Daily Features

Oil and democracy mix like oil and water

‘Take Azerbaijan’s 2013 elections, when the highly repressive government of President Ilham Aliyev sought to boost its democratic credentials by launching an iPhone app that enabled citizens to keep up to speed with the vote tallies as ballot counting took place.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks as U.S. Senator Cory Booker (left) and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke listen at the first U.S. 2020 presidential election Democratic candidates debate in Miami, Florida, U.S., June 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks as U.S. Senator Cory Booker (left) and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke listen at the first U.S. 2020 presidential election Democratic candidates debate in Miami, Florida, U.S., June 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Democratic debates ignored the hemisphere’s biggest crisis: Venezuela

How sad. At the much-awaited Democratic presidential debates Wednesday and Thursday, none of the five moderators or any of the 20 presidential hopefuls mentioned the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis in the Western Hemisphere: Venezuela.

Waiting as subterfuge becomes suppression

The decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to strike down all the APNU+AFC positions in the cases relating to the no-confidence vote (NCV) and the appointment of the chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was predictable, and its decision to give the parties space to do their political work is commendable but predictably doomed.

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