It’™s been a rough year for the people of Bolivia. One president has resigned, elections were scheduled, and now a court has ruled that elections, scheduled for Dec. 4th, must be postponed. No new date for elections has been set. I’™m not familiar enough with the composition or leaning of the court that made the ruling to comment on motivation for the delay, but one thing that’™s pretty clear is the election was definitely swinging toward a social democratic slate of candidates.

I’™ll try to put this into perspective a bit later. What’™s a bit perplexing is that this turn of events didn’™t make much of a blip on the U.S. corporate media radar screen. Here’™s a U.K. Guardian report:

A Bolivian court on Friday indefinitely postponed elections scheduled for Dec. 4 due to a dispute in Congress over redistricting, moving the poor Andean nation toward a possible power vacuum when the current president steps down.

Both leading presidential candidates criticized the ruling by the National Electoral Court, with the leftist Evo Morales warning that the ‘œpeople could rise up against the court.’ His main rival, Jorge Quiroga, urged Congress to move on the redistricting dispute, saying Bolivia’™s fragile democracy was at risk’¦

And of course, Jim Shultz at Democracy Center’™s Blog for Bolivia has more.

Update, 8:50PM: Today’™s Washington Post has a fairly a fairly balanced look at Evo Morales, MAS, and the now-postponed election.

The immigration hearing for the Bush Administration’™s favorite terrorist wrapped up this week, with the presiding judge ruling that Luis Posada Carriles would not be deported to Cuba (his home country) or Venezuela (where he’™s wanted on outstanding terrorism charges). For a refresher on Posada’™s terrorist dossier, click here.

Posada is being held in El Paso, Tx. on charges that he illegally entered the U.S. His lawyer has claimed that if Posada were deported to Venezuela, which is seeking his extradition, he’™d be tortured. A witness was produced at the hearing by the defense who substantiated the claim. U.S. government attorneys did not present any witnesses to rebut the claim.

A decision will be made within 90 days on the disposition of Posada’™s case. He could still walk away free, or be deported to another country, depending on what arrangements could be made. Earlier this year, ex-CIA asset Posada had applied for asylum in the U.S., but withdrew the request prior to the hearing. His lawyers now state that he’™ll seek U.S. citizenship.

Never let anyone ever tell you that it doesn’™t pay to have low friends in high places. ASZ will continue to follow this story as it develops. No word yet on whether or not the Justice Department supports ‘œOsama’™s Law’, which would require known terrorists to register with authorities and notify the communities where they’™ll be residing.

Early on last year, I became a John Edwards supporter during the Democratic Party primary season. He was only a faint a blip on my radar screen prior to the Iowa caucus, but on that evening I understood (at a macro level) what it would take for a candidate to reach out to the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party – a truly populist message. By virtue of his background and upbringing, John Edwards had the street cred to deliver that message. His ‘œTwo Americas‘ stump speech prompted me to write a check to his ill-fated campaign. And even now, with more than a year in the rear view mirror, I haven’™t forgotten the crux of what he was trying to say:

‘¦Today, under George W. Bush, there are two Americas, not one: One America that does the work, another America that reaps the reward.

Perhaps John Edwards was just the wrong delivery person to articulate the viewpoint, or maybe, just maybe, he was a wee bit ahead of his time.

Now, let’™s posit for the moment that John Edwards was, during the course of his campaign, threatened with a jail term on politically trumped up charges from the local constabulary in North Carolina. Just think about the free air time he would have received on CNN. Do you think that would have helped him drive home his message?

That’™s sort of the strategy that populist Mexico City Mayor Andres Lopez Obrador has employed to press his cause. And it’™s winning him a lot of converts. Going into Mexico’™s presidential elections 14 months down the road, Lopez Obrador is the prohibitive favorite to literally run away with the election. BushCo associates in the Mexican government such as current President Vincete Fox are perplexed and concerned’¦

(more’¦)