from The Nation:
BLOG | Posted 12/03/2007 @ 2:56pm
Bush Buddy Putin Trumps Democracy, Chavez Embraces It So how's George Bush's campaign for to spread his version of "democracy" going?
The results are in from the American president's favorite former superpower, the Russian Federation, and from his least favorite hemispheric neighbor, Venezuela.
Russian has been a special project of the Bush presidency.
Since claiming his chair in the Oval Office -- with an assist from a 5-4 Republican majority on the Supreme Court -- Bush has done his best to maintain friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
...(snip)...
In an election so managed and manipulated that key opposition parties were tossed off the ballot and critics of Putin were jailed, the Russian president has completely consolidating power in himself. The United Russia Party ticket he headed has claimed total control of the national government in voting that opposition campaigner and former world chess champ Garry Kasparov dismisses as "the dirtiest" in Russian history.
...(snip)...
And what of Venezuela?
In voting that saw a massive turnout but few serious complaints about irregularities, voters in the South American country rejected Chavez's request for constitutional changes that would have increased his authority and allowed him to serve as president for so long as he continued to win elections. In effect, the voters chose to maintain term limits on a popular leader who was seen as having overreached.
Accepting the results, Chavez held up a copy of the constitution he had attempted to alter and declared, "We will continue constructing socialism but under this constitution." .....(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=256483 
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