Nightmarish
World Where You Live--21 Dec 2005 Edition

It's been awhile since I've done this, so let's take a spin 'round the globe and see what's happening outside the confined media borders of the U.S. today. First, to South America and a few viewpoints on the new leftist threat to the United States...

Bolivia -- Evo Morales Wins Presidency
The Independent -- Bolivia seems to have made history after Evo Morales, a native American who has styled himself Washington's "nightmare", claimed an overwhelming victory in the presidential election.

With the available election data suggesting he had secured some 50 per cent of the vote, Mr Morales was set to become the first native American president in his country's history.

While it was unclear if Mr Morales had secured the outright majority of more than 50 per cent needed to win without the approval of the country's congress, his nearest rivals had already conceded victory.

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The Nation -- Still, almost every major oil company--including Spain's Repsol, British Gas, ExxonMobil and Texas-based Vintage Oil--has already threatened to bring a claim in international arbitration against Bolivia. And if Morales nationalizes the industry, under the terms of the bilateral investment treaties between Bolivia and the companies' home countries, they could sue--in private, closed-door arbitration, without the safeguards normally provided by publicly appointed judges in an international court--for not only the approximately $3.5 billion private companies have already invested in the natural gas industry here but also for the loss of expected profits, which could total tens of billions of dollars.

The threat of lawsuits by up to thirty major oil companies will thwart any new government's ability to significantly change the current system. Nor can Morales do much to address the plight of coca farmers: Although he has said he'll campaign to decriminalize the coca leaf on an international level, he knows he can do little to change the system at home. A refusal to continue the coca eradication campaign would require the United States, under US law, to vote against any Bolivian application for loans or grants from the World Bank, IMF or Inter-American Development Bank--all critical to Bolivia's ability to finance its debt and fuel its economy. In effect, any attempt by the newly elected president to do exactly what Bolivians just elected him to do would marshal the forces of the international financial community against the Bolivian government and doom the country's already-precarious financial stability.

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NYTimes -- The Bush administration says it fears that Mr. Morales will follow through on his promise to join Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, as an anti-American, leftist leader, while also carrying out his promise to reduce restrictions on his nation's production of coca leaf, the primary ingredient of cocaine, much of which finds its way to the United States.

Mr. Morales made an early strike on Tuesday when he told Al Jazeera television in an interview that President Bush was "a terrorist" and that American military intervention in Iraq was "state terrorism."

Here's some good news regarding debt relief...

Washington DC - After outcry, IMF clears debt relief for 19 countries
Agence France Press -- The International Monetary Fund agreed to cancel 3.3 billion dollars owed by 19 of the world's poorest countries, after reports that it was back-tracking on the debt-relief plan sparked an outcry. The IMF, which had previously said it wanted one last "spot check" of the nations' economic policies, said its board had now approved them for relief under a global debt cancellation plan unveiled by the G8 powers.
[...]
Along with Cambodia and Tajikistan, the 19 countries set to benefit are Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Back to the topic of Iran...

Vienna - EU-Iran nuclear dialogue to resume but hopes dim
Reuters -- European powers revive dialogue with Iran on Wednesday over suspicions it is secretly trying to make nuclear bombs, but weeks of tension have diminished hopes they will make headway in defusing the crisis. Confrontation rather than compromise has been brewing after declarations from Iran that the Holocaust is a myth and Israel should be wiped out, and a European Union accusation on Tuesday that Tehran has serially violated human rights at home.

The Islamic republic's increasingly vocal hostility toward the Jewish state and commitment to developing sensitive technology that could yield ingredients for nuclear weaponry have stoked Western concern about its atomic programme.

And while we're in Iran, here's some bad news for the Bee Gees...

Tehran - Western music is latest target of Iran's hardline president
The Guardian -- Having outraged the international community by denying the holocaust and Israel's right to exist, Iran's combative president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has launched an offensive against new western targets - George Michael, Eric Clapton and the Bee Gees. In a decree that threatens to turn the clock back to 1979, when Iran was gripped by the Islamic revolution, Mr Ahmadinejad has ordered state broadcasters to stop playing "decadent" western music and to favour "fine Iranian music" instead.

The ban will affect an eclectic swath of western artists, including George Michael, Eric Clapton and the Bee Gees, whose songs are frequently heard on national television and radio. Instrumental versions of Michael's Careless Whisper, Clapton's Rush and the Bee Gees' How Deep Is Your Love are commonly broadcast as accompaniment to a range of Iranian programming.

Mr Ahmadinejad, an Islamist hardliner, promised to re-establish "Qur'anic" cultural values before he unexpectedly won last June's presidential election. In the early years of Iran's Islamic regime, all music apart from revolutionary themes was banned on the order of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the revolution. That led to the exodus of popular Iranian musicians to the US, where many still record. Their songs continued to be widely played in Iran.

In Afghanistan, it looks like they've learned how to govern from the best...

Kabul - Afghan lawmakers squabble in first full legislative session
Boston Globe -- The first full session of Afghanistan's new parliament almost broke down yesterday after a lawmaker demanded that authorities bring to justice all warlords, some of whom are delegates.

Underscoring threats to the fledgling democracy, a purported statement forwarded to The Associated Press from fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar called the parliament ''fake," and a suicide bombing wounded three Italian peacekeepers and three civilians.

One delegate, Malali Joya, called for all of Afghanistan's human rights abusers and ''criminal warlords" to be brought to justice. Delegates responded by pounding their fists on the tables to demand she sit down. But she refused, shouting that it was her right as an elected official to speak her mind.

Finally, some sad news for Chelsea fans (like myself)...

Zurich - Ronaldinho wins second straight FIFA award
Happy News -- Ronaldinho won his second straight FIFA World Player of the Year award Monday for his stellar play with Brazil and FC Barcelona, beating out England's Frank Lampard [ed note - of Chelsea FC] and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o.

Ronaldinho won the poll of national team coaches and captains with 960 points, easily outdistancing Lampard, who had 306 points. Eto'o, who plays alongside Ronaldinho at Barcelona, was third with 190.

But on the bright side, Frank is the second best player in the world!

Au revoir for now.