Venezuela – Seven protests took place across the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Thursday to protest the socialist government. The opposition demands that presidential elections be held ahead of their 2018 schedule, desiring to oust Socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The country, previously held by leftists as a socialist paradise, is falling apart. There are widespread shortages of food and medicine, the economy now suffers inflation in the triple-digits, and government forces continuously crack down on opposition protests.
The Venezuelan government echoes the cries of every socialist when things do not go their way: it is someone else’s fault. Maduro’s government blames U.S. business elites, and not the economic failings of socialism, for his countries woes.
Cuba – For the first time in a decade, a United Nations human rights investigator will visit Cuba. The Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, an expert on human trafficking and an Italian judge, will visit Cuba from 10-14 April and discuss with authorities the challenges in fighting human trafficking. This will be the first visit by a U.N. investigator in ten years, as the Cuban government, in true communist fashion, has resisted such visits in the past. The previous visit, in 2007, was conducted by Jean Ziegler, a Swiss expert on the right to food.
Thailand – Thailand’s King has signed a new constitution that would bring democracy back to the Asian nation. The previous constitution was abolished by the military after it seized power three years ago, and while the new constitution brings democracy back to Thailand, it is limited in its scope. The military will still have a hand in government, and the new constitution requires future governments to follow the military’s 20-year development plan.
The military holds that it should remain as a force for democratic limitations, preventing the need for coups in the future. You read that correctly. The Thai military believes that it should still have control over the government, in order to prevent the need for the Thai military to take control of the government.
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