PRAGOTI

The domestic and international reaction to the Left parties that are in office in a number of countries in South America – most notably in Bolivia and Venezuela – has tended to utilise violent, non-democratic and even means of sabotage to destabilise the regimes. The ongoing developments in Bolivia are the most notable examples of the tactics of the opposition.

The big question when Morales was elected was whether he could stay long in office, or whether the Bolivian right, perhaps in collusion with the armed forces, could oust him. He has now demonstrated that he can.

An EPW editorial (Courtesy Economic and Political Weekly) and an article by Immanuel Wallerstein (Courtesy Monthly Review) on the political developments in Bolivia.

Robert Mugabe's authoritarianism takes Zimbabwe into a downward spiral

Terror continues to stalk the nation. In five days, 55 bombs were planted (of which, mercifully, 25 did not explode) in the three cities of Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Surat, leaving at least 53 dead. Even for a country that has brazened such terrorist attacks in the past 60 years, this has come as a shock. The country lost a Mahatma to terrorist bullets, a Prime Minister to those unleashed by Sikh terrorists; and a former Prime Minister assassinated by a suicide bomber.

Since the adoption of our republican Constitution and the inception of our parliamentary democracy, seldom has our political system faced such a serious question of credibility, as it has on the `trust vote’. Inducements, threats and allegations of offering bribes have indeed tainted the vote.

Cartoon: Courtesy The Hindu