Over the weekend of November 24-25, protesters clashed with police in Sucre, Bolivia - they were demanding that the capital of the country be moved to Sucre. Three people died and over some 100 were wounded in the clashes. Yesterday Morales announced plans for a nationwide referendum to resolve a deepening political crisis in the country. A few months ago, two recent works on Bolivia were given a look over for the WSM's Red and Black Revolution 14. The review now appears on line for the first time.

Related Link: Info on Ben Dangl and link to interview | New Politics in Old Bolivia: Public Opinion and Evo Morales | Bolivian Land Reform: La Paz´s Streets Become A Theatre of Power | ZNet - Bolivian Horizons: an Interview with Historian Sinclair Thomson

Usually around this time of year, those of us grunts still on active service duty for Indymedia Ireland, spend a week or so trawling the archive with our virtual nets. Sometimes we return with a catch of material that we format into a review of the year. And other times - like last year - short-staffed and burnt out, we simply aren't up to the effort.

This year we are going to try something completely different - by running a competition to unearth the best of the site over the past 12 months. The editorial collective asks readers to dip into the archives, and come up with the sharpest, freshest and most spot on contributions to break through the newswire clouds. We'll be running the competition under several categories, so stick to them. When we have the nominations in, we'll open a poll and let the votes pile in on the most popular five in each. Read on for details...

Hugo Chavez casts his vote in the referendum
Photograph courtesy of Agência Brasil under a Creative Commons License

Sunday's referendum defeat may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Venezuelan Left

An analysis of the recent Venezuelan referendum including coverage of the issues by both alternative and mainstream media. This article includes some factual data about the reality of Venezuela’s economy which effectively counters the “conventional wisdom” arising from propaganda spread by much of the mainstream media. The article also draws some interesting contrasts between the political situation in Venezuela and its next door neighbour, Colombia.

Related Links:
Venezuela after the Referendum: Socialist Unity — Tariq Ali on CounterPunch
Recent Indymedia Coverage: Global Women’s Strike in Venezuela call for a Yes vote