Venezuelan opposition leader demands release of jailed protesters

[jefferson_dem]

Source: AP

Venezuelan opposition leader demands release of jailed protesters
The Associated Press

Published: May 30, 2007

CARACAS, Venezuela: A top opponent of President Hugo Chavez demanded the release of jailed protesters as university students poured into the streets for a third day to protest the removal of a leading opposition TV station from the air.

Former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales said Wednesday that protests over the government's move to halt the broadcasts of Radio Caracas Television show that "freedom cannot be negotiated nor bargained."

Protesters have filled the capital's plazas and streets since the opposition-aligned channel went off the air at midnight Sunday. Chavez refused to renew its broadcast license, and police have clashed with angry crowds hurling rocks and bottles.

A total of 182 people — mostly university students and minors — have been detained in nearly 100 protests since Sunday, Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said late Tuesday. At least 30 were charged with violent acts, prosecutors said, but it was unclear how many remained behind bars.

"Freedom for those young men and women, immediately. They should not be treated like criminals," said Rosales, the governor of western Zulia state who was handily defeated by Chavez in December elections.

<SNIP>

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/31/america/LA-GEN-Venezuela-Chavez-vs-TV.php

[billbuckhead]

1. Throwing rocks and bottles because a station known for soap operas

is shut down?

[Exiled in America]

34. Um... yes. You would be too if your government shut down a TV station because it was opposition.

How the fuck can you be an apologist for that?

[Codeine]

38. Saint Hugo must not be questioned! nt

[High Plains]

42. How can you be an apologist for coup fomenters like RCTV?

They were part of a conspiracy to violently and unlawfully overthrow the duly elected government.

[Codeine]

46. Which court convicted them of that? nt

[EFerrari]

55. Their own news manager resigned over their part in the conspiracy. n/t

[originalpckelly]

68. How do you know he wasn't threatened? How do you know he wasn't lying?

Most civilized people in this world believe in the presumption of innocence until proof beyond a reasonable doubt has been presented to convict someone.

The government has justified this as a reaction to a coup attempt or conspiracy to overthrow a government, yet it has not taken prior measures in five years since the alleged crime occurred.

[killbotfactory]

101. He was threatened into blacking out the news to support a coup?

Yes, that seems plausible.

[NashVegas]

78. This Is a Matter of Public Record

and it was well-noted at the time it was happening. Just not in US papers.

[Codeine]

96. I reiterate,

which court CONVICTED them of this coup plotting? Maybe they were convicted; I'd like to know.

[killbotfactory]

100. Which court convicted Bush of lying us into war?

None, of course.

Does that mean it didn't happen?

[Codeine]

102. But

I wouldn't punish Bush without due process and ample evidence.

[billbuckhead]

81. If Venezuala would sell the traitorous stations to Faux would y'all be happy?

I won't shed a tear for any corporate media shut down around the world. I live in Atlanta Ga where all I hear all day on the radio is reichwing corporate propaganda even on music stations. I have little sympathy for Chavez's media opponents.

I think many are forgetting the real enemy of truth and democracy.

[Codeine]

103. The real enemy

can come from within as easily as from without. Enthusiastic embrace of strongmen and the cheering on of censorship is not in the best interest of the Left, and reflects badly on the movement.

[David__77]

2. They're acting like common criminals, stoning police officers.

Picture after picture of students throwing large rocks at the police is available online. This isn't "activism," it's assault. Peaceful protest is one thing, this is quite another.

[Codeine]

30. I'm quite certain

that you'd be a bit more cynical if our own government were making similar claims about protesters and their alleged behavior. Fascist bullshit.

[Exiled in America]

35. DING DING DING DING DING DING DING

[NashVegas]

80. "The Guy Who Wants to Make Bombs is FBI"

Old warning to protest groups, from those in the know.

[rinsd]

32. Much like genocide is ok when perpetrated by the left.

Your tune never changes....

[Codeine]

37. But but but

it was the CIA, man. . . they're settin' him up! :sarcasm:

There's always going to be this thread on the Left; in the old days it was Stalinist apologia, then the Khmer Rouge groupies, then the Serb defenders, and now the Chavezistas. Luckily it's never represented our majority, and good folks have always been willing to stand up and call the authoritarian strong-man-junkies on their hypocrisy. That's part of our strength.

[High Plains]

43. That's total bullshit. n/t

How is life in the 1950s, anyway?

[rinsd]

45. I am refering to that specific poster

Who has defended people convicted of genocide in Ethiopia.

[gravity]

71. I heard that same excuse coming from Israel

[David__77]

83. Lol...

All you anti-Chavez people are trying to make this about Israel or even Ethiopia (see above)! I personally don't see the relevance of your arguments.

Are you saying that law enforcement officers, regardless of country, are NEVER justified in using non-lethal force to subdue stone-throwing rioters? That seems to be the logic of what you are saying.

[gravity]

92. I am pointing out the political bias

The excuse you gave is the excuse I hear the right say about breaking up and arresting protesters in the this country.

Just close you eyes and imagine that it was Bush arresting violent dissenters in this country.

[David__77]

94. If people in this country are throwing rocks, they will be arrested.

And deservedly so, if only for being so politically undisciplined. It's selfish to engage in such petty and counterproductive displays. There are other avenues. If masses of students were throwing rocks at police in this country, the people would likely reject this and sympathize with the right-wingers, as it likely is the case that people will sympathize with Chavez for the behavior of students there. I'm sorry, I cannot condone that kind of behavior in a democracy, even in one weakened and degraded like the US.

[jkg4peace]

3. there is something so familiar

about the way youth and students are rounded up to protest for the right-wing cause to give it a touch of legitimacy (CIA ops in Guatemala when they "staged" the revolt against Arbenz?). Looks better than a bunch of rich fucks and Corporate cronies on the ol' tv and plucks at the heartstrings. I am sure it isn't hard to manipulate them -- I wouldn't be surprised if they paid them. Because, frankly, there is so much freedom of speech in Venezuela, the cries for this particularly criminal corporation that clearly did NOT serve the public interest seem rather hollow.

[Andrushka]

6. Right on the money

(no pun intended!)

Yeah, it stinks to high heaven. BS meter is in the red. How much, I wonder, did these 'students' get paid?

[papau]

15. The CIA provided them with a communication system - Facebook I believe is being used

to give instructions on the plan for each day in this "un-planned" spontaneous demonstrations for "freedom".

There is even a CIA financed video game meant to give the kids ideas - But of course, (from internet news reports whose links I've lost) "Chris Norris, a publicist for Pandemic in Los Angeles, said the game wasn't intended to make a political statement about Chavez, though designers "always want to have a rip from the headlines."

"Mercenaries 2: World in Flames" tries to drum up support for a move to overthrow Chavez. Pandemic describes "Mercenaries 2" as "an explosive open-world action game" in which "a power-hungry tyrant messes with Venezuela's oil supply, sparking an invasion that turns the country into a war zone." The company says players take on the role of well-armed mercenaries."

Not that our CIA is at it again, or anything - just same old, same old - getting boring

CNN, Fox, and a few other news shows are saying "tens of thousands" are marching each day. Yesterday there was an 8000 student/miner march plus a separate 1000 student march. That's it.

[BestCenter]

39. You're kidding, right?

The CIA has infiltrated Facebook? Create your own account and check it out. Most of the pro-RCTV events were created by American or Venezuelan KIDS, for free speech rallies and whatnot. You're alledging that the CIA is using Facebook for psyops? What's next, the FBI is reading MySpace profiles to frame people for terrorism?

And Mercenaries 2 hasn't even been released yet. The game, I believe, has been delayed. And not only that, according to the creators, the game is set there because 1) Venezuela lends well to the art design, and 2) there is oil there, which makes it a plausible flashpoint for FICTION. It's the same sort of thing as a Tom Clancy novel- possibly the plot will be dreck, but it's not going to inspire any American kids to take up arms for a right wing cause.

Get educated before you criticize about things you apaprently don't know about.

[papau]

66. I say psyops - you say the kids - all of them- are being coordinated by fellow kids - right - the

kids are indeed the children of the privileged and therefore would worry about their trust funds and be motivated to protest.

But my own experience being very active in the 60's with the same age group and watching our CIA&FBI friends "help" as if they were part of the group says this has a non-kid leader - Facebook is indeed being used to pass instructions - and the claim all this was spontaneous with only a kid origin doesn't pass my smell test.

But feel free to disagree and post how evil Chavez is for moving some of the country's resource income down to the poor and for his most mild of punishments for trying to overthrow the government by force - the non-renewal of a UHF TV license while allowing those same RCTV people to continue their Sat and cable operations.

The RCTV management committed treason and should be in prison.

[eridani]

107. Indeed, I remember when SDS would hold workshops on gun maintenance

--just so the FBI agents would go there instead of to the real workshopw.

[papau]

114. :-)

:-)

[Robbien]

29. Not surprising since Negroponte has been assigned the Latin American beat

Negroponte has been stirring the Cuban/Venezuelan pot for the last year.

Violent Riots mysteriously happening is a classic trademark of Negroponte.

[IndianaGreen]

4. The American taxpayer is financing this "opposition" through NED

Nothing like having our rightwing government use my tax dollars to undermine a progressive government in the name of "freedom and democracy."

The Right-to-Lifers argued that public funds should not go to pay for abortion because it was against their moral precepts. Why don't we apply the same principle to our own progressive moral precepts and demand that public funds don't go to pay for NED or for Radio Marti, or the war.

[Joanne98]

77. EXACTLY!

[dsa]

5. Yet another example of Chavez's abuses

As someone who knows the sister of a Chavez protester who was imprisoned in 2006, this story rings 100% true.

Chavez may have loud and vocal defenders on this site but the majority see through his facade of righteousness to the tin-plated dictator who dwells within.

[IndianaGreen]

7. We read that sob story before

You never went into details as to what your friend's brother was charged with, but considering the time frame was around the coup, we are left wondering.

[dsa]

9. The coup attempt was in 2002

2005 was when Chavez's goons took over the country's Congress, further consolidating his quest for absolute power (unless you are now unwittingly suggesting this act in itself was a pro-Chavez coup!). That's what my friend's brother was protesting and why he was arrested in early 2006.

If the conservatives ever do likewise in the US and you are arrested for protesting, I'll be sure to give you the same compassion you've shown here.

I was angered and disillusioned by the disrespect I received when I first came to this site. Luckily, my faith in human decency is renewed by the large group of supporters who feel as I do about what is going on in Venezuela. I will no longer be intimidated and bullied by the Chavez supporters who wear blinders so tight they wouldn't be able to see the truth if it was glued to their noses.

[Codeine]

31. Don't let the bastards get you down.

The pro-Chavez crowd is not the majority of American liberals, they're just very loud and exceptionally nasty. There are authoritarians and fascists on both sides of the aisle, and now you've met ours.

[originalpckelly]

69. Personally, I think they've been indoctrinated into a personality cult.

I've debated members of Scientology before, and every time I debate the Chavez cultists I get the same type of BS.

If this was a people's revolution we'd be talking about the people of Venezuela, not one man. It's all about Chavez.

I hope everyone's ok now after what happened, just know you'll always have some type of help from the good people who don't buy into Chavez's bullshit.

[eridani]

108. You mean when the opposition boycotted the elections and refused to participate? n/t

[Judi Lynn]

112. You may remember it was discussed here, before the election, when they were discussing it.

There was a DU consensus that they knew they were going to get their asses kicked by a Chavez landslide, and more proof they could NOT be less liked by the majority of Venezuelan voters.

They opted out because they didn't want the truth to be seen with such absolute clarity. They wanted to divert attention from their massive unpopularity, and the heavy losses which were just around the corner for them, EVEN IF THEY ALL VOTED.

Hearing a visitor to DU or two gibber about Chavez people stealing the election, or "taking over," is astonishingly daring as an attempt to deceive. They don't seem to grasp the fact many of us have been watching Venezuela since the coup, even though we weren't before that.

We got goddamned interested when we realized the blob in the President's house has spent American taxpayers' money trying to overthrow a massively supported leader through conspiring with the oligarchy P.O.S.'s for months in advance, IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

[eridani]

113. Indeed. That's when I started following Venezuela news

I was impressed as hell at the role those internets tubes had in getting the truth out, fast.

[zeemike]

8. Just curious but

That sister of the protester, is she connected? are they from one of the wealthy families that ruled the country for so long? what do they do for a living there or was there living made for them long ago and they now just reap the income from investments.
The curious mind wants to know.

[dsa]

11. Here we go again...

...yeah, everyone who protests Chavez must be wealthy and exploiting the poor, right? No, her family is no where near wealthy. I don't know all the details about what her family does but I believe her father is some kind of tradesman and her brother was a student at the time of his arrest. My friend is working two jobs trying to support herself and make enough money to bring her family out of Venezuela. Our church is also raising funds to help, which is how I met her. The biggest challenge is freeing her brother so the rest of the family is willing to leave.

By the way, this notion that all the rich are against Chavez and all the poor love him is wrong. There are groups of wealthy, middle class, and poor who support or oppose Chavez just like there are people from all walks of life who support or oppose Bush.

[zeemike]

13. I would never use the word everyone

That is just not realistic
But it seems if the whole family wants to leave the country it is because they backed the wrong man (wrong in the sense of being on the lousing side of the revolution)
But it seems to me that it comes down to this question...who owns the resources like Oil in Venezuela. Should it be put in the hands of private giant corporations for them to profit from or does it belong to the people who live there and be used for there welfare. Chavez says yes to the later and his opponents want it to remain in the hands of foreign companies.
There is nothing immoral in Chavez's position, but there is some questions about the lack of morality of a corporation who has no soul and is focused only on profits for it's investors with no consideration to how many real living people that need to suffer to give them that profit.
And it is not uncommon to see people voting against there own self interest but the majority are always there bot themselves and what they will get out of it. And so there are few who grew wealthy from the corporate ownership of the oil that support Chavez.

[dsa]

14. Is it moral

for Chavez to be given the power to rule by decree with no debate or agreement from any other institution of government?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6277379.stm

Is it moral for Chavez to form a personal militia of two million people completely independent from the military or police that answers only to him?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4635187.stm

Is it moral for Chavez to re-write the constitution so he can remain in office for decades?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6212430.stm

These are only the worst of his excesses. Look at what he is doing. His supposed fight against corruption is only an excuse to create an authoritarian dictatorship and eliminate all opposition.

[pork medley]

16. ok . . .

1) this is constitutional

2) this isnt true, unless you consider the fucking military a "personal militia" (edit #2: venezuela has a population of 27 million so (a) i find it hard to believe he could est. such an army w/out vast popular support and (b) stop shitting on the judgment of third world peoples. racism is inherent in your criticism of the policies of venezuela)

3) this is constitutional (edit #1: he didnt rewrite anything, venezuelan presidents have no term limits)

3a) quit running to the BBC to validate your flimsy arguments x(

[originalpckelly]

72. You know absolutely nothing about the Venezuelan constitution do you?

:eyes:

Venezuelan Presidents under the 99 constitution may now serve two consecutive term, where before they could only serve a single term then had to run again at a later time if they wanted to have a second term. Their term was reduced one year from six years to five years and now the people may have a referendum 1/2 through the President's term to recall the President if they attain 20% of the population's signatures on a petition.

So in other words, you are wrong.

[pork medley]

90. fine, i was wrong

but i was right as far as everything else goes, mr strawman :)

& i suppose you know all that there is to know about the venezuelean constitution, o spokesman of third world peoples everywhere

[Codeine]

104. Are you always so sarcastic and nasty

when proven demonstrably wrong?

And as for "Mr. Strawman," when did he claim the mantle of "spokesman of third world peoples everywhere" or claim to know "all that there is to know about the venezuelean constitution?"

I'm glad you've stepped up to defend the Chavezistas -- your flimsy arguments reflect the weakness of the whole charade.

[IndianaGreen]

20. Chavez's people's militia is the greatest expression of the Second Amendment

What you fail to conveniently mention in your post is that the militia was created in response to the Bush regime's threats to invade Venezuela.

As we have seen in Iraq, a well armed citizenship can give fits to a foreign occupier. The people of Venezuela have a God given right to defend themselves from American attack.

What a heart warming thought to dream of the day in which we have tens of millions of working class and economically disadvantaged American citizens, well armed and trained, organized in highly disciplined militias, all ready to defend their revolution and their hard won social gains from the oligarchs and war profiteers that had exploited them for so long. :-)

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

21. So basically you would support...

Bush giving arms and training (but only to Republicans or others who agree with him) to form a militia directly led by him? Because that's effectively what Chavez is doing. This is not some grassroots, decentralised militia organisation, regardless of how much Chavez wants it to look like one. And "because the Americans are coming" is just about as good an excuse as Bush's invocation of terrorism and 9/11 for all of his bullshit policies.

[pork medley]

40. prove your claims. i maintain that chavez' "personal militia" is nowhere near as huge as the US

military & frankly i'm amazed by the right-wing leanings here

quit feeding lies to the people here

[paulk]

48. what a cheap argument

So any argument that doesn't follow your's is right wing?

LOL.

[Codeine]

49. Listen, Batwing

Not being a Chavezista not not equate to being Right-wing. One can be a progressive liberal and still believe that Hugo Chavez is a piece of shit.

[pork medley]

64. thats kind of the problem

"progressive" liberalism (whatever that means) necessarily leads to the conclusion that basically every form of socialism ever implemented in history is BAD :(

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

50. What does the size of the US military...

...have to do with the price of tea in China? The primary problem that I see with the militia is that it appears to be organized in such a way that it is loyal to Chavez, as opposed to the Venezuelan state, and to me it represents another aspect of the cult of personality he seems to be building. That is what I find troubling. There's nothing right-wing about that position. Chavez has done many good things for his country. That doesn't mean I have to support everything he does.

[pork medley]

65. OH LOOK A PERSONAL MILITIA THAT IS LOYAL TO THE HEAD OF STATE

OTHERWISE KNOWN AS . . . A MILITARY

he is NOT building a cult of personality, youre just making a false comparison b/w him and josef stalin (why? because theyre both ostensibly socialists)

[Codeine]

105. You're confused again, Batwing.

Nothing unusual there, of course.

Militaries are not normally loyal only to the head of state, generally they owe their loyalty to the state as a whole.

Besides, this isn't about the military, this is about a wholly separate militia organization, created by Chavez and loyal to him.

[dsa]

111. You may be my new best friend!

Kudos on your superb rebuttals to the Chavez apologists (motto: "There's no dictator like our dictator!"). I couldn't have said it better myself!

:toast:

[zeemike]

25. Morality is not power

And under your objections to the power of Chavez you link power to morality as if to say that the more moral a person is the less power he has.
Oh if that were only true, but it is not. The only connection with power and morality is that the powerful can do greater moral injustice than the power less.
But no, none of what you have said is immoral.
The present queen of England has ruled for 50 years and you have not pointed out that it is immoral for her to do so. And a militia no matter who runs it is not immoral but could be used for immoral porpoises, and you have cited none of that.
I don't know you but let me say this because I think it is a factor in this situ ration that is real.
Does Chavez have the face of an evil man? He is dark and looks like an indian of the Mayan kind and has hair like that of a black person,,,just how much of that has shaped our perception of him? Would he be such an evil man if he looked like Vicente Fox?
But I say let's not judge him on how he looks and not accuse him of wrong doing until you can point to some immoral thing he has done, and power is not immorality

[eridani]

110. Rule by decree is constrained by the legislature

--which means that Chavez is subject to more oversight than American presidents using executive orders.

From your militia article--"The reserve unit has no weapons, Mr Cabrices says, but he wants some. He interrupted an interview to ask a reporter if he know anyone who could bring them arms." Sounds like they are much less well equipped than our own national guard. Really strange to hear Americans griping about "militias", given the 2nd amendment.

Chavez didn't rewrite the constitution all by his lonesome--the legislature had to approve and it was subject to a popular vote. And since when does lack of term limits become a sine qua non of democracy anyway? Were we a dictatorship for most of our existence until we put in presidential term limits?

[Vidar]

22. Very well expressed. Bravo.

[mediawatch]

23. I am sorry for your friend

You came to the wrong place for help. I am knew here and haven't quite grasped the love I see for Chavez. He is a dictator, and time will show this. The only thing I can gather is, chavez hates bush and therefor he has the love of this board.

I hope your friend's brother gets free and the family can leave. Funny those who have contacts inside venezuela tell the same story as you about chavez.

[High Plains]

44. Some of us here are socialists. We look with hope toward Venezuela.

Hope tinged with concern. We would like to see an alternative to predatory capitalism.

Chavez's Bush-bashing is just gravy.

[Codeine]

47. That reminds me of the old gulag aphorism

"Under capitalism man exploits his fellow man. Under socialism the opposite is true."

[SlipperySlope]

57. You summed it up

You fail to mention that when time reveals what Chavez really is, his failings will STILL somehow be blamed on the CIA.

It will be interesting to see how this board reacts to Chavez when there is a Democrat in office instead.

[NashVegas]

82. Classic Squeeze-Play

A nation has an unfriendly leader. We support agitation against said leader. If leader can keep his cool, he's just got a pain in the ass to live with and be distracted from implementing his policy goals while his administration lasts.

If leader cannot keep his cool, he goes all Idi Amin.

Daniel Ortega kept relatively cool.

[mediawatch]

24. I am sorry for your friend

You came to the wrong place for help. I am knew here and haven't quite grasped the love I see for Chavez. He is a dictator, and time will show this. The only thing I can gather is, chavez hates bush and therefor he has the love of this board.

I hope your friend's brother gets free and the family can leave. Funny those who have contacts inside venezuela tell the same story as you about chavez.

[Andrushka]

26. Oh brother...

:nopity:

[Andrushka]

12. This curious mind

wanted to know about this "student leader" John Goicochea is all about.

Turns out he is from UCAB, which is headed by this guy:

Luis Ugalde, president of Andrés Bello Catholic University
http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/02/23/en_ing_art_23A838483.shtml

No fan of Chavez, judging from what I have read elsewhere, and they have long butted heads. Something smells.

[David__77]

27. What about the opposition's abuses?

I happen to know the second cousin of the girlfriend of the brother of a police officer who was hit in the head with a rock by someone "protesting" against Chavez who was arrested in 2006. What a coincidence!

[Joanne98]

79. Boo Fucking Hoo!

[IndianaGreen]

10. Free Speech and the Corporate Media

I will add to a comment by Matt Parker (who doesn't support license revocation), that the law under which the RCTV license was not renewed, dates back to the mid-1980s, long before Chavez became President. The Chavez Administration did not yank RCTV's broadcast license, it simply did not renew it, just as we would have done under FCC rules if a radio or TV station had repeatedly violated the terms of its broadcast license.

Free Speech and the Corporate Media

By Matt Parker
5-30-07, 9:24 am

If a news station supports an anti-democratic coup against a democratically elected president, does that station have the right to broadcast ultra-right propaganda over public airwaves? If the government shuts that station down for its democratic violations, does that constitute an attack on freedom of speech? Do the people of a country have the right to decide what they allow broadcasted in their airspace? Or do the corporations have that right?

These are some of the central questions generated by Venezuela’s recent shutdown of “RCTV”, a right-wing television channel that supported the coup against Hugo Chavez in 2002. The station reported several lies during the coup, actively encouraged citizens to riot against the government, and then failed to report Chavez’s return to power three days later, instead deciding to broadcast cartoons.

Now, the Venezuelan government has declined to renew RCTV’s broadcast license, and in it’s place, has created a new progressive public television channel. RCTV, obviously facing a big dip in their profits (since they can no longer broadcast in Venezuela), has used their remaining corporate media friends and contacts to incite several protests all across the country, a few of which have turned violent. At the same time, pro-socialist and progressive forces have staged several mass rallies in support of the government’s decision to rid their country of the right-wing propaganda machine.

So who is the greater threat to democracy? A television station with a large audience, vast amounts of wealth, and a proven willingness to lie to it’s viewers and incite them to violence and large-scale anti-democratic actions like, say, a coup? Or a democratically elected government supported by a majority of the population that decides to revoke the news station’s license to broadcast lies over public airwaves?

And isn’t there something hypocritical about a corporation screaming about the violation of its democratic right to free speech, when it has a well documented history of grossly anti-democratic behavior?

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5353/1/264/

[pork medley]

17. no, the problem is that chavez replaced private media w/ public media

god forbid! everyone knows that corporate news is an essential part of any democracy! the news is nothing w/out money to back it up, after all

sometimes i doubt the pure motives of some of the posters here

[IndianaGreen]

18. FAIR's response to HRW and others, regarding RCTV's license not being renewed

When Patrick McElwee of the U.S.-based group Just Foreign Policy interviewed representatives of Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, all groups that have condemned Venezuela's action in denying RCTV's license renewal, he found that none of the spokespersons thought broadcasters were automatically entitled to license renewals, though none of them thought RCTV's actions in support of the coup should have resulted in the station having its license renewal denied. This led McElwee to wonder, based on the rights groups' arguments, "Could it be that governments like Venezuela have the theoretical right to not to renew a broadcast license, but that no responsible government would ever do it?"

McElwee acknowledged the critics' point that some form of due process should have been involved in the decisions, but explained that laws preexisting Chávez's presidency placed licensing decision with the executive branch, with no real provisions for a hearings process: "Unfortunately, this is what the law, first enacted in 1987, long before Chávez entered the political scene, allows. It charges the executive branch with decisions about license renewal, but does not seem to require any administrative hearing. The law should be changed, but at the current moment when broadcast licenses are up for renewal, it is the prevailing law and thus lays out the framework in which decisions are made."

Government actions weighing on journalism and broadcast licensing deserve strong scrutiny. However, on the central question of whether a government is bound to renew the license of a broadcaster when that broadcaster had been involved in a coup against the democratically elected government, the answer should be clear, as McElwee concludes:

The RCTV case is not about censorship of political opinion. It is about the government, through a flawed process, declining to renew a broadcast license to a company that would not get a license in other democracies, including the United States. In fact, it is frankly amazing that this company has been allowed to broadcast for 5 years after the coup, and that the Chávez government waited until its license expired to end its use of the public airwaves.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5337/1/260

[rinsd]

36. That isn't a response to HRW and its doesn't mention the government seizure of the station

Nor does it mention Hugo's threats against Globovision


Here's Hugo on Globovision

‘Enemies of the homeland, particularly those behind the scenes, I will give you a name: Globovision. Greetings, gentlemen of Globovision, you should watch where you are going,’ Chavez said in a broadcast all channels had to show.” He said, “‘I recommend you take a tranquillizer and get into gear, because if not, I am going to do what is necessary."

No chill on free speech there. :eyes:

Here's what actually happened. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/31/1412206

Now, let's talk about, Mr. Izarra just mentioned, openly calling for the overthrow of the government, Globovision, during the Alo Ciudadano program. Let's see what they did. Globovision transmitted a set of images from the history of Venezuela and the world, basically which were -- it was indeed a review, after more than fifty years of transmitting, what RCTV -- all of the events that they had been present in. And one of the images -- and this was in a set of different historical images that they presented -- was an image of the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II. And according to Minister of Communications William Lara, a group of expert semioticians -- I’m not joking; this was as it was reported in the New York Times -- a group of expert semioticians working in the Ministry of Communications actually have identified that the transmission of the historical video of the assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II was indeed a call to carry out an assassination attempt against Mr. Chavez. Now, anybody who believes that in a profoundly Catholic country, such as Venezuela, you are going to actually incite people to go out and kill Mr. Chavez by presenting an image of an assassination attempt against the Pope is certainly clearly out of their mind.

On and here's a Chavista with a lame comeback

"But in terms of -- Mr. Rodriguez is an economist, so these economists have a very linear way of thinking, you know. If you show the images of Pope John Paul II when he was -- his assassination attempt -- and you put a music saying, “Everything has its end. People, go look for the end,” and in a context where you are reporting on all this vitriolic chants against the government and calls for to rebel against the government and denounce a dictatorship, that simple historic image gets a new context, and the message gets a very clear direction. You people, who are broadcasting, who are communications people, know very well how images can be manipulated and can be used to promote a sense and to promote a line of thought and feelings among the people."

[EFerrari]

56. Globovision called for violent revolt. Maybe that was a bad idea.

[rinsd]

59. Except that they didn't.

[EFerrari]

60. Obtuse much?

[Malidictus Maximus]

75. I seem to recall an ancient Chinese saying:

If you are going to try to kill the king, it is a good idea to succeed.

[papau]

67. Obviously true - and an excellent read - thanks for posting. n/t

n/t

[NashVegas]

85. Ever Wonder How US Stations Lose Their License?

First, when you come up for renewal, anyone can challenge you. Whether it be for reasons of protest, or they want the signal themselves, the challenge can happen.

You won't go to trial for seditious acts, you'll get an FCC hearing.

[IndianaGreen]

19. RCTV is still broadcasting on cable, and their website is still up and running

Their license to broadcast on Channel 2, a public airwaves was not renewed. If they had done in the US what they did in Venezuela, they would have been entirely shutdown by the federal government 5 years ago, and their owners would have been thrown in Guantanamo.

[DerBeppo]

28. But...

would NBC have been replaced by a government sponsored, government run mouthpiece in which to spread propaganda unchecked? It's very simple, just ask yourself "if * did this, would I still agree with it?"

[pork medley]

33. if Bush were president of a 3rd world country that had repeatedly been fucked over by the US

& if he had consistently acted in the best interests of his constituents? basically if he were a different person completely?

yeah sure :)

[BestCenter]

41. You'd support a propaganda machine?

If this hypothetical '3rd-world Bush' was so great, why would he need a propaganda machine?

[DerBeppo]

51. all attempts to give or scede power to the "good guys"

must take into account what will happen when the "good guys" aren't in power.

[pork medley]

62. what ever

[Codeine]

106. Batwing is learning.

As long as he/she sticks to single-word, no-text, content-free posts he/she cannot be caught in any more factual errors.

A cunning plan, m'lord.

[pork medley]

116. talk about no-content posts

:that rolling-on-the-floor-laughing smilie:

and kindly leave your condescending tone elsewhere, unless you decided to post on internet messageboards for self validation. thanks :)

and you DO realize you havent backed up a single one of your claims w/ actual sources (just a lot of smugness), right?

[killbotfactory]

53. You don't even know what RCTV is being replaced with

[papau]

70. TVES's programming will be 70% Local produced - exercise prg and talk show were first two shows broa

TVES's programming will be 70% Local produced - exercise prg and talk show were first two shows broadcast

TVes has planned a schedule with many different types of programming, including news, sports, movies, music, drama and children's shows. The network says it will reflect Venezuela's social diversity and provide a forum for independent producers. TVes will also air content from the National Geographic Channel on weekday mornings.<10>

TVes director Asalia Venegas said the new network should bring Venezuelan television closer to a European model, in which the state takes an active role in education and cultural promotion, as opposed to the "commercial television of U.S. capitalism.

TVes debe diferenciarse del modelo comercial capitalista de EEUU
ABN 28/05/2007


Caracas, 28 May. ABN.- El modelo de televisión de servicio público en que se enmarca la Fundación Televisora Venezolana Social (TVes) debe diferenciarse del modelo comercial capitalista estadounidense, afirmó Asalia Venegas, miembro de la junta directiva de la nueva estación.

Venegas argumentó que «en todo el mundo, especialmente en Europa, el Ejecutivo se apertrecha contra el modelo de televisión desarrollado por Estados Unidos desde los años 50 de manera que no acapare los espacios de la programación de las televisoras de servicio público».

«La televisión de servicio público está garantizada, en su historia, por la presencia del Estado como coordinador de la garantía de la educación y la cultura de cada nación, por lo que se da la propuesta que confronte la televisión comercial del capitalismo estadounidense», explicó Venegas durante una entrevista en Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

Afirmó que la directiva de TVes «está compuesta por gente verdaderamente preocupada con respecto al uso que se le venía dando a la televisión en Venezuela».

«Los 55 años de historia de televisión en Venezuela fueron muy perjudiciales para nuestro país, por lo que cualquier venezolano debe saber lo que debe hacer a partir de ahora», señaló Venegas.

Con respecto a la programación de TVes, indicó que ésta abarca diferentes segmentos o áreas de entretenimiento, sin excluir la información y opinión en los horarios matutino, meridiano y estelar.

Por otra parte, dijo que también sobre la base de lo que debe ser una televisora de servicio público, la directiva de TVes será crítica y autocrítica respecto a la programación de este nuevo canal.

De igual forma, destacó que «los productores nacionales independientes (PNI), históricamente excluidos por la televisión comercial, son fundamentales para que la programación de servicio público de TVes sea de 24 horas».

[killbotfactory]

99. Man... that sounds awful

Poor corporate media, will they ever get a break?

[DuaneBidoux]

52. As a DU veteran I know little about the situation in Venezuala

so I try and form some of my opinions by listening to organizations that I know and respect (within a reasonable limit).

When the Carter Center (you know...as in Jimmy, winner of the 2002 Noble Peace Prize) says it is concerned that "non-renewal of broadcast concessions for political reasons will have a chilling effect on free speech."

or Reporters Without Frontiers (a group that I have long greatly respected) "accused Chavez of seeking to stamp out the country's opposition media entirely" I start to pause and take notice.

And then I have heard amazing statements such as the need to arrest those who "threaten the state" (I think Chavez said something like this several days ago). I just think of how many times in history those phrases have been uttered by individuals in power and how rarely (never?) the result has been democracy.

I don't like dictators of any persuasion and am amazed at the defense this guy gets on a site that has the word "democratic" in the name.

[SlipperySlope]

58. What is with the support for him?

He is a dictator, or well on the way to being one.

So, either DU is full of people who will support anyone so long as he opposes Bush, or DU is full of people who support dictatorship so long as it is the kind they like.

[originalpckelly]

74. I know, that's why I take great interest in this topic...

I have empathy for the Venezuelan people, I can try and imagine how awful what's happening to them would be if it were myself in their position, but I am incredibly worried that we have so many people who believe essential liberty is only important when a Republican/rightwinger is taking it away, not when someone on our side does it.

[DuaneBidoux]

89. See for me that's the thing. I don't see any dictator being part of "our side."

Or perhaps I should say, I don't consider that I am on the side of any dictator.

I never have felt real comfortable with this linear spectrum that goes from the left (Totalitariansm) to the right (Authoritarianism).

I see, instead, a horseshoe. On the ends of the horse shoe are dictators of the authoritarian and totalitarian persuasion. Those two ends of the spectrum (like the horseshoe) are actually quite close to each other in proximity. Then, in the middle of the horseshoe is democracy--where all people have rights and all people have a say and all people have power (which does not mean no responsibility to the community as a whole or no responsibility of the community to the individual).

[tidy_bowl]

61. Power corrupts....

....and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Chavez in living the dream.

[pork medley]

73. reporters w/out borders is sponsored by the US State Dept

why do you respect them so much? theyre clearly a government front

[DuaneBidoux]

86. Okay let's say you are right--what about Amnesty International and Carter Center.

Are they also fronts for the US government?

[pork medley]

97. i invite you to cite sources from amnesty int'l

but, no, i dont think the carter center is reliable

[DuaneBidoux]

115. Is there anyone not in on the corporate capitalist global conspiracy?

If I can't even trust Jimmy Carter then I guess I'd better grab my family, get my weapons, and stake a location out in some wilderness somewhere.

[David__77]

91. I just wish RSF was at least consistent

They're full of sound and fury about the situationn in Venezuela, and yet they refust to condemn the US occupation of Iraq for the murders of many reporters by US forces there. They certainly appeared to support the right-wing coup against Haiti's democratically-elected president Aristide as well.

I wouldn't discount everything they say, but I'd take it with all the skepticism one would apply to a document by a governmental intelligence agency.

[DuaneBidoux]

95. I agree with you completely even though I have been very worried about Chavez.

And made numerous criticisms of his methodology.

And although you say they are full of "sound and fury" about the situation in Venezuela I think close attention reveals they have been full of sound and fury about only one thing: suppression of media. They've made no comments on land reform, or the nationalization of industries, or taxes on exports, etc.

Not to sound too stupid, but I don't think in general RSF makes political comments period. They deal, very specifically, with instances of reporters being arrested without due process, or papers or other media sources being muzzled, etc. They have in the past been critical of government arrests of American reporters for not revealing sources.

[DuaneBidoux]

93. I've done research and found differently

Reporters Without Borders is registered in France as a non-profit organisation and has consultant status at the United Nations.

In 2005, the organisation won the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

While it is true that the state department gives funding it is true that they receive lots of money from a wide variety of sources both governmental, press related, and private donors. Most of their government funding comes from countries that do indeed have elected governments. Also, a close check of their track record shows they do not discriminate when it comes to criticism of countries. They have critisised US on numerous occasions for arresting reporters who refused to reveal sources and they have been critical of a number of right wing authoritarian regimes.

[NashVegas]

88. As Another DU Veteran, I Respectfully Say, 'You Need to Read Further'

JC's a great guy, but his own record is stained on Central America in the matter of El Salvador.

Reporters Without Frontiers even acknowledged the VZ media was a part of the 2002 coup, though they did everything they could to play down that fact.

If you were here in DU in April of 2002, you would have come across an amazing thread that carried first-hand accounts and photos of what was going on. And it was something completely different from reports in US press.

[EFerrari]

54. Free the rich kids!

:rofl:

[David__77]

84. It's like the "Brooks Brothers riot" of 2000.

If only the police had controlled that fascist mob, maybe there'd be a President Gore right now.

[Joanne98]

87. LOL!

[tom_paine]

63. Mr. Chavez appears more and more to be a Bushist Authoritarian

Although, he does rationalize his increasingly tyrannical actions from a left-wing perspective.

Hooray. :sarcasm:

Authoritarianism should be resisted no matter which wing's skirts it's hiding behind on this particular day.

[Name removed]

76. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[pork medley]

98. Information and Analysis: Towards a world for people not profit

21st Century Socialism


May 27th 2007
The truth about RCTV

Tonight, the Venezuelan TV station RCTV will transmit its final broadcast.
The British-based Venezuela Information Centre explains why.
In recent weeks a number of press articles have claimed that Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez is closing down the TV station RCTV and that this is a
sign of increasing censorship and restrictions to the freedom of expression
in Venezuela.

*These are false allegations, circulated by opponents of the Chávez
government as part of a politically motivated campaign to undermine support
for the government. The truth about RCTV is very different and below the
Venezuela Information Centre outlines the facts.

Is the Venezuelan government shutting down the RCTV Station?

Contrary to some reports, the RCTV station is not being closed down. Rather,
the Venezuelan government has chosen not to renew RCTV’s licence to
broadcast via Venezuela’s Channel Two when this expires on 27 May. RCTV will
continue to be able to operate freely in Venezuela on the public airwaves on
cable and on satellite, as will the many TV and radio stations that RCTV
owner Empresas 1BC runs across Venezuela.

Why has the government decided not to renew RCTV’s licence?

As with other democracies, Venezuelan law allows the government the right to
grant broadcast licences, renew them or let them expire. The government has
made the decision not to renew because of RCTV’s violation of numerous laws
– most notably the active support it gave to a military coup in April 2002
to overthrow the democratically-elected Chávez government.

In addition to its violation of laws that prohibit the incitement of
political violence, RCTV has not co-operated with tax laws and has failed to
pay fines issued by the Telecommunications Commission.

RCTV’s involvement in the 2002 coup
In April 2002, a violent military coup temporarily overthrew the
democratically-elected government of President Hugo Chávez. At least 13
people were killed and in the 48 hours that the coup plotters held power
there was violent repression against those protesting for Chávez’s return
and many were shot at by the police. The coup plotters overturned key
components of Venezuela’s democratic constitution - closing down the elected
National Assembly, the Supreme Court and other state institutions.

Sections of Venezuela’s private media – including RCTV – played an active
role in supporting this coup which became known as the world’s first ‘media
coup’. One of the coup leaders Vice-Admiral Victor Ramirez Perez, underlined
the key role of the media in organising the coup, stating, “We had a deadly
weapon – the media.” The media’s role is highlighted in the documentaries,
The Revolution Will Not be Televised and the new John Pilger film The War on
Democracy.

RCTV’s specific involvement included running adverts encouraging the public
to take to the streets and to overthrow the democratically elected
president. As www.venezuelanalysis.com highlighted, RCTV was the first
to broadcast the false claim that Chávez’s supporters were shooting at
opposition demonstrators, which then served as a justification for high
level military generals to declare their disobedience to the government
and RCTV also showed exclusive interviews with coup plotters.

RCTV’s involvement was publicly highlighted on a television chat show the
day after the coup, where journalists and military plotters boasted of their
collaboration in creating a violent confrontation that could be used to
justify the overthrow of the government. In this exchange, one conspirator
says: "I must thank Venevision and RCTV" for the role it played. RCTV's
participation was so extensive that its production manager, Andrés Izarra,
who opposed the coup, immediately resigned so as not to become an
accomplice.

In addition to direct misrepresentation of events, RCTV also censored news
reporting to try to stop the public from finding out what was really
happening. RCTV's owner Marcel Granier ordered on the day of the coup and
the following day that there was to be "No information on Chávez, his
followers, his ministers, and all others" on the station. A managing
producer of one of the station's news programmes affirmed this when
testifying to the Venezuelan National Assembly. Instead, in the days of the
coup, when hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to demand the
return of President Chavez, RCTV showed only cartoons. This is in clear
violation of regulations contained in Article 58 of the Venezuelan
Constitution that guarantee Venezuelan citizens a right to "true and
accurate information".

In no country would it be the case that media outlets which have not only
called for, but also played a key role in organising the violent overthrow
of a democratic government, would have their licence to broadcast renewed.

Following their support for the April 2002 military coup, sections of the
media have continued to go beyond just expressing criticism of the
democratic Venezuelan government by calling for its overthrow. For example,
just a few months after the April 2002 military coup, a sabotage of the oil
industry – Venezuela’s main source of revenue *– was organised by industry
employers with the intention of creating severe economic hardship that would
lead to the overthrow of the Chavez government. It lasted for two months and
saw Venezuela’s economy shrink in the first and second quarters of 2003 by
15 percent and 25 percent respectively. Again, the four main TV stations,
including RCTV, ran a propaganda war against Chavez including broadcasting
17,600 ‘advertisements’ in support of the sabotage. Many of these were paid
for by the TV stations themselves.

Is the non-renewal of the licence legal and have other governments made
similar decisions?

Most countries regard the TV and radio airwaves as a public space that has
to be regulated through laws and codes of conduct. Governments or delegated
bodies are empowered to take action against any broadcaster that fails in
its legally prescribed responsibilities.
Across the world, decisions not to renew licences to those who have violated
these requirements are not unusual. A report by J. David Carracedo published
in the magazine Diagonal on 21 countries, including the US and in Europe,
found that there have been at least 236 closures, revocations, and
non-renewals of radio and TV licences. In addition research conducted
by the Venezuelan Ministry of Telecommunications shows that over 600 TV
broadcasting licences have not been renewed all around the world.

In Venezuela, the regulations are based on Article 156 of the Venezuelan
Constitution, the Organic Law of Telecommunications (2000) and the Law of
Social Responsibility in Radio and Television (2004) Similarly, there are
requirements on broadcasters in the US and Britain.

In the US, laws have long established standards to which all broadcasters
must adhere. These are maintained by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) which controls licensing and programming. The FCC has regularly denied
licence renewals based on these standards and as an article in the Houston
Chronicle noted, “it’s doubtful actions would last more than a few
minutes with the FCC.”

In Britain, TV and radio must adhere to the Broadcasting Code which embodies
objectives that Parliament set down in the Communications Act of 2003. This
states that “Material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime
or to lead to disorder must not be included in television or radio
services” and that “Broadcasters must use their best endeavors so as not
to broadcast material that could endanger lives.” RCTV’s role in the
coup would have clearly violated these laws.


Will alternative views still be able to be expressed in Venezuela?


Much of the reporting of the non-renewal of the RCTV licence has implied
that this station is a lone critical voice of the Chavez government. This
could not be further from the truth.
It is estimated that 95 percent of the Venezuelan media is in opposition to
President Chávez, and on a daily basis produces vitriolic ‘news pieces’ as
well as editorials against the government.. The private Venezuelan
media includes five major television channels –Venevisión, RCTV,
Globovisión, Televen and CMT – which control at least 90 percent of the TV
market, with smaller private stations controlling another five percent.
In addition all of the country’s 118 newspaper companies, both regional and
national, are held in private hands, as are 99 percent of radio
stations.

Venezuela’s media enjoys the freedom to report and express opinions without
government interference. Despite the clear violations of laws and active
support for the overthrowing of a democratic government, not a single TV or
radio station has been closed by the government since President Chávez was
elected in 1998.

However, two television channels have been shut down temporarily for
political reasons, not by the government, but by opponents of President
Chavez. One was the public station, Channel 8, which was shut down by the
junta responsible for the coup as part of concerted efforts to prevent the
truth from getting out. The second is the case of alternative station Catia
TV, which was closed in July 2003 by the former Metropolitan Area Mayor,
Alfredo Peña, an anti-Chávez member of the opposition and supporter of the
April 2002 coup.

In fact, since the election of the President Chávez, the diversity of media
has expanded. Venezuela’s Telecommunications Minister, Jesse Chacón,
recently pointed out that during the Chávez presidency the number of TV
channels have increased from 30 to 78 and the number of FM radio
broadcasters from 368 to 617 since 1999.

What will replace RCTV on Channel Two?

In addition to RCTV’s failure to meet basic public interest standards, the
Venezuelan government has also said that it has chosen to grant the licence
to another broadcaster in order to democratise both access to and the
content of the airwaves.

A new television station TEVES (Venezuelan Social Television) will begin
airing on Channel Two once RCTV’s licence expires. Government Minister Jesse
Chacon has said that TEVES will be similar in concept to that of European
public service broadcasting, with the aim of creating space for diverse
programming. He explained that the new channel will “break the editorial
line that exists in the TV business, where the owner of the medium is the
owner of the message” with independent TV producers creating the programmes
for the new channel. The Venezuelan Director of Public Policy of the
Ministry of Communication and Information, Luisana Colomine, added that “Any
person can participate in its production and no one will be excluded for
belonging to one political party or another… That's part of the idea of
public service”.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hugo Chávez and RCTV: Censorship or a legitimate decision? 7 February
2007 at http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1954
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised can be viewed at
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...90545689805144 or a copy can be
requested by e-mailing info (at) vicuk (dot) org . For more information on The War on
Democracy see www.johnpilger.com
Press Freedoms in Venezuela: The Case of RCTV. Venezuela Information
Office press release at www.rethinkvenezuela.com/downloads/RCTV.htm
The footage which claimed to show Chavez supporters firing on innocent
demonstrators, was actually scenes of pro-government demonstrators defending
themselves while under fire from trained snipers who were killing people as
shown in the film Llaguno Bridge: Keys to a Massacre at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9wU0OIIEmY
In the film The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
Press Freedoms in Venezuela: The Case of RCTV Venezuela Information
Office press release at www.rethinkvenezuela.com/downloads/RCTV.htm.
Press Freedoms in Venezuela: The Case of RCTV Venezuela Information
Office press release at www.rethinkvenezuela.com/downloads/RCTV.htm
Venezuelan Government Will Not Renew “Coup-Plotting” TV Station’s
License 3 January 2007 at www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2182
Eva Gollinger quoted in
http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEAS...05.47_Telesur_
the_one.htm
See the full report http://www.rebelion.org/docs/47853.pdf
Jones, Bart “Chavez as Castro? It’s not that simple in Venezuela,”
Houston Chronicle, February 7, 2007.
Section 3.1 of the OFCOM Broadcasting Code, available at
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/codes...sting-code.pdf
Section 3.6 of the OFCOM Broadcasting Code, available at
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/codes...sting-code.pdf
Press release from Council on Hemispheric Affairs 19 January 2007
http://www.coha.org/2007/01/19/hugo-...everybody-else
Press release from Council on Hemispheric Affairs 19 January 2007
http://www.coha.org/2007/01/19/hugo-...everybody-else
Press Freedoms in Venezuela: The Case of RCTV. Venezuela Information
Office press release at www.rethinkvenezuela.com/downloads/RCTV.htm
http://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/n8281.html
See Telecom Minister: New Channel Will Be First True Public TV in
Venezuela, March 29 2007, www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2254
Interview with Panorama, available at
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2296

[Andrushka]

109. Thanks Batwing

Great find.

Of course, the usual suspects will scroll right past to post some hysterical vitriol about Chavez being the next Hitler or some such garbage. Well done, nonetheless!