Needless to say, this is both entirely obscene, and entirely unsurprising, given the nature of the current regime in Tehran: Political prisoners in Tehran's Evin prison have allegedly been subjected to humiliating physical abuse, including being forced to run a gauntlet of guards armed with batons, it has emerged. Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, has been silent …
More Government-Sponsored Violence in Venezuela
Behold: The masked gunmen emerged from a group of several dozen motorcycle-mounted government loyalists who were attempting to dismantle a barricade in La Isabelica, a working-class district of Valencia that has been a center of unrest since nationwide protests broke out last month. The barricades' defenders had been hurling rocks, sticks and other objects at …
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The Political Crackdown Continues in Venezuela
And no chávista--inside or outside of Venezuela--has denounced it. I can't imagine why: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has used the military, legislative and judicial power consolidated during 15 years of socialist rule in a sudden series of blows against opponents who have spent more than a month protesting in the streets, knocking down their barricades and …
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Did Simón Bolívar Like Police States?
I wonder if all of the people who hailed the presence of a chávista government in Venezuela--you know the type--will have any opprobrium at all to spare for the Venezuelan government in light of this story. Probably not, intellectual honesty doesn't seem to be a virtue as far as chávistas--whether they are found inside or outside …
How Free Is the United States?
Freer than most, but not nearly as free as we ought to be. In a rational world, these kinds of surveys would prompt some kind of discussion, at the very least, but I suppose that is not going to happen anytime soon; why distract from yet more talk about Duck Dynasty, after all?
Pejman Yousefzadeh 