Venezuela & the Latin American Left | Thailand’s Royal Spell Has Been Broken | U.S. Must Lead Sanctions on Israel’s Illegal Occupation, and more

The warrant marks the first significant development toward potentially solving who was behind an act of sabotage that has sown political distrust among Western allies and raised the geopolitical stakes in Europe’s Baltic region.

Thai Court Ejects Prime Minister, as Old Guard Reasserts Power  (Sui-Lee Wee, New York Times)
Thailand’s Constitutional Court ousted Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office on Wednesday, throwing the country into fresh political turmoil just days after the court dissolved the country’s main opposition party.
In a 5-4 verdict, the court ruled that Mr. Srettha, who took office almost a year ago, violated ethics standards after he appointed to his cabinet a member previously convicted of attempted bribery.
Mr. Srettha was seen as a figurehead, closely allied with Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist former prime minister who has long sought to influence the country’s politics even after he was ousted and exiled in a 2006 coup.
The court’s decision is likely to intensify the disillusionment of many Thais, who see the case as the latest proof of intervention by an unelected establishment that is quashing the people’s will. Last week, the same court ordered the disbandment of the Move Forward Party, a progressive party that won last year’s election but was blocked from forming a government.
The constant upheaval in politics has diminished the government’s ability to address pressing issues such as reviving the country’s ailing, tourism-dependent economy.
But this dismissal is unlikely to galvanize angry protests. Mr. Srettha, a mild-mannered 62-year-old billionaire tycoon, was not a popular leader. He was installed only because a military-backed Senate prevented Pita Limjaroenrat, Move Forward’s former leader, from becoming premier. During his short term in office, Mr. Srettha was criticized for traveling abroad frequently with few results to show for it. He has said those trips were necessary to stimulate tourism and foreign investment.

Thailand’s Royal Spell Has Been Broken  (Pavin Chachavalpongpun, New York Times)
On the surface, Thailand appears to be stuck in a never-ending cycle.
Elections are held in which voters voice increasingly clear demands for change, only for those to be denied by the royalist old guard that has dominated my country for generations. Each of the past several elections, going back to 2005, has resulted in the winning party being denied its right to form a government or overthrown in a military coup or otherwise removed from office.
So when Thailand’s Constitutional Court last week ordered the dissolution of the country’s most popular political party — the pro-reform Move Forward Party, which won last year’s national election on a platform of curbing royal prerogatives — it seemed like the latest chapter in a normalized process of political stagnation.
But in reality what we are seeing is the beginning of the end for the Thai royalty’s once-commanding hold over its subjects, which could mean great change ahead for a traditional kingdom at the center of Southeast Asia.
The court decision is not a sign of the strength of the conservative establishment but of its weakness, a last-gasp attempt by the old guard to cling to an outdated status quo despite demands for change by millions of politically literate young Thais.

Why the U.S. Must Lead Sanctions on Israel’s Illegal Occupation  (Mohsen Farshneshani, Foreign Policy)
With the Middle East on the brink of full-scale war, the international community, led by the United States and its allies, faces a critical choice in addressing the conflict in Gaza: gamble on eventual peace through a belligerent Israeli government or enforce a new landmark legal judgment.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion just weeks ago declaring Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian territories unlawful and urging its end “as rapidly as possible.”
Israel’s illegal actions include the transfer of Israeli civilians into occupied territories, confiscation of Palestinian land, and exploitation of natural resources for the benefit of Israeli settlers. The opinion stated that these practices violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Regulations. Israel is party to the former and bound by customary international law to the latter. The ICJ ruling referred implementation of the ruling to the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council, where Washington holds significant sway.
For the opinion to be a step toward accountability, the United States and its allies must demonstrate respect for the same rules-based order they once helped establish­­––yet have failed to uphold when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Washington must employ unilateral or multilateral economic sanctions against the illegal occupation, its settlements, and their institutional underpinnings. Failure to do so risks rendering the ruling a hollow gesture from the highest judicial authority of international law.