Fidel Castro called on the late President Hugo Chávez to stop holding elections, according to a recording of a telephone conversation between a pro-government TV host and a senior Cuban intelligence officer. The TV anchorman agrees with the former …

The result of Iran’s upcoming presidential election” is related not just to normal domestic feuds, division of spoils, and concerns about the level of discontent in society, but also to the regime’s international policies,” says a leading analyst.

“No …

Iranian hard-liners are pressing for two prominent candidates to be barred from contesting next month’s presidential election “in a further sign of intense political jockeying over the final ballot list,” AP reports:

The appeal by nearly 100 parliament …

“Pakistan is about to cross an important threshold: this weekend’s elections, if all goes to plan, will mark the country’s first transition between elected governments. But this is not a moment for triumphalism,” writes a prominent analyst.

Opinion surveys …

“An adviser to Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei joined the presidential race on Friday, with powerful conservatives keen to make the June vote a peaceful contrast to the upheaval that followed the disputed 2009 poll,” Reuters reports…

“The use of chemical weapons in Syria has increased pressure on President Obama to arm the opposition,” says Zalmay Khalilzad (right), a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Earlier in the conflict, I endorsed such a …

During the recent presidential election campaign, Nicolás Maduro, the acting president and the person anointed by Chávez as his heir benefited from a constant presence in the media, writes the Carnegie Endowment’s Moisés Naím (left), while the visibility and …

Are democracy assistance practitioners being outflanked and outmaneuvered by their democracy prevention counterparts? Venezuela’s recent presidential poll provides disturbing evidence of adaptive authoritarianism applied to the electoral process.

“As the facts behind Nicolás Maduro’s fabricated electoral ‘victory’ on April …

“Four Saudi activists are under investigation after forming a human rights group on April 3, 2013, and could face prosecution for ‘establishing an illegal organization,’ Human Rights Watch said today:

Saudi authorities should immediately cease harassing the four founding …

“Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (right) has urged supporters to stage a protest after Malaysia’s ruling coalition won polls he said were marred by fraud [as predicted],” the BBC reports:

His call came as PM Najib Razak was sworn …