(Note: Matthew Maly is a courageous and astute Russian-American who is based in Kiev, and is a SubmergingMarkets Contributing Editor. He filed the following brief eyewitness report late Saturday night, as demonstrations in the city were mounting. As journalists who are intimately familiar with so-called "democratic" countries that routinely subvert democratic elections and press freedoms, we wish to express our solidarity with the people of the Ukraine.)
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Kiev is a city of 4 million people. About a million of them today wore Yushchenko's orange color, and that includes all students, and a fair number of grandmothers, yuppies, businessmen, etc. His opponent is a twice convicted Al Capone, for whom no more than 30% of Ukrainians voted.
There was tremendous electoral abuse. There is a Woodstock atmosphere in the city which the people will never forget. Half a million Kievites and "visitors" (some with good military skills)were on the main square today, screaming "Yushchenko" so that I heard it a mile away.
Nothing like that has ever happened in the CIS, ever. It is not even similar to winning a Superbowl. Ukraine will never be the same, whatever happens, as the young people will never forget.
Tonight the people may storm the Presidential Administration, and there may be lots of blood. I tried to stop the bloodshed all day today by pushing a neat political trick I invented, a certain Open Letter I wrote. They listened, but they already were handing out the guns....
©Matthew Maly, SubmergingMarkets™, 2004
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