

Arriving in San Salvador was nothing like landing at a ???????normal??????? Central American airport. In a word, it was impressive. There were tons of gates, at least a couple dozen duty-free stores, and enough bars to make a Mormon missionary choke. Everyone was doing business and lots of it. But it is to be expected: El Salvador has one of the strongest economies in Central America.

With seven hours to kill, we wanted to go ten minutes down the road to Costa del Sol and try some of the local food. It would certainly be cheap and good. But we were stopped by one of the biggest scorges on this earth. Excise taxes — a real economy killer.

It was about $30 to leave the airport, even for the afternoon, and frankly none of us wanted to pay that much just for lunch. I could tell that the customs agents were disappointed to see that we wouldn????????t be going out. We ended up eating at the resident Subway, spending money that could have easily gone to the local economy had there been no fee.

Then, with another six hours to go and nothing to do, we hit the bar. The details of which are somewhat blurry.

San Pedro Sula, Honduras, was something worlds apart from San Salvador. Looking around, it was almost distinctly Soviet in its appearance. Everything ???????? everything –was sand-colored. It was confining and swarming with security. Men in uniform carrying machine guns were an uncomfortable sight for everyone. I couldn????????t wait to get out of there.

A boy, deeply tanned with shaggy black hair who was no older than ten, helped us to a taxi; the driver was most likely his father. The kid even tried to load our bags. They were too heavy, of course, so we did it ourselves. You had to admire his determination and desire to please despite not making much in tips. Maybe a dollar, usually less. So when the time came to slap some money in his hand and pat him on the head, we gave him a five. Greenbacks are like gold there.

The cab took the long, empty highway from the airport to the city where our hotel was. Darkness veiled the slums no more than a mile to either side of us. Thousands of people, right there, were living in shacks with dirt floors and aluminum roofs. I couldn????????t make them out at the time; it would have to wait until tomorrow. Until then, it looked like a big bunch of nothing.

What I did get to see was the ridiculous paradox that is the distribution of wealth in Honduran society. It????????s all completely backwards.

Driving through an upper-class neighborhood to get to the hotel, I saw huge houses that mirrored fortresses. The walls surrounding them were fifteen feet high, topped with nails, broken glass, and oftentimes barbed wire. Cameras watched the gates. I remember that the walls in Chile????????s La Dehesa suburb were half that height, and certainly not topped with deadly objects. It goes to show not only a small difference between more and less developed countries, but the contrast between the mansions and the miles and miles of shantytowns.

When you actually see it, in full daylight, it smacks you right in the face.

The people living in those small fortresses seemed like they might be scared of something; perhaps their less wealthy neighbors down the road. Everyone knows that old money in Honduras wasn????????t made fair-and-square. Government corruption and political parties support mainly by the elite has been the prescription for 23 years of minimal democracy. There????????s a price to pay for such a big bank account, and many people feel that the rich have taken too much and given too little. The barbed wire must be for the occasional rogue Robinhood, I supposed???????

We arrived, checked into the hotel, and our stomachs collectively growled. It was past midnight and we hadn????????t eaten since San Salvador. The concierge helped us out and about fifteen minutes later a couple of cabs pulled up to take us somewhere to eat. Only, by this time, just about everything was closed.

???????You could always go to Applebee????????s ???????? that????????s open late,??????? the driver told us.

We just couldn????????t get away from the American restaurants. But apparently we could also find some food at a nightclub nearby, so we decided to go there.

???????Have you ever been to Applebee????????s???????? he asked.

???????Sure, plenty of times.???????

???????I went there once a couple months ago. It was really good. Very fancy.??????? He spoke as if it were one of the most memorable experiences of his life.

When in Central America, one rarely forgets that the things we take for granted in the United States are a rare commodity elsewhere.

The car suddenly jerked. What the hell?

He was driving in the middle of the road, dodging the odd car occasionally. I looked out the window. There weren’t any lines painted on the road.

We made it downtown before long, as we turned the corner and there was Applebee????????s. But before we got out, I had one last question for him.

???????Where are all the buildings????????

???????What???????? He looked at me funny.

???????This is el centro, right? Where are all the big buildings???????? I felt stupid a second later for asking.

I had noticed that, as we originally approached the city from the airport, I had seen no big buildings on the horizon. Now that I was here, the biggest one I could see was only a few stories high. Perhaps they too were obscured in the night. It made it almost impossible to distinguish the shantytowns from the suburbs from downtown until you were actually smack in the middle of it. They all just run together.

The nightclub, called Mantra, was right across the street. Police cars and paddywagons with their sirens blaring were parked nearby, and a convoy of covered trucks full of soldiers armed with semi-automatics passed on the street. At this point, everything momentarily looked deserted. They stared us down at they moved by. There was no trouble, but I died a little inside.

We arrived at the entrance, ready as ever to eat. But, again, there was a problem. We were underdressed. T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers didn????????t impress the bouncer and he was refusing to let us in. This was apparently one of the more exclusive, ritzier night clubs in Honduras; a place for young millionaires and the children of the country????????s wealthy elite to blow their allowances. There was no way we????????d get in.

But Phillip has a big mouth and wouldn????????t have that.

???????Do you see this shirt? Do you see this shirt???????? He pulled the front side of his collar toward the bouncer????????s face. We were going to get our asses kicked. Applebee????????s was looking really good now. ???????This shirt is Emporio Armani!???????

Are you serious? Did he just say that he????????s wearing a $400 t-shirt?

???????Buena, pasan.??????? He frisked us and let us inside. I still can????????t believe that it worked. He must not have known better.

The inside was fancier than most of the clubs I????????ve seen in the United States. Corners filled with low-lying tables and candles were spread throughout. In another room, young Honduran couples danced to the tune of the latest Latin hits. It blared even where we sat, and when the DJ played ???????Caraluna,??????? my Bolivian friend Pablo swooned a bit. For the fortunate, this was the life.

We had our food with plenty of drinks ???????? sweet Nicaraguan rum ???????? to go along with it. I left to talk to the bartender for awhile. Taxi drivers and bartenders are the only kind of people who know a lot and will actually tell you about it on the cheap.

???????I????????ll have a roncola.???????

He was fast, and Nicaragua????????s Flor de Ca????a rum is insanely addictive. I made sure to tip him very well, in dollars. Conversation costs money, you know, and dollars speak louder than lempiras.

???????So, what kinds of people come here????????

He could tell I was a foreigner. The way I was dressed, the color of my skin, hair, and eyes, my accent; it all shouted gringo.

???????Look in the mirror, buddy,??????? was all he gave me. Maybe I was wrong. I gave him the eyebrow. ???????People like you.???????

???????Gringos????????

???????No, no, rich people.???????

The two are often intertwined. A rich person can be anyone, but a gringo in Honduras is almost always in the money.

???????And girls looking for rich people,??????? he tilted his head, indicating to his left. A woman in her early twenties, wearing a short black dress, was chatting up an older man in a suit. It????????s a sight that repeats itself over and over. Pretty girls from the lower and middle classes go to these clubs hoping to meet a man who can provide for them beyond their wildest dreams. It????????s a fairy tale tragedy in the making.

I left the bar to go back to my friends. We went to the hotel not long later, as we had a flight to catch in a few hours. The entire meal and drinks had cost, in all, less than $100 for everyone. Pennies on the dollar compared to the United States. To us it was a good night at a great price. To someone else, it was an entire month????????s salary.

The next morning, the same cab driver picked us up. We took the highway to the airport, the sun exposing what the darkness had hidden just a few hours earlier. There they were, all those tens of thousands of people, waking up to a dirty floor, a metal roof, and a future with no direction. Yet they press forward anyway, despite all the troubles, doing what they can to survive and make a living for themselves. This is the story of Honduras.

*****

This piece sets the scene for a long series of pieces I will be writing on my trip to Honduras. It will cover everything from politics to drugs to tourism to the local way of life; not necessarily following a chronological order of events of my experience there as this piece did. You can expect up to two pieces a week for the next few weeks until there is no more material left.

Afterwards, I will be writing pieces on other places I will be traveling to this summer, including Catalunya, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and the Czech Republic, all focusing on big topics that are relevant and important to the readers here.

Writing these pieces takes a while and there are some expenses for doing so. I would like to provide quality material that you, the readers, find interesting and valuable, on par with other web journalists like Michael Totten and Bill Roggio.

This content as well as other content on Publius will always remain free and you are under no obligation whatsoever; but in order to make this a regular feature your contributions and donations to this effort would be extremely appreciated and will always be used toward completing further works. Please use the tipjar button below if you are so inclined. Thank you!

PS: Your feedback would be highly appreciated!

Lots of cars here in Cagliari. Lots of people in the streets and at the beach. The situation is the same in many Italian cities, where people is going out to celebrate a well-deserved victory against Ukraine.

Everyone can admit now that Italy today deserved to win. A vindication for the insults against the Italian players, from Der Spiegel. Insults that, I am sure, are not shared by the majority of the German people.

Next time will be very hard. Italy will play against Germany. A very difficoult game, for both the teams.

Toni

I’ve just seen a photo showing Ukrainian President Victor Yushenko at the stadium.

Boz at Bloggings by Boz did something a little different this week and focused on the biggest election in the hemisphere, Mexico’s, which will be held this Sunday.

He’s got the final polls and lots of bullet-point analysis on the how that race is going.

Want to know who is most likely to win in Mexico this weekend - a commie caudillo, or a free marketer?

Go see what Boz has here.

Meanwhile, Jonathan at the excellent Business & Politics in Bolivia has the final polls and analysis of the autonomy referendum which will be a turning point for Bolivia, also on Sunday.

Go see his detailed forecasts and analysis here.

Joining its close ally, El Salvador, as well as Nicaragua and Honduras, Guatemala has today fully entered the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Two more countries are yet to ratify their entry, but Guatemala has gotten it together and today is a happy day.

Trade, in and of itself, is why the U.S.’ economy has grown so strongly, despite high oil prices and big layoffs and other economic plagues. Trade is simply a much stronger factor.

It’s also something that scares the hell out of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. There is nothing he fights the U.S. harder on or bullies his neighbors more strenuously on than this matter of no business of his, than free trade.

With free trade, Guatemala will grow prosperous, its institutions will strengthen and it will become a bigger player on the international stage than its tiny size might dictate. For examples of this, just look at tiny Singapore or tiny Hong Kong, both trade giants, and experiencing excellence on every other front of human achievement as a result.

Welcome, Guatemala!

Here is the press release:

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Executive Office of the President
Washington, D.C.

USTR Press Releases are available on the USTR website at www.ustr.gov.

For Immediate Release:
June 30, 2006

Statement of USTR Susan C. Schwab Regarding Entry Into Force of the U.S.
- Central America - Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR)
for Guatemala

“I am pleased the President has issued a proclamation to implement the
CAFTA-DR agreement for Guatemala as of July 1, 2006.

“We have worked closely and intensively with all six CAFTA-DR countries
to ensure they meet the obligations and responsibilities under the
agreement. Our constructive engagement has had positive results and
we’re pleased that Guatemala is now ready to join El Salvador, Honduras
and Nicaragua in full implementation of this agreement. I greatly
appreciate the sincere and diligent effort by Guatemala to adopt the
necessary regulatory and legislative framework under CAFTA-DR.

“We will continue our work with the remaining two CAFTA-DR partners to
ensure timely and full implementation of the agreement.”

Background

The United States, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua signed the CAFTA-DR in August 2004.
All but Costa Rica have ratified the Agreement.

Implementing legislation for the CAFTA-DR passed the U.S. Senate in June
2005 and the House of Representatives in July 2005 and was signed by the
President in August 2005.

The CAFTA-DR entered into force for El Salvador on March 1, 2006, and
for Honduras and Nicaragua on April 1, 2006.

###

Shamil Basayev, the radical field commander who ordered the hostage-taking of Beslan schoolchildren, has been appointed vice president of the Chechen seperatist government by the new president. Which means, should President Dolu Umarov be killed, he will become the new leader of the separatist movement. In so few words, that is not good.

PRAGUE, June 28, 2006 (RFE/RL) — The man who claimed responsibility for the 2004 Beslan school siege, rebel field commander Shamil Basayev, has been appointed vice president of the breakaway republic’s separatist government, putting Russia’s most-wanted man next in line to become separatist president.

Basayev’s appointment, first announced in a presidential decree posted on June 27 on a Chechen website, can hardly be considered surprising. He is the separatists’ top military commander. Prior to being named president of the Chechen resistance movement earlier this month, Doku Umarov, the new separatist president, was Basayev’s subordinate.
“Russian authorities did not want to negotiate with rather moderate people like General Dudayev and Colonel Maskhadov — who, by the way, were Soviet General Dudayev and Soviet Colonel Maskhadov. Now they have to deal with much more radical people in the North Caucasus.” — Ivan Rybkin

Still, Basayev’s appointment may signal a important shift in the separatist camp. Crucially, it leaves him one step away from the presidency.

This signal to the world is that the Chechen resistance is radicalizing further and further, and that merely assassinating its leaders will not “behead” the movement, as the pro-Moscow administration has put it. In fact, it appears that with each assassination, the leadership only becomes more and more extreme, with no improvement in the actual condition of Chechnya itself.

With such a development, it is perhaps important to look at how things got to this point. The Russians have done just about everything wrong up to this point, beginning with the war in 1999 that Putin began.

When former President Mashkadov was about to agree to a peace treaty with Russia, Shamil Basayev took things into his own hands and invaded Daghestan. Instead of simply beating him back and hunting him down, Putin waged all out war on Chechnya. Grozny was leveled to the ground. Thousands of civilians were executed, tortured, and raped. The population radicalized against Russia, an entire generation lost.

Negotiations for peace were basically never considered after that. In exchange for broad autonomy, there could have been no more war in the North Caucasus. Mashkadov could have brought Chechnya into that fold, and in fact he was alive and president until just last year when he was assassinated. His successor, Sadullayev, was assassinated just a couple of weeks ago. New leaders continue to rise up as the old ones are killed; ones that advocate expanding the war into the entire region. The moderates, by Russian standards, are being replaced by utter extremists. In that, outside of launching the war in the first place, is the big mistake that Russia has made. With no where to go, the Chechen resistance has allied with radical Islamists.

Ivan Rybkin explains this one well:

Ivan Rybkin, a former State Duma speaker and former secretary of the Russian Security Council, was closely involved with the Chechen peace process in 1996-98, and liaised with Maskhadov in the run-up to the 1997 Russian-Chechen peace treaty. He told RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service that the Kremlin is largely to blame for the fact that a radical figure like Basayev has come to power in the Chechen separatist movement.

“Russian authorities did not want to negotiate with rather moderate people like General ÄDjokharÅ Dudayev and Colonel Maskhadov — who, by the way, were Soviet General Dudayev and Soviet Colonel Maskhadov,” Rybkin said. “Now they have to deal with much more radical people in the North Caucasus.”

Firzauli said it’s not only the separatist leadership that is becoming more radical — but the Chechen society as well. “We have a new generation which has grown up during the two wars in Chechnya. They have no jobs, no education,” he said. “During their short, young lives they have seen only the brutality and cruelty of the Russian forces. They only know how to blow up Russian armored personal carriers, how to shoot Russian soldiers.”

And it is the people that Russia has to be worried about. It is from them that the separatist government and field commanders draw their ability to operate. They are who are recruited to, provide shelter to, and provide support to them. The past decade has turned the province squarely against Russia, and because of actions taken many years ago, suicide bombings and hostage takings may be the norm for many years to come. If Shamil Basayev becomes president, you can bet on it.

Bolivia’s industrious, anti-communist Santa Cruz citizens rally for autonomy
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News

Not every Bolivian likes to be under the thumb of Hugo Chavez’s Marxist mini-me, Evo Morales.

Residents of the eastern province, Santa Cruz, which is full of industrious immigrants and enterprising native-indigenous Bolivians who’ve moved there, want instead to have autonomy.

They hate communism and want freedom.

This weekend’s coming vote is seen by some as a first step toward secession, but that is probably going too far at this stage. The vote, for now, is just on autonomy, to decentralize an all too powerful and all too unaccountable state, whose every decision is made by the federal government, even that of tax collecting and local funding. And which is now run by a retrograde communist who is leading Bolivia to perdition.

Imagine being a resident of Santa Cruz. Your area is not full of grinding poverty and inability to comprehend the modern world, but of full industrious immigrants who believe in capitalism and freedom.

These immigrants have set up coffee farms (I’m drinking Bolivian coffee as I write this), soya farms, clothing factories, jewelry-making assembly plants, and other things that the global market is happy to buy from Bolivian exporters. They welcome every comer. They’ve also developed their natural gas industry, the continent’s second largest, from literally nothing in 1990 to a major supplier to its neighbors.

Darkening the cloud over them is the specter of Evo Morales. He’s a communist who’s brought in Venezuelan troops. He’s out welfare shoveling from Santa Cruz’s hard-earned wealth, creating vast underclasses dependent only on him. He’s brought in Cuban agents, posing as “doctors” (and putting real doctors out of business!) He’s chased all foreign investment out of Santa Cruz by literally stealing natural gas operations and handing them over to Hugo Chavez’s Venezuelan oil men. And now he is targetting fertile land, specifically Santa Cruz’s hard-developed agricultural land, for “redistribution” to socialist “collectives” to be directed by Cuban operatives, without the consent of any free people.

It doesn’t get worse than this. And the outlook is absolutely abysmal. No wealth will be created with Morales. But most of what already exists will be destroyed. After that, the Morales men will come for the dissidents.

An autonomy vote was scheduled for Santa Cruz last year during the months when Evo Morales was wreaking havoc, by blocking the roads and trying to starve the cities into submission. Santa Cruz would have broke off if it hadn’t happened. Now, it’s time for that vote. And it should be noted that yesterday, 100,000 Santa Cruz people showed up for a massive rally to make their views known on this issue. The signs - literal, visual - of what this means speak for themselves.

Vamos, Santa Cruz!

100,000 anti-communist freedom babes rally in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, June 28
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo!

UPDATE: DPA news service has an excellent analysis of the situation here.

Terrific news!

Peru’s Congress passed the Free Trade pact with the U.S., after months of contentious debate. They took one look (well, probably several) at the $11 trillion economy they have the opportunity to freely trade with and decided it was worth it. They passed the measure, despite fears that they wouldn’t. They ignored the protests. They considered their nation’s interests. They’re right!

Now we can buy Made In Peru products as easily as Made In China ones. Better yet, they probably will not cost as much. Better still, we can sell our own fancy capital equipment or whatever to the Peruvians to help their nation’s economy grow. Better still, we give Alan Garcia, who takes office July 28, a good hand to deal with. Best of all, we undermine Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales, both of whom want nothing more than to trash and isolate and rob Peru.

Not a chance, now.

VIVA PERU!

Have you seen the Venezuelan movie, Secuestro Express? It’s my favorite current movie. It’s also the most popular Venezuelan movie in history. The only other Venezuelan movie I have seen is Manuela Saenz, and that was weakly done. Secuestro Express is in a league with the best Mexican and Colombian movies, a real chair-gripping suspense and drama. I was screaming by the end of it.

It documents a quick and dirty kidnapping of two rich young people - one callow, one not - by a gang of at least four thugs from the slums, one of whom has a glint of humanity, and the remainder of whom are very scary.

It explores their interaction, and makes it clear that Chavistadom is based on class hatred, and class hatred is what’s tearing Venezuela apart. As you might imagine, the government absolutely hates this movie, even though it is not political - it’s about thugs.

Chavez of course is a thug, so it goes to show you that politics and thuggery are the same thing in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela now.

Gene at Harry’s Place has a first-rate writeup of the whole thing here.

Malaysia’s Former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Democratic revolutionary Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia is being approached by … well, someone … to apply for the top United Nations post, to succeed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

I think it’s a great idea!

Anwar is a terrific leader whose appeal extends borders and who can talk to all kinds of people. Young men in Indonesia, who might otherwise move over to follow the Islamofascists, drop those stupid ideas when asked about Anwar, whom they really admire. He’s an authentic globalist and a very reasonable Muslim. I remember the democratic reformasi revolutionaries of 1998 in Jakarta has a particular admiration for him, even though he was Malaysian and they were Indonesian. (Culturally, they are very close.)

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something for the rest of us, too. Anwar is a reasonable, sensible guy who’s spoken out against Islamofascist violence (when I lived in Singapore next door in 1998, I specifically recall him ragging on about how gross the Taliban was) and promoted Eastern values - like hard work, prosperity, sound economics, stable families, and empowering everyone. He’s not a fan of handouts, he’s a fan of opportunity.

Anwar led a partial democracy revolution Malaysia in 1998, over the question of due process (it wasn’t the whole hog like Indonesia 1998), and was politically persecuted by nationalist dinosaur Mohamad Mahathir (who is not a total villain, but shouldn’t have persecuted Anwar either), who threw him in jail for several years and did what was really important to him - banned him from running for office in Malaysia for several years.

Mahathir is out, and his successor is very decent, but that leaves the splendid presence of Anwar un-utilized. He’s a communicator, he’s an authentic moderate, he understands economics, he has the right instincts, he believes in prosperity, and he’s a good leader. I’d love to see him lead the United Nations.

The Sydney Morning Herald has the rest of the story here.

UPDATE: Blogger DSAI at Critical Thoughts says that Anwar has got his own blog now, he has the link to it, too! See it here.

Earlier this week, Mexico’s election board nixed some campaign ads from the conservative PAN party as too fear-mongering, for their warnings about the danger of electing leftist PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador president of Mexico. Election day is July 2 in Mexico.

The ads compared Lopez Obrador to Hugo Chavez, with big pictures of Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales, warning of the danger of populism.

The ads were nixed from government-regulated television, but they’ve since gotten out onto the Internet, via YouTubes, and now everyone can look at them, and see for themselves. Miguel has found the links here.

Here a link to the famous ‘chachalaca’ ad, where the PAN placed side-by-side footage clips of Lopez Obrador and Chavez, both yelling about President Fox, and looking intolerant.

UPDATE: The New York Times has an excellent essay by Enrique Krauze warning of the dangers of an AMLO presidency to Mexico’s fragile democracy. Read it here.

Hat tip: RealClearPolitics

UPDATE: Here is a good article from the Washington Post about the use of Chavez’s imagery as a scare tactic in the Mexican campaign. The last part of the article, on AMLO’s response to the Chavez-image attack ads is delightfully funny. Read it here.

Babes of Beirut cheer Brazil
Source: AP, Reuters, AFP, via Yahoo! News

What’s up with the Babes of Beirut? They’re busy cheering Brazil, which beat Ghana today, moving on to the semifinals in the World Cup! One day it’s a democracy struggle, and as democracy wins, next up, it’s soccer. It’s the same babes, and either way, you know what that means - they’re on the cutting edge of revolution. Today, they’re out in full force cheering Brazil, and according to this excellent post by Ya Libnan, they’re the team of choice.

As Nouri has noted in this excellent post here, the ties between Arab and Latin states are much stronger than anyone might realize - millions of descendents of Lebanese immigrants are now Brazilians. And millions of Lebanese have ties to Brazil. That looks like good news for the Cariocas.

French fans cheering their team’s victory
Source: AP, Reuters and AFP, via Yahoo! News

Here’s why soccer is fun - France unexpectedly beat powerhouse Spain in the quarter finals of the match, 3-1, in a very good game.

Nobody expected France to do it, not even me, but sure enough, they did. Spain’s a very strong, very impressive team, and they looked hard to beat.

But the French team beat Korea earlier, which is not an easy soccer team, and perhaps the effort that went into that was underestimated. Anyway, most everyone wrote off France after their dismal performance in the 2002 World Cup. They’re still a player though, and as the fans expressions show, this is a nice shot of quasi-national energy for the French. It’s good to see the French with something to smile about, even if for a day. Now if they can just get their labor laws in order like this French football team gets its game in order.

Never underestimate the French.

Isn’t it funny that while Algerians are debating whether or not to abolish term limits for their presidents, Mauritanians have just approved a constitution that provides for term limits on presidents (and compels the president to pledge before God that he will not attempt to modify these limits), and other checks on the executive?

77% Mauritanians turned out for the referendum, with 97% of them voting “yes” to the Constitution. According to Al Jazeera, Colonel Vall, the main ring leader of last summer’s coup that deposed former president Ouled Taya, has also proposed the prohibition of coup members from running in the upcoming presidential elections.

Congrats to the Mauritanians.

This is great news. It is nice to know that while the Algerian government is preparing to abuse its powers, by effectively making Bouteflika’s term in office perpetual, another Maghrebi country is moving taking steps to entrench the democratic process and the separation of powers in their country.

The leader of the FLN (and current Prime Minister) has expressed a desire to amend the Algerian Constitution to make it such that presidents may be elected as many times as the people wish, contrary to the current system in which one man may be elected twice to the presidency. Now, the president, the PM (and former PM Ouyahia), the FLN and NRD and their supporters want to:

* No limit to presidential mandates - the president will be able to be reelected indefinitely, rather than, as now, being limited to two terms. But he insists that “this isn’t a president-for-life”.

* A post of vice-president - named by the President.

* Prime minister to replace post of head of government - prime minister to be designated by the President.

* Various promises about the right to demonstrate, equality of chances, freedom of religion, etc. (via Lameen, linked above)

The first point is interesting, the promise that this proposal will not lead Algeria back down the path of a one party state. Why? Because it is coming from the mouth of the leader of the party that was once The Party, in Algeria in the 1984 sense of the phrase, told El Watan that (using Lameen’s translation), “the former single party wants to reinstall a long-overturned political system”! What is that long-overturned system? The one where the executive trumps all and the ruling party sits in the Presidential Palace for as long as it sees fit. The good old days!

This initiative has gotten support, as alluded to earlier, from some heavy hitters. Former PM Ouyahia told El Watan that he supports the initiative because the president does. How ever patriotic! President Bouteflika will announce that he supports this retrograde proposal on, of all days of the year, July 5, Algerian independence day. Too bad Revolution Day was not an option. Again, how ever patriotic.

Given Bouteflika’s record with referendums, it would be conventional to estimate that this one will get anywhere from 70-90-odd% of the voters’ approval. But perhaps Algerians will be attuned to this travesty, and will vote it down. Maybe Algerians will say Enough is enough Boutef, stop sucking up all the power you can! Stop trying to be Boumedienne and die in office! Maybe they will be like the Mauritanians. Maybe they will be bold and strike this horrible idea down. Maybe.

Carlos The Jackal, in his yeayyy-babeeee days
Source: 24-Hour Party People

Just as Venezuelan Hugo Chavez plays the role of clown-dictator in the world Axis Of Evil, so does Venezuelan terrorist Carlos The Jackal play the bozo in the world War On Terror.

It’s like a bad parody that keeps repeating itself.

Not that his crimes aren’t real. The fat balding terrorist, who had his heyday in the 1970s as an International Man Of Mystery, shooting up OPEC meetings and taking diplomats hostage, in the end ended up in Sudan down there with bin Laden, and eventually was scooped up and jailed by … not the Big League Americans … but The French, adding to the indignity of it all. I recall he protested that he was fat at the time so it wasn’t a fair capture.

Now he’s suing the French government for the way they flew in to Sudan and arrested him, just raking him out of bed from his five-star hotel, for he was socially isolated down there in Sudan and the French gendarmes (I kid you not, go see the link below) disturbed his sleep. He’s particularly upset because he now says the Gitmo prisoners have it better.

Now some French court has to deal with these hissy complaints from the weighty but delicate terrorist, who says he got unequal treatment, and no doubt no Froot Loops, no prayer rugs, no Gitmo lawyers, as if French courts didn’t have real Islamofascists out there to worry about.

Meanwhile, as Castro Mini-me Hugo Castro sends the Shagadelic Jackal love letters as he sits in the can, some Venezuelan consular officer who used to visit the boob there has decided to sue the thug back for kidnapping him back in 1991 in Beirut. It sounds like a falling out.

Leave it to the Venezuelan left to repeat the entire war on terror as a clown show parody … at the expense of the French. No wonder the French government has little enthusiasm for the War on Terror. Here is their terrorist they caught themselves and now they have to listen to his whining.

The EFE story about this is here.

De Tocqueville Connection has another report about this buffoon here.

Washington Post has an extraordinary good essay on the parlous and deteriorating state of Egypt’s democrats as the Mubarak dictatorship grows stronger and the U.S. loses interest in democratic revolution. The author is writing a book on Middle Eastern democratic revoltutionaries.

It’s a sad but important story.

It is a must-read here.

In Venezuela, the ruling Chavistas are starting to implode as an organization.

The reason for this is Chavez has gotten rid of all institutions of government and left only the political-party and campaign apparatus as its substitute. Imagine Karl Rove running the Supreme Court, the Congress, the White House, the election apparatuses, the district attorneys, all by his lonesome. You can’t run a government like that. That’s contributed to an idea that’s been around for about two years, somethng called ‘Chavismo without Chavez,’ a face-saving way to say one doesn’t support dictatorship, but loves all the byproducts of dictatorship, like worker collectives. It tries to make the claim that such worker collectives could exist without a dictator to coerce them, as if anyone out there would willingly be a slave.

Chavismo is not about ideas but about Chavez’s personal consolidation of power. In Chavismo, all power flows from the individual people toward the center. That disempowers the people. If you are poor, you depend on Chavez for your welfare goodies, that tends to inform whether you dare challenge him. Chavez knows this. Everything is about disempowerment. The poor are forced into worker collectives and land-confiscating collectives whether they like it or not. The block committees in the shantytowns keep absolute order about what you do and don’t do. Chavez’s economic warfare also is disempowering - the middle class moves into the ranks of the lower middle class, the lower middle class moves downward into the welfare class. Third, Chavista bureaucrats, who used to be unafraid to speak for the government, are all deathly afraid of talking to independent journalists. They used to come to the phone all the time; now they don’t dare, for fear of offending the Ultimate Power, Hugo Chavez by what they try to say.

All of this creates an amazing maelstrom of disorder. And for the those who supported Chavez, there is the sudden deja vu realization that one has once again bet on the wrong horse. For the left, it happened with Stalin (Stalinism without Stalin was an idea that was once in vogue, too, so even this Chavismo without Chavez is not original), it happened with Mao, it happened with Ho Chi Minh, it happened with Fidel Castro, it happened with Daniel Ortega. In each case, the broad left realizes it has made a mistake and is dealing with a full blown dictatorship.

What is Chavismo without Chavez? It’s the left’s effort to extricate themselves from backing yet another dictator, while not having to get rid of the root cause of the dictatorship, which is the cherished notion that somehow, somewhere, some way, Marxism will eventually work on this earth. But Chavismo is about power, not Marxism. Marx is only a vehicle to justify consolidation of power. All power abhors a vacuum. There would be no Chavismo without Chavez.

Daniel has some thoughts about this here.

Alek has translated an articulate essay here.

Now that all the media glory for France’s masked shop-trashing thugs is over, something sad and quiet has happened in the wake of their violent “victory.”

France’s best and brightest are leaving France. One by one, they are leaving their homeland, in search of work, and a better life. They are heading to the savage lands, the lands of capitalism, the places denounced as inhuman, darwinian, American. Places that no French person supposedly would ever want to live.

France’s angry young men who actually believe this, taught well by their Marxist intellectual schoolmasters, rioted late last year to condemn that capitalism and to retain antiquated socialist labor laws, one of which was the right to be lazy.

Burning things, they scuppered Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin’s timid jobs-creation incentive law proposed for the young, which would have allowed the private sector some minimal labor flexibility in the hiring and firing of young people in first two years of work. The idea was to reduce the risk of hiring an untested worker, to ensure a company that if they got a lemon, they wouldn’t be stuck with him or her forever. And someone who wanted to work could be hired instead.

Because right now a job is forever in France.

Believe it or not, if you are a worker in France and you sleep on the job or don’t show up, or decide to abuse customers or talk on the phone with your friends all day long or take a six-hour lunch - your French company can’t get rid of you. Not only that, you have lavish and kingly benefits the day you walk into the office on your first day. You don’t have to earn them by steady work or staying power or moving up on the career ladder, it’s just given to you, in perpetuity. It’s a great deal for you, because you don’t have to put out, but it’s a horrible deal for your employer, who must produce that much more in excess value to subsidize your lack of productivity. In short, jobs are not jobs in France, they are sinecures.

That’s why so few jobs are forming in France.

Jobs are great things in France … if you can get one. Most French young people, the ones who don’t riot and trash shops, cannot. And if you are a young Arab-descended male, you can absolutely forget about it. You won’t get one. Welfare and ugly housing projects designed by the world’s most inhuman architects, emphasis cement, are the state’s alternative plans for you.

Job? Dunt mek me leff! Jobs are for white people! /s But not all white French people, only those with the family connections to actually land a job. As for the rest of the young people, white and Arab and African, too bad. In the past, such people were used as Napoleon’s cannon fodder, so such rabble have plenty to be grateful for in a new pre-programmed life of idleness by the state. Jobs are for old people who were there first, before you, they’re not for the young.

That’s because jobs with great benefits and little obligation are great only if you can get them.

The quiet sad trend, since the defeat of the de Villepin effort to open up the job market by leather-jacketed fire-starters, has been … exodus … by France’s dispirited, bright, talented, educated non-rioting young people, who know that the socialist model France practices has absolutely no place for them.

This excellent Reuters piece has a lot of good information about this incredibly sad trend. It describes a young lawyer who left France and got a quick job at good pay in New York City, so unlike what he would have been offered in France, which claims to have a more ‘human’ system … if it didn’t warehouse so many of its young people into idleness.

I know some of these young people - Los Angeles has one of the biggest French expat communities in the U.S. You can’t walk down Marina del Rey without bumping into someone French. They’re in West LA, in Westwood, in Beverly Hills, in Los Feliz, in Venice, and further north in Santa Barbara. French wines and French restaurants and French language speaking are abundant here - and based on my own observation, there are more French in these places than the more stereotypical Mexicans - who are in other parts of this massive city. Los Angeles is really the French city, based on these new waves of immigration. The French are the most desirable immigrants you can imagine, they work in entertainment, at places like Sony, in entrepreneurial farms that experiment with organic vegetable growing, in banking, in law, in software, in computers, in media. None of them wants anything to do with the French government. They just want to quietly prosper and be left alone and above all, to work.

As Albert Camus once wrote: Without work, all life becomes rotten.

It feels good to be right sometimes. Really good.

When Mauritania’s military staged a bloodless coup against the president last year, I thought it might be wrong — especially given the focus of this blog — to support such a move. Every government in the world was condemning it; the United States more than anyone, with the official statement being, “We oppose any attempts by rogue elements to change governments through extra-constitutional or violent means.”

But when preaching democracy, this statement struck me as highly hypocritical. President Taya himself had come to power in an unconstitutional coup over two decades ago and has ruled like a true totalitarian despot ever since. The people of Mauritania wanted him out but had no real democratic way of doing so. They wanted real democracy. So the military did something about it.

The military junta has promised to rule for no more than two years while setting up the institutional framework through which Mauritania’s democracy will function. With have consulted with and taken into account all of the country’s major groups, cutting across ethnic, class, and political lines. Every party in the country, except for two minor ones, are supporting the intitiative.

Today is day one on the path of reforms. The junta put forward a referendum on initial democratic reforms — decided on by these groups at large — to be voted on by the public. And boy did they vote. Nearly three fourths of all registered voters showed, with 97% voting in favor of the changes. What were these changes? Only some of the most historic in the entire region! It will limit presidential terms to two, five years each, in order to assure changes of power no matter what. It will also make every elected president swear to Allah that he will not try to change this, as other sub-Saharan African leaders do. Further referendums will come, with parliamentary and presidential elections in less than a year.

The United States’ concern about the military takeover were premature, as they’ve kept there promise. But why did they?

Well, military governments are different from any kind of authoritarian system. Most of the time, they intervene in order to provide stability and direction temporarily. They usually stay on longer than they say they will, but in general the military eventually re-relegates itself back to the professional sphere. In the case of Mauritania, President Taya’s illegitimate, despotic rule was radicalizing the populace., causing this instability. The process that the country is udergoing now is pacting, where all of the country’s groups come together and work out the kind of system that they think is fair to live under. The military is playing the mediator rather than the dictator. The juntas actions have mirrored and spoken louder than its words. By all accounts, I believe that it will follow through with its promise to restore democracy within the year.

After much suffering and a red card for one of the Italian players, Italy won 1 - 0 against Australia.

Yes, it was due to a penalty kick, but our Francesco Totti scored just a couple of seconds before the end of the match!

Below some photos of this much-suffered match!

Before scoring:

Getting ready to score:

The girlfriend of Italy’s goal-keeper ( clapping) and the wife of Francesco Totti right below (with the sunglasses )

Totti scored!

Note: the writer is an Italian. If you want to see photos of Australian fans, I’m sorry but I cannot post them…:)

It is not surprising that Sherif Hamdy can write in the Daily Star that China is getting close to beating out the United States in the arena of public relations in the Arab World. I have seen maybe one or two American officials speak Arabic on Al Jazeera or Al Arabiyya regularly, and, according to the Government accountability office (via Foreign Policy Magazine’s blog and Kirk H. Sowell), only about 30% of American diplomatic personel in the Muslim world have proficancy in their host country’s language. At the US embassies in almost every Arabic speaking country I have visited (Algeria, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, and Lebanon), I have met US personel who struggled to communicate in Arabic, and in some I heard not one word of the language aside from “Salaam” or “Ahlan”. I have yet to see programs from the US government that resemble those that Hamdy mentions,

The popular program “Hewar Maftouh” (Open Dialogue), for example, has aired the most recent series of episodes from China. One such episode hosted a series of Arabic-speaking Chinese students sharing their thoughts about the Arab world. Al-Jazeera has also aired other specials which have been introducing Arabic audiences to China and its culture.

I have seen some programs in which American officials or students are featured, but rarely do they speak Arabic, and with even less frequency have I encountered anyone that found many of them remotely interesting.

One might say, Wait, Nouri, how many Arabic speaking American students are out there? Can you really fault the US for not being able to compete with China on public diplomacy? And to this I would say that if China, a country so culturally, religiously, linguistically, and geographically removed from the Arab World can muster up a set of students that speak Arabic well enough to be on Al Jazeera, certainly the US can. Seriously, how many Arabs live in China compared to the US? Even Latin America has been featured on some chanels, no doubt that Che Guevera and Hugo Chavez played some role in these, a region which historically has not had as much an influence in the Arab World politically.

Latin Americans are familiar with many Arabic names and foods because of the large and old Arab communities that reside there. Latin America has had more than a few Arab presidents, prime ministers, lower ministers, members of parliament (especially in Brazil where I have heard that almost a third of the parliament is Lebanese, but I am not sure of the validity of this charge), and other governmental officials (Palestinians are especially well represented in Central America). Not to mention that many Arabs have a sort of Latin fever, loving the childen and sounds of Al Andalus. Latin American countries have about the same potential for cultural bridge building as the United States, though from a different angle.

China has already begun the fight for Arab minds. I don’t really think the US has. There have been many Arabic speaking US ambassadors and envoys, but these are not given the prominance they should be, especially in the media. Too often one sees a US Congress woman (or man) from Florida who has no knowledge of Arabic speaking to Arab audiences through a translator. You hear a man’s voice speaking about US foreign policy in Arabic and beneath it a little woman’s voice in English, a very impersonal encounter indeed. US leaders of Arab descent like California Congressman Derrell Issa who have traveled to the Middle East and supported democracy there are not given enough press either in the US or the Arab World. Having someone like Congressman Issa, who met with Lebanese and Syrian leaders during the Cedar Revolution and has campaigned from a conservative point of view for democracy in the region, speak to Arab viewers would make more sense than having a random member of the House Committe on Foreign Relations who is totally impersonal and doesn’t quite carry the significance of Issa or someone esle.

Another choice would be Theodore Kattouf, former US ambassador to Syria, the UAE and has served in other Arab states. He speaks Arabic, is an Arab-American, and is more articulate when answering tough questions than many US elected officials. He is also president of AMIDEAST, an organization that works to strengthen US-Middle East relations through education, scholarships, English language training, institutional development and other such initiatives. Other American leaders like US Senator from New Hampshire John E. Sununu, a Palestinian American and member of the Foreign Relations committee. I think it would be especially wise for the US to use its Arab American leaders to its advantage. Obviously Arab audiences will not side with the US on international issues simply because they saw a fellow Arab representing the US on TV, but I do believe that it would have a positive impact. America needs to put above all Arabic speakers on TV programs, as the Chinese have. Adam Areli speaks Arabic but rarely speaks it on camera, and this is the situation with many US officials when they are on Arabic TV stations. If you’ve got it flaunt it! If you don’t have it, get it!

The other problem that Hamdy mentions is that China’s “Beijing Concensus” is more favorable in the eyes of many Arabs than is the “Washington Concensus”. This is the handicap of US policy all over the Third World: US policy is preceived as being alien or oppressive while Soviet (in past years) or Chinese policy is seen as being favorable because China too is a Third World nation that has faught imperialism and has stood with the Third World peoples in the face of Western pressure. The US must continue to promote democratization in Arab countries, even when it is not popular in the US’s domestic politics or with the dictators.

Democracy promotion must be universal and unwavering. The US has clearly wavered on this point in recent months by allowing abuses in Egypt, for example, to go without reprocussions. It must be clear that the US does not tolerate the behavior of Arab dictators anymore than other countries. And it should be articulated to the Arabs in clear Arabic, not in dubbed over robot-man Arabic or English. Even though it is perhaps impossible to take military action against every despot or to put meaningful sanctions on each criminal, statements can always be made and so can speeches. Aid can be cut, especially military aid. American leaders should write for Arabic newspapers (in translation), as Syrian officials often do. The US should make it easier for Arab students to come to the US to study, at various levels, middle school, high school and university for instance. And the US should make an effort to not be so gaudy in Arab countries (and forein countries generally). For example, the new US embassy in Baghdad will cost $592 million dollars and will be

inside the heavily fortified Green Zone by 900 non-Iraqi foreign workers whoare housed nearby and under the supervision of a Kuwaiti contractor,according to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee report.

It will be not be dependent on Iraqi electricity. This makes one ask the question: Why can’t Iraqis have electricity while this new American palace can? Way to create resentment!

The US can compete with China in the Arab World. All it needs to to do is get in the ring and change some time honored traditions like staffing embassies with people who can speak German or Italian but not Arabic. If the US keeps on its current path it is going to accomplish very little, comparatively speaking, while China makes monumental gains in the region.

Oh man, this is disgusting. You know how Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez likes to break into all the television channels on occasion, with long Castro-style speeches, just to hear his own voice? Well, as All Venezuela has stood by, mesmerized at the World Cup on TV, he’s decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to break into the soccer games to issue his multi-hour political diatribes, called ‘cadenas.’

When a cadena is on, you can’t flip the channel. All you get is him, no matter what channel you flip to. Chavez is known to be jealous of attention the World Cup holds on Venezuelans and wants it for himself. So, he decided to show them all who was boss.

Daniel has the whole gross story about how Chavez broke into all the TV sets while everyone was watching soccer because he was sure he had something more important to say here.

UPDATE: Daniel’s quoted in the Chicago Tribune on the matter of Ozzie Guillen’s foul language, which the latter claims is ‘cultural.’ Daniel debunks the guy and it’s hilarious! You gotta see the whole thing here!

The national conscious of the Nazi atrocities in German memory has led to cautiousness towards conflict in the German public and government. While this position is a natural reaction and in many respects noble, it has unfortunately decreased Germany’s ability and consequent role to be an international peacekeeper and decision maker. Indeed, Germany’s relations with traditional powers such as the United States and Great Britain have undoubtedly been affected by the apprehension associated with German worldwide involvement. In order to sufficiently repair important diplomatic relationships and raise its role as a purveyor of social democracy, Germany must engage in a plan to increase militarization with the appropriate adjustment of political stance to encourage public opinion towards proactive international contributions.

In the wake of World War 2, West Germany was decidedly demilitarized in order to
avert future German involvement in conflict and to spur economic growth by focusing
funds on development and human capital. Though West Germany rearmament occurred in 1951 in reaction to the Korean War, West Germany’s military (and later reunified Germany’s) was willfully smaller in comparison to other NATO nations. This has continued to this day, where German spending on military as a percentage of GDP is significantly less than other industrialized nations (approximately 1.5% of GDP in 2003 compared to 4% in America, 2.4% in the UK). Politics and policy have been similarly affected: Germany participated in Operating Enduring Freedom because of NATO commitments, but was a staunch opponent of action against Iraq, leading to a freeze of relations between Germany and several countries.

Currently, the German economy is the fifth richest in the world per capita and third
largest in the world by nominal GDP. Conversely, Germany is the 36th biggest provider of military and police contributions to UN efforts (in-between Rwanda at 35 and Slovakia at 37). Combined with NATO figures, Germany contributes approximately 6700 troops worldwide, including two thousand in Afghanistan. The invasion of Afghanistan, a multilateral operation agreed upon by NATO, serves as an excellent example. German assistance is done at considerable smaller percentages than other NATO nations, with 20 thousand originating from the United States, 2500 from Canada, and 1000 from Spain. Further, Romania, a country with an average income of $3000, contributed over 800 troops.

However, Germany is presently experiencing an economic stagnation combined with high unemployment. A logical part of the solution could be increased spending on military and efforts towards recruitment, especially in East Germany where poverty and joblessness has fueled the rise of Neo-Nazi groups. A simple rise to 2 percent of GDP spent on military, on par with other modernized nations, would mean an increase of 11 billion dollars.

German’s increased involvement worldwide will have numerous positive outcomes. Countries such as Romania and Slovakia, relatively new NATO and EU members, will not be forced to carry the burden that could be sufficiently executed by more traditional and developed countries such as Germany. This will buoy German position in its two most important member groups, NATO and the EU. Domestically, increased employment for able-bodied Germans will hinder extremism and the hostility in the reunified nation. Most importantly, Germany will emerge as a proactive, rather than reactive, member of the international community, contributing to the welfare of the globe and repairing its relations with the United States and Great Britain.

Originally posted on PBH.

What do you do if you are a Venezuelan? Your country is ruled by a madman, a communist, a tyrant. You are steadily watching as all of your freedoms erode. Your country’s institutions are being rapidly politicized, the gears of your own power are being stripped and you are powerless to stop it.

The U.S. is not going to invade to save you.

What do you do?

You fight. You fight for democracy even though you are deeply discouraged, knowing that not only is your opponent much bigger than you, he’s paid the ref to rule against you. You fight anyway.

You fight like Peruvians to save any scrap of democracy you have left in the face of this onslaught. This month Peru was full of discouraged people and through great courage they voted to keep a tyrant out of power even though they had to vote for someone repulsive.

Venezuelans must do the same thing as elections are being held in December. They cannot close their eyes - much as they must want to. Because if they don’t, there are wholesale expropriations, labor camps, secret police, an end to freedom of movement and a dictator for life waiting. They must fight.

Miguel Octavio at Devil’s Excrement has a truly awesome essay saying this in this must-read here.

U.S.-Japan anti-ballistic missile test in the Pacific
Source: Honolulu Star Bulletin

OK so the U.S. and Japan don’t have such great soccer teams this year. The trans-Pacific allies seem to do other things better.

Like blast incoming nuclear missiles out of the sky.

In news that just feels good to wake up to, a U.S.-Japan team near San Diego shot down an incoming medium-range test missile off Kauai in six minutes, 100 miles high, demonstrating to the madman ruling North Korea that his technology and his nuclear threats are obsolete. And that we mean victory.

Source: Navy Times

We are not all the way there to being able to shoot down long range missiles, but we are getting closer and we are working closely with Japan, so this may be historic. For Kim, this means that any of our cruisers and destroyers will be capable of anti-missile platforms.

There is a perception out there that the U.S. can be defeated by its own democracy and its own technology. And further, that the West can be defeated by its own democracy-induced softness, which can be worn down by homocidal lunatics, so there’s no point in defending oneself.

The logic goes that U.S. can invent or improve nuclear weapons all it likes but once North Korea gets hold of them, all its efforts are nullified, and the world is a more dangerous place than ever, so resistance is futile. (Not to mention the Western-side contradictory argument that only the U.S. is warlike enough to use nuclear weapons and North Korea and Iran are places of ‘peace.’) In either case, the U.S. bears the brunt of the threat and the burden of proof of its intentions, while iron-fisted tyrants, unfettered by accountability to any people, see nukes and bombs as their ticket to power and influence.

Lunatics like Iran and North Korea believe this, which gives them the courage to carry on. This week, North Korea threatened to test-fire a 9000-mile range test missile at the U.S. Pacific coast. The currency markets felt it. President Bush was on the phone with Japan and the men and women with radar screens and supercomputers were on high alert in classified installations around Vandenberg, Point Loma, Colorado, Fort Huachuca and in the places we don’t know about. But no one knew for sure if they could do anything.

And the rest of the world shivers, wondering if freedom and not appeasement is worth it.

Why be democratic? Why develop technology? Why use your mind and think freely and invent and be accountable for your actions to be able to develop these missiles against utterly menacing tyranny?

Victory over the enemies of freedom is why.

This missile test shows that the U.S. and Japan also can move the goalposts set by the world’s most odious tyrants and reverse the whole picture as surely as any grimy terrorist resplendent in a bomb belt can. For everything they can imitate and steal, for every weapon they can capture and turn on us, we can move faster to come up with something new.

Suddenly, North Korea’s Lil Kim doesn’t look so powerful. Suddenly Iran is wondering if menace and nukes are the best thing for their perpetration in power. They just woke up to a Thunderbird-fueled hangover.

And the world outlook for freedom and democratic revolution this morning just got brighter.

Nogales is a city on the border, split right down the center, with a wall running down the middle of it. The line separates more than the city itself, though. The two sides are worlds apart. In American Nogales, tourists cruise across the border within minutes into a mile-wide arena of discount pharmacies and craft shops. There’s a McDonald’s right there; it’s tall, golden arch visible to the south, a constant reminder of American prosperity.

Coming from the other direction, swarms of beat up cars scramble for the chance to cross into the land of opportunity, where they can transport and sell their wares before having to hustle back. Kids sell newspapers, icecream, and water to people as they wait in the 100 degree heat. Stalls selling the same stuff line the streets for as for as the eye can see.

I’d been there before, and having lived in Latin America for a few years, bouts of poverty wasn’t new to my eyes. Yet Nogales is not Chiapas. It is a city growing quickly and bustling with business. Cheap margarita glasses and fake Oakley’s may not be what comes to mind when one thinks of doing good business, but lots of money is changing hands. My mother taught me that if I paid half price, then I had paid too much. Many Americans don’t know this. They’ll purchase a serapi for $35 when they can get it for $15. It’s no wonder that people are doing so much better there.

This business and competition is what has brought energy into the Mexican political arena. The PRI is out and multi-party democracy is in. Candidate posters could be seen on everything from telephone polls to roofs to billboards to car windows. All over the place. Mexico is super-charged. If you think you saw a lot of bumper stickers in our presidential election, take a trip to Mexico. You can’t look anywhere without seeing a dozen signs in your face.

I decided to go into one of those “discount pharmacies” real quick and buy a disposable camera. Here are what some of the posters look like:

Posters for the PRD, including leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Unlike current President Vicente Fox, a President Lopez Obrador would likely disintegrate ties with the United States. Busy Nogales residents trying to make a better life for themselves don’t want any of that. Their entire way of life depends on being able to trade with the United States. Nobody likes the PRI, but these people definitely don’t want Lopez Obrador and his party in power. He would undo everything they have worked so hard for. They despise him.

Posters for PAN presidential candidate Felipe Calderon flood this city, much more than for Madrazo or Lopez Obrador. His sticker was especially prominent on the bumpers of so many cars and trucks crossing into the United States to transport wares. They know that it is good ties with the United States that allows them to do business, so they are supporting the presidential candidate that wants brotherly relations with its northern neighbor.

Mexicans are also not without a sense of humor, and perhaps it is this humor that transcends culture and, yes, even borders. Take a look at the man on the right side of the following poster. See anything missing?

This isn’t just some random anomoly either. I saw this same poster with the teeth missing at least twice more in other parts of the city. On the one hand, Mexicans have a very recognizable sense of humor. On the other, well, the ones from Nogales by and large dislike the PRD.

I talked to one shopkeeper about it; a shrewd businessman. He tried to screw me over by offering me a small piece of pottery for $149 with a “generous” 15% discount. They were all that shrewd. I looked over his collection a while longer. It was all handmade and painted with childrens’ hair. It would have certainly gone for higher in the states, but not here. This is Mexico we’re talking about. And the best way to soften up a merchant is to buy him tequila.

A few shots later and it was on. He told me how he was afraid that his customers would stop coming if Lopez Obrador is elected. Bad relations aren’t good for the Mexican economy. “Gringos come here and buy buy buy,” he said as he hit the table with his hand. “They tell their friends and more come. All of them have so much money! But if things are bad, they won’t come. That’s bad for everyone.”

I ended up buying the pottery for $20 before leaving and hiking my way back to the border. Long lines of cars were still there, even late in the afternoon. I slipped through customs in no more than a few minutes and was on my way. I stopped by the McDonald’s real quick; not to eat, but to look out over the border. You really could see everything from there. The wall stretched over a hill and past a string of shops on the other side. At this rate, the only difference between American Nogales and Mexican Nogales is the time they’ve been allowed to develop. But what many people in the latter fear is that if Lopez Obrador is elected, the difference will be between East and West Germany.

I am interested in doing web journalism projects much like Michael Totten and Bill Roggio, posting pieces on interesting and overlooked niches in the world with a focus on different aspects of life and society in these places. I am currently working on a long series of pieces regarding my week-long trip to Honduras. This summer I will also be travelling to Catalunya, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and the Czech Republic.

If you, the readers, believe that this would be interesting judging by what you just read, then let me know in the comments section, and if you would be willing at any point to donate to funding this work. I’m not looking to make a living off this — just help make up for any of the expenses of doing such work. In any case, it would help me greatly to read your responses. Thank you!