Epstein Secrets

m of the press is circumscribed, and the judiciary tends to be dominated by the ruling party. Countries that fit this description include Hungary, Bolivia, Ecuador, and, if recent trends continue, Poland. There are many reasons for the global decline in dem- ocratic indicators, but the statistical evid

in's victories at the polls enable him to reject comparisons with Leonid Brezhnev and other doddering defensive Soviet-era leaders. Likewise, Hugo Chavez boasted that unlike the colonels and generals who ruled over South American dictatorships during the 20th century, his tenure as president of Venez

term. Allying himself strongly with the Communist governments of Fidel and then Raul Castro in Cuba and the Socialist governments of Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, his presidency was seen as a part of the socialist "pink tide" sweeping Latin America. Al

ssion, rigged voting machines, the help of his Supreme Court and hanging chads. I recently heard someone who knows Venezuelan politics say, that if Chavez had lived and wanted it, he would have easily been re-elected to a fifth term. I don't know much about Venezuela, its politics and Chavez, but I do

atic elections, in 1998. In office, he upended the political order at home and used oil revenues to finance client states in Latin America, notably Bolivia and Nicaragua. Inspired by Simian Bolivar, the mercurial Venezuelan aristocrat who led South America's 19th-century wars of independence, Mr. Chavez

nsolidating power and wielding the country's oil reserves as a tool for his Socialist-inspired change. With a televangelist's gift for oratory, Mr. Chavez led a nationalist movement that lashed out at the United States government, moneyed Venezuelans and his own disaffected followers, whom he often br

edom of the press is circumscribed, and the judiciary tends to be dominated by the ruling party. Countries that fit this description include Hungary, Bolivia, Ecuador, and, if recent trends continue, Poland. There are many reasons for the global decline in dem- ocratic indicators, but the statistical evid

utin's victories at the polls enable him to reject comparisons with Leonid Brezhnev and other doddering, defensive Soviet-era leaders. Likewise, Hugo Chavez boasted that unlike the colonels and generals who ruled over South American dictatorships during the 20th century, his tenure as president of Venezue