Why Did The 'Denim Revolution' Fail In Belarus?

The British Helsinki Human Rights Group (BHHRG) has released a fascinating and detailed report on the 2006 elections in Belarus and why the USAID-EU sponsored 'denim revolution' did not occur as planned.

Belarus: Political Interventionism and Isolationism

Historical time lines have created an odd situation in Belarus. Belarus is basically the only former eastern bloc country that has not taken part in the massive 'shock therapy' of privatization and neoliberalism. To some extent this has paid off, with a good health care system, increasing real wages, low numbers of people in poverty and some of the best indicators for women in the former eastern bloc. The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has been widely attacked in the corporate media. Stephen Gowans reports on his blog, that a huge amount of NED and other foreign 'democratization' monies have been going toward anti-goverment civil society in Belarus. This is something to watch closely.