Developments in Egypt over the last two weeks have prompted O’Grady to think of Cuba and ask why a similar rebellion against five decades of repression there still appears to be a far-off dream. Part of the answer is in the relationship between the Castro brothers–Fidel and Raúl–and the generals. The rest is explained by the regime’s significantly more repressive model. Castro has bought loyalty from the secret police and military by giving them control of the three most profitable sectors of the economy–retail, travel, and services. In Cuba there are no opposition political parties, no access to the Internet, and rapid response brigades enforce the party line. Despite their unceasing efforts, Cubans can only dream about the freedoms Egyptians enjoy as they voice their grievances.

O’Grady writes ‘The Americas’ for the Journal.

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Leopoldo Lopez, an optimistic political challenger of Hugo Chavez, is well aware of the regime’s unhesitating manipulation of elections: Lopez was once banned from the gubernatorial ballot by government fiat. Nonetheless, he remains hopeful that Venezuelans are mobilizing to unseat Chavez in 2012. A major key to the opposition’s electoral success is support from the United States. But Lopez does not see “a clear policy” from the Obama administration that indicates a focus on a democratic transition in Venezuela. Diehl says this will have to change if the opposition is to continue having hope of voting out Chavez and ushering in democracy.

Diehl is deputy editorial page editor of The Post. He is an editorial writer specializing in foreign affairs.

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A dictatorship that fosters the production and distribution of cocaine is not apt to enjoy a positive international image. But when that same government cloaks itself in the language of social justice and emphasizes the enfranchisement of indigenous people, it wins world-wide acclaim. This is the case in Bolivia, where O’Grady says elections scheduled for December 6 will mark the official end of its democracy. While the US and the OAS obsess over Honduras’s legal removal of an undemocratic president, Bolivia’s President Morales has fortified his narco-dictatorship. O’Grady traces Morales’ rise and performance in office, stating that South America’s latest dictator is not the ideological communist that many fear. Akin to a mob boss, he rose to power by protecting the coca business and is now set to oversee the end of Bolivian democracy.

O’Grady writes ‘The Americas’ for the Journal.

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Opinion summaries provided by Opinion Source, an organization with which Safe Democracy is associated

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Within a democracy, one cannot give any type of legitimacy to a coup d’etat. For Latin America, this coup in Honduras serves as proof of the extent at which it troubles this region to accept that democracy can only work within boundaries and through laws

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Brazil has technically entered a so-called recession. How then, can we explain the fact that Sao Paolo’s stock market (Bovespa) – which was at 30 thousand in December of 2008 – has not stopped rising, and has reached 50 thousand.

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