Category: Dictatorships

Gay Cuban journalist dismissed, as Farinas hunger strike continues

     

A gay Cuban journalist and activist says he was fired from a government-run radio station because he worked with independent media, The Washington Blade reports: Maykel González Vivero (left) hosted… Read more »

‘Rebalancing’ to Asia falters in Laos?

     

Neither ‘Asian values’ nor any other form of regional exceptionalism can be invoked to justify authoritarian rule, President Barack Obama said in Laos today. “[D]emocracy can flourish in Asia because… Read more »

Cuba censoring text messages with words like ‘democracy’

     

  Cuban dissidents said Monday that Raúl Castro’s communist government is censoring mobile text messages that contain certain words, including “democracy” and “human rights,” Reuters reports: Text messages that included… Read more »

China warns ‘localists’ against reshaping Hong Kong’s political landscape

     

China has warned that anyone advocating Hong Kong’s independence could be punished, the BBC reports: The stern message came after young pro-democracy activists won seats on Hong Kong’s Legislative Council… Read more »

Opaque Uzbekistan confronts transition anxieties

     

Whether Islam Karimov, who has ruled Uzbekistan with astounding brutality for the past 27 years, is dead or alive, his era is almost certainly drawing to a close. Two questions… Read more »