Hello Reader,
​
A software engineer's beating triggers Trump's DC takeover. Revolutionary hope surges in Bolivia, but dies in Sudan. Dispatches from the Rebellion 49: from palace coups to peace treaties, this week's most explosive battles for freedom.

The Global Fight Against Tyranny

1. A Force Awakens in Bolivia
2. Britain's Shocking Betrayal of Freedom
3. Armenia Breaks the Chains of War
4. Hope Turns to Ash in Sudan
5. Revolutionary Dreams Come True in Bangladesh

Country names are followed by their 2025 freedom scores according to Freedom House. Not a ranking.

Tank treads scraped the cobblestones as General Zúñiga's armored vehicle smashed through Bolivia's palace doors. For five hours last June, soldiers occupied Plaza Murillo in the capital of La Paz. Civilians shouted. Protesters threw rocks. Bolivia wobbled on the precipice.

President Luis Arce confronted the tanks, forcing their withdrawal. But the crisis remained.

Bolivia now faces economic collapse ahead of the August 17^th vote. Inflation has skyrocketed above 24%. Revenue from gas has disappeared. And this week, bread and fuel shortages deepened, with frustrated crowds lining streets in protest.

Arce and his MAS Party predecessor Evo Morales followed the familiar leftist Latin American script. Like Perón, Castro, and Chávez, they promised to help the poor through state control—nationalizing industries, expanding subsidies, and printing money to fund social programs.

The outcome was predictable: incentives vanished, investment fled, and poverty deepened, compelling Zúñiga to “listen to the cry of the people”. In the 200 years since independence, Bolivia has endured over 190 coups.

But now freedom beckons. Presidential candidate Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga offers liberation through spending cuts, privatization, and free markets, aiming to import Argentinian President Milei’s economic miracle.

​Polls show Quiroga rising to 2^nd place in the polls, while Arce abandons his reelection bid due to dismal ratings.

Quiroga's ascent heralds the advance of Milei’s freedom-loving model throughout Latin America—and hope it may inspire the entire world.

Britain's reputation as a haven for freedom fighters took a major hit last month. On July 17th, the UK government proposed restoring case-by-case extradition cooperation with Hong Kong—potentially sending democracy activists back to face the oppressive regime they fled.

The warning signs were already flashing. Free press champion Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, has languished in Hong Kong prison since 2020 on bogus charges—yet Britain now wants to resume extraditions to this same corrupted system.

The cruelest irony targets Carmen Lau. Living seven miles from Windsor Castle, this democracy activist discovered her neighbors were receiving letters offering £100,000 bounties to turn her in. Britain's response? Police told Lau to "self-censor" rather than confronting transnational repression on British soil.

Now 19-year-old Chloe Cheung, living in London with a million-dollar bounty on her head, faces potential extradition. "If Beijing were to accuse me of something like fraud tomorrow, they could… request my extradition,” she warns.
​
This betrayal caps Britain's broader illiberal transformation. From protest restrictions to online censorship, the this cradle of democracy has become one of the world's most censorious democracies, now willing to sacrifice even those who trusted British promises of freedom.

President Trump scored the first genuine diplomatic victory of his second term this week, orchestrating a historic peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House. The signing ended 35 years of bloodshed that claimed tens of thousands of lives over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
​
The deal grants the US exclusive developmental rights to a strategic transport corridor, which Armenia fawningly dubbed the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity."
​
But it was democratic champion Nikol Pashinyan who made this breakthrough possible. Rising to power through Armenia's 2018 "Velvet Revolution," the former journalist led a peaceful grassroots movement that toppled the corrupt Sargsyan regime.
​
Under Pashinyan's leadership, Armenia's GDP per capita has more than doubled. And despite criticism over judicial reforms, he has largely restored democratic governance.
​
Azerbaijan's autocrat Ilham Aliyev represents the antithesis of Pahinyan: Freedom House ranks his regime among the "worst of the worst.” Yet even he recognized the benefits of economic integration and lucrative U.S. incentives, with Trump offering bilateral deals across multiple sectors.
​
Most significantly, the diplomatic triumph dealt a crushing blow to Moscow’s influence, granting the U.S. exclusive development rights in Putin’s back yard—sweet revenge for decades of territorial aggression.

Months ago, I hailed Abdelaziz al-Hilu as a rare hope in Sudan’s hellscape — a rebel commander who promised equality, fought for a secular democracy, and dared to challenge the war’s corrupt belligerents.

Now, that hope is ash.

Last week, al-Hilu stood alongside Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — whose Rapid Support Forces have burned villages, slaughtered families, and turned mass rape into a weapon of war. Together, they unveiled a “Government of Peace and Unity” to rival the Sudanese government’s SAF. Al-Hilu was named Vice-Chair, cementing the “Tasis” alliance between a secularist rebel movement and a militia synonymous with atrocity.

The SAF accuses the RSF of working with ISIS and the militant Islamists sweeping the Sahel region. Yet the SAF itself is stacked with Islamist officers who once tried to crush the SPLM-N into submission.

My praise for al-Hilu missed the darker truth: this is a war without good guys — a tangle of betrayals where ideals rot in the heat of war. Al-Hilu’s gamble may someday yield a freer Sudan. Perhaps a partition will even end the war. But for now, a rebel who once stood for democracy marches with war criminals.

In Sudan, it seems the last embers of hope have gone cold.

One year ago, 25-year-old Abu Sayed stood defiant, his arms outstretched before police at Begum Rokeya University. They shot him at point blank range, sparking nationwide outrage and transforming a modest reform movement into a full-blown revolution. The ensuing uprising ended over 1,000 Bangladeshi lives.
​
But it won, toppling Sheikh Hasina's 15-year reign of terror.
​
Hasina's regime imprisoned babies with their mothers in secret black sites, denying infants milk during interrogations as leverage. Over 700 souls vanished into her "House of Mirrors" torture chambers, where pregnant women were beaten and children spent months in darkness.
​
Now Interim President Muhammad Yunus has declared Sayed and the fallen protesters national heroes. Standing with opposition leaders on a Dhaka stage this week, the 85-year-old Nobel laureate—whose microcredit innovations helped lift millions from poverty— delivered the words freedom fighters everywhere long to hear: "We will hold elections by February 2026."
​
Concerns linger: Yunus has tilted toward China, alienated India, and banned Hasani’s Awami League, limiting voter choice.
​
But leaders who replace dictators rarely deliver freedom. Yunus now defies the odds, proving revolutionary dreams really can come true.

Next Week: Bigger Stories, Greater Impact

Starting next week, Dispatches from the Rebellion becomes three dedicated editions—so you get deeper, more comprehensive reporting on the global battle against tyranny.
​
Tuesday mornings: An expanded Global Fight for Freedom edition—frontline coverage of movements for democracy around the world. Plus, a new “Freedom Fighter of the Week” feature. This global edition will always be free.
​
Thursday mornings: Continuing editions of the essays that connect recent events in political and economic freedom to history’s great turning points—and what they mean for us today.
​
Saturday mornings: An enhanced Our American Democracy edition—in-depth looks at the forces shaping liberty here at home.
​
This expansion means richer stories and more of what brought you here in the first place. Down the road (months from now), the Thursday and Saturday editions will move to a subscription model—but as an early supporter, you’ll get preferential pricing.
​
Thank you for being part of the rebellion from the beginning!
​

In Memoriam - Miguel Uribe Turbay

Rest in peace, Miguel Uribe Turbay, the pro-freedom Colombian senator and presidential candidate who died yesterday—two months after being shot by a teenage suspect at a campaign rally. The suspect and several others have been detained, but the Colombian government has yet to determine who ordered the hit or why.
​
It was another tragic day for Colombian freedom. Turbay’s journalist mother Diana was tragically murdered by Pablo Escobar’s cartel in 1991. Rumors swirl that her son fell victim to the same corrupt forces. Turbay was running on a platform of security, economic liberation, and rule of law.
​
For the full backstory, see the “Colombia” section of Episode 41 of Dispatches from the Rebellion, published in June.
​
“Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children”, wrote his wife Maria.

Our American Democracy

Trump Moves to Control Nation's Capital

At 3 AM Sunday in DC’s Logan Circle, nineteen-year-old Edward Coristine pushed his girlfriend into their car as ten teenagers demanded the vehicle. The former DOGE software engineer—who goes by “Big Balls” on social media—was savagely beaten, sustaining a concussion and broken nose before officers arrived. Two fifteen-year-olds were arrested; eight escaped.
​
By Monday, Trump had deployed eight hundred National Guard troops and seized control of DC's police force for 30 days under a 1973 emergency provision, vowing federal control over a city “plagued by crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor."
​
But Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser accurately cited recent improvements. Violent crime has dropped 26% this year , while homicides fell 32% from 2023 to 2024—the lowest since 2019.
​
Here's what makes this constitutionally explosive: Congress' 1973 DC Home Rule Act granted DC limited self-governance while retaining authority to revoke it entirely. Unlike states, DC exists at Congress' pleasure. This vulnerability now threatens the capital's very identity.
​
Republican Senator Mike Lee introduced legislation in February to repeal the 1973 Act entirely, returning DC to direct federal administration. Democrats push for statehood. Coristine's beating has become the catalyst for a constitutional showdown that could end Washington's self-governance forever—making one software engineer's heroic stand the spark that could reshape America's capital.

Trump Strikes a Blow for Financial Freedom

President Trump struck a decisive blow against financial tyranny this week, signing an executive order that stops federal regulators from pressuring banks to cut off customers based on their political or religious beliefs.
​
The assault on financial freedom began under Obama's "Operation Choke Point"—a campaign that weaponized banking regulations to strangle gun retailers and payday lenders. Whatever you think of these industries, they are completely legal.
​
Regulators threatened banks with hundreds of millions in penalties unless they severed ties with targeted customers.
​
Biden expanded this selective targeting into broader surveillance of conservatives. Following January 6, the administration justified expanded financial surveillance to catch "domestic violent extremists." Federal investigators urged banks to flag transactions — purchases from Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, and even purchases of Bibles — in materials on detecting "domestic violent extremism".
​
federal investigators urged banks to flag transactions — purchases from Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, and even purchases of Bibles — in materials on detecting ‘domestic violent extremism.
​
​The administration circulated 'hate group' lists featuring organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom—a Christian legal group—while actually closing the accounts of others like the National Committee for Religious Freedom.
​
Trump's order finally breaks this cycle of regulatory abuse, restoring financial freedom to millions of Americans whose only crime was thinking differently than Washington's elite.

Trump's Cycle of Retribution Intensifies

Jack Smith, the federal prosecutor who specialized in war crimes cases before being tapped to investigate Trump, now faces attack by the Trump administration. The Office of Special Counsel is probing whether Smith violated the Hatch Act through his criminal investigations of Trump for election interference and classified document retention. Smith brought two federal cases in 2023, both abandoned after Trump's reelection due to longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents—though Supreme Court immunity rulings also severely constrained the cases.
​
Republican Senator Tom Cotton triggered the investigation, claiming Smith violated the Hatch Act by filing court briefs within 60 days of the election. The 1939 law prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activities while on duty. Yet Cotton and the Trump administration offer no specific evidence Smith acted for political rather than legal reasons. Smith's final report concluded Trump would have been convicted "but for his election and imminent return to the Presidency."
​
Critics argue the Hatch Act violates First Amendment rights—but the Supreme Court has twice upheld it amid fierce dissent. The law's enforcement reveals troubling patterns: multiple officials across Trump, Obama, and Bush administrations have violated it, from Kellyanne Conway to Kathleen Sebelius to multiple Bush Cabinet members. Yet selective enforcement now targets prosecutors doing their jobs while political appointees routinely escape consequences.
​
This vindictive cycle poisons democracy. Under these conditions, what qualified person would risk serving in government—whether as prosecutor, inspector general, or elected official? When justice becomes retribution, democratic institutions crumble.

As Promised - My List of Sources

As promised last week, here are my primary sources for the newsletter.
​
I'd love your feedback on whether I've categorized any political orientations incorrectly, if there are must-read sources I'm missing, or anything else that stands out.
​
One thing that struck me while compiling this: the vast majority are Western-owned. I hadn't realized, for instance, that Americas Quarterly was American-run. This made me recognize I need more local coverage sources from the regions we cover. I'll be seeking those out in the coming weeks.
​
What do you think? Hit reply to let me know.

Refer a Friend:

If you've enjoyed this episode of "Dispatches from the Rebellion", please consider referring a friend. Forward this email and ask them to click on the "Subscribe" button below to sign up.

​