The arrest
in Venezuela of Colombian political refugee Joaquín Pérez Becerra and
his hand over to the Colombian authorities by the government of
president Chávez has raised deeper questions about the strategy of the
Venezuelan revolution.

The
political landscape of Canada has changed, potentially in an irrevocable
way. The Liberal Party, formerly Canada’s “natural governing party”,
has been reduced to a rump of 34 seats, having received only 19% of the
vote. The separatist Bloc Quebecois, which has dominated Quebec since
the party’s foundation 20 years ago, has been swept aside by the NDP’s
“orange wave” and has been left with only four seats. The New Democratic
Party, Canada’s labour party, has leapt into second place with a
record-breaking 102 seats, and 31% of the vote.

“A middle-aged nonentity, a
political failure outstripped by history – by the millions of Arabs
demanding freedom and democracy in the Middle East – died in Pakistan
yesterday. And then the world went mad.” (Robert Fisk, 3 May, 2011)