Word: da
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...steely wind off Bohai Bay blasted down the streets of Da'an. Despite the inclement weather on a recent Wednesday morning, a steady stream of villagers appeared at the doors of the Communist Party headquarters in this community of some 3000 located just outside the northern port city of Tianjin, patiently waiting for their chance to cast a vote in triennial elections for the village's chief administrator and his two assistants...
...What's happening in Da'an reflects a rising trend of participation by China's rural voters, some 450 million of whom reportedly cast ballots in 2008. And whatever the reason the elections were started, they are proving to be a godsend for the government as the world financial crisis hits home in China. Even before the crisis, government officials acknowledge that tens of thousands of clashes occur every year between disgruntled Chinese and the authorities over issues like land rights and official corruption. Now, with millions of migrant workers unable to find jobs in the cities and forced...
...Back in Da'an, one middle-aged voter says he once left this village because local corruption and mismanagement brought his company to the brink of bankruptcy, forcing him to look for work elsewhere. Now, he says, he's come back to Da'an in the hope his vote will help put the village on a better path forward. "Of course I'd come back home just to vote," he says, declining to give his name. "This is a big deal for my village. The leadership was so disappointing that it drove me away. I can't wait...
...20th century resentments - which, admittedly, have too often been exploited by Latin leaders as an excuse for their own epic failings and iron fists - and move on to 21st century development. To believe, that is, that the U.S. now appreciates what Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told TIME in a recent interview - that it's not smart policy for the U.S. to be such a rich country "surrounded by so many poor people...
...contrast to the summit in Mar del Plata, Chávez isn't expected to hold the regional reins in Port of Spain or breathe the same anti-U.S. fire. More moderate leftists like Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are regarded as Latin America's standard bearers today. Even if the global economic crisis has borne out Chávez's condemnation of capitalism, it has also sent oil prices plummeting - and his populist largesse along with them. At the same time, some supporters worry that as Chávez accumulates more power at home...