Weekly Links

By Taylor Marvin

Revue l'Illustration, Execution of Madagascar officials by the French, 1896. Via Wikimedia.
Revue l’Illustration, Execution of Madagascar officials by the French, 1896. Via Wikimedia.

This week marked the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Brazilian military coup. The coup remains divisive in Brazilian society: Colin M. Snider notes a recent disruption in the country’s congress when a right-wing politician’s supporters hung a banner celebrating the military’s actions because ‘thanks to you Brazil isn’t Cuba.’ Pablo Uchoa remembers the torture of his father, torture Brazil’s military is only beginning to investigate. In an intersection between politics, memory, and social media, the social media team of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff — herself tortured by the military regime — recently changed her page’s Facebook profile picture to an image of her at the time.

As violent political unrest continues in Venezuela — the death toll from ongoing protests reached 39 this weekPresident Nicolás Maduro attacked the opposition in a New York Times op-ed as seeking “to reverse the gains of the democratic process that have benefited the vast majority of the people”; the message is notable for attempting to speak to a US audience, a possible indication that the government fears the prospect of US sanctions. Last week Thomas O’Donnell looked at the government’s economically-risky strategy of pulling out the stops to alleviate shortages in the short-term.

In Crimea, signs of a modernizing, more professional Russian Army, at least among the forces deployed to the peninsula. Joshua Foust passes along a look at Chechens’ view of the annexation.

A Ukrainian government inquiry says that members of the special police were responsible for firing into crowds in Kiev’s Maidan.

Foreign fighters streaming into Syria to battle the Assad regime are weakening the rebels and discouraging Syrians from joining opposition forces. On a similar topic, how the Assad regime, seeking to channel Syria’s Islamists into the Iraq War, helped create the jihadi networks that then turned against it (via Danny Hirschel-Burns).

Via Joseph K. Young and EM Simpson, the challenges of tallying Syria’s war dead.

In the wake of an ugly incident in Bangui where Chadian soldiers killed 30 civilians in disputed circumstances (via Laura Seay), Chad is pulling its forces from the African Union force in the Central African Republic in protest of claims they have aided mostly-Muslim ex-Seleka fighters. Via Jay Ulfelder, the UN now hopes to evacuate 19,000 CAR Muslims from regions where they are threatened by anti-balaka militias.

The International Crisis Group has a new report on Nigeria’s efforts to combat Boko Haram.

Encouraging news in the push to make Mozambique landmine-free, including the story of a young man who lost his leg to a mine and “says he lost his confidence and could not face the world until he was lucky enough to find people to help him believe in himself again,” later founding an organization to help those affected by mines.

Some of the challenges facing Afghanistan’s upcomingand consequential — elections.

The 2013 Human Security Report was recently released.

3 comments
  1. Eu gostaria de saber se a Presidenta Dilma Roussef sabe das imprecionantes riquezas que fazem parte do Patrimonia Nacional Brasileiro? Uma riqueza sem tamanho que os Estados Unidos esta muito interrado …a Central the Intelligencia Americana mais precisamente.
    Eu tambem gostaria de saber se a Presidenta Dilma Roussef sabe bem do motivo verdadeiro da tirada do Presidente Goulard do poder a mais ou manos 50 anos atraz…quando depois com a ajuda da Central de Intelligencia Ameiricana entrou um governo military…e pois sera que ela tambem sabe que durante aquela epoca a CIA Americana tambem deixou entrar e deu protecao aos criminais NAZISTAS que foram ao Sul do Brazil cometer CRIMES contra a Humanidade? Crimes contra as riquezas que sao nade mais nada menos Patrimonio Nacional do Brazil- ALIEN HYBRIDS em grande quantidades foram encontrados na area Sul do Brazil e foram IMPLANTADOS com microchips e depois USADOS pela CIA Americana para testes the MKULTRA a technologia do CONTROLE DA MENTE.
    E parece ficcao …mais nao e..pois e o maior CRIME ja cometido contra a Humanidade
    I KNOW BECAUSE I AM ONE OF THE VICTIMS OF THIS MONTROUS CRIME.

  2. I CIA Americana juntamente com os scientistas Nazistas foram ao Brazil no final da 2nd Guerra mundial em busca de riquezas…mas nao riquezas quiquer…oque eles buscavam eram Alien Hybrids…seres humanos com parte DNA de Aliens. Eles nos encontraram e nos fizeram escravos…A CIA Americana juntamente com os nazistas implantaram Microchips na cabeza de todos os Hybrids encontrados…roubaram nosso DNA para fazer clones e praticamente roubaram minha(nossa) vida por complete…porque eles nos usaram para a criacao e teste do MKULTRA- Mind Control Technology…tudo comecou com o projeto Paperclip e nunca terminou…mesmo que a CIA insista em dizer que estes testes terminaram nao e verdade…ESTE CRIME CONTRA A HUMANIDADE CONTINUA e e terrivel oque estao fazendo compessoas inocentes to Brazil e do mundo. E verdade…parace ficcao mis NAO e.
    Meu nome e Elisa N. e eu sou uma das MUITAS vitimas de um dos maiores CRIMES ja cometidos contra a humanidade. ISOO E OQUE O GOVERNO DO BRAZIL DEVE INVESTIGAR….ESCRAVIDAO HUMANA ATRAVEZ DE UM MICROCHIP IMPLANTADO NO CEREBRO DE PESSOAS INOCENTES.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like
Read More

Weekly Links

By Sarah Bakhtiari Are there conditions for peaceful secession? Ryan Griffiths argues yes, given distinctions in administrative architectures.…
Read More
Read More

Weekly Links

By Sarah Bakhtiari They’re calling it a game-changer; that is, competency-based education. Will the academy shift along with…
Read More
Read More

Weekly Links

By Taylor Marvin Former State Department Deputy Director Wayne White warns that supplying Syrian rebels with small arms is unlikely…
Read More
Read More

Weekly Links

By Patrick Pierson. The “killing fields” of South Sudan serve as a stark reminder of an overlooked conflict…
Read More
Read More

Weekly Links

By Danny Hirschel-Burns In light of protests, and seemingly a coup in Burkina Faso, The Wall Street Journal offers some…
Read More
Read More

Weekly Links

By Patrick Pierson.  Meet Mexico City’s first female elected mayor. The US is donating military vehicles to Guatemala,…
Read More