--- Jim Devine <jdevine03 at gmail.com> wrote:
>Morning Edition, August 23, 2005 · The president of
Belarus,
Alexander Lukashenko, bans pro-democracy groups from
accepting money
or technical assistance from outside the country. The
strategy seems
to be an effort to head off the kinds of popular
democratic movements
that toppled governments in Ukraine and Georgia.<
--
What is a "pro-democracy group" anyway? Luka has probably the highest public approval rating in the CIS after Putin. Belarus avoided the post-Soviet economic crash (with help from Russian subsidies, though that didn't save Georgia and Ukraine) and Belarus has been clocking good economic growth for the past several years (piggybacking off Russia again -- as are Ukraine and the Baltic States). Luka is backed by Belarus' pensioners and peasants -- a big electorate! Even the opposition admits he won the election. Pensioners and peasants shouldn't be allowed to vote?
Don't get me wrong, Luka is a gangster, but he's a pretty benevolent gangster.
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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