"Polls, Damned Polls and the Truth About Venezuela"

[VioletLake]

Excerpt:

The problem then, as now, was that the US press colluded with the government to create massive lie which few dared challenge. So as not to perpetuate that lie, that “none of us knew what we know now,” it’s important to point out that truly independent, brave and critical writers and analysts on the left, and, to their credit, the libertarian right at www.antiwar.com , did their best to speak out and be heard. But those voices, as we all know, were excluded from the corporate press. The lie was, again, “most obvious to an outsider” and many reverted to getting their news about the war from the foreign press.

By contrast with what might be called a totalitarian unanimity of the dominant US media (if we agree that conservatives and liberals, behind the curtain, are, in fact, on the same side), in Venezuela the media is divided and quite diverse, as is public opinion. For one thing, Venezuelans have far more daily newspapers in opposition to the government than those supporting Chavez. Diario Vea is the only pro-government daily in the country, and its size and circulation is dwarfed by any one of the large corporate papers like El Nacional or Universal. Vea is rarely found outside of the major urban centers while the corporate press still finds its way into the remotest corners of the country. Pro-government opinion is carried into the countryside by one or more of a few television channels or, more likely, by community radio stations which have grown exponentially under Chavez. This range of opinion and competition of ideas, coupled with dramatic increases in funding for education under the Chavez government, has inculcated in the Venezuelan public a rare critical consciousness.

http://www.counterpunch.org/ross09092010.html

[Doctor_J]

1. This is going to be good

A whole lot of DUers believe Hugo controls the Venezuelan media totally and ruthlessly. That's a lie of course, but so is 95% of Big Media's output

[groovedaddy]

2. Here's to the success of Venezuela! I really like the "rare, critical consciousness". We

could certainly use it here.

[fascisthunter]

3. Well, Many Here Already Knew this Stuff... I hope more see this

the lying and propaganda has crippled this country's intellect and reasoning. Enough is enough already... it doesn't work!!!

[justinaforjustice]

4. Duplicate Deleted.

[justinaforjustice]

5. From An American Living in Venezuela:

I've been living in Merída, Venezuela for the last three years and closely observing the political reality here.

The posted story is absolutely accurate. There are many, many newspapers here, and the overwhelming majority are published by anti-Chavez companies. The U.S. State Department and U.S. media continually accuse Chavez of suppressing the opposition press, but the opposition press controls most of the print media here and much of the TV programing. They publish quite freely and openly criticize Chavez and the government.

The news published in the U.S. about Chavez and his socialist government is full of totally false allegations. They fear printing the truth about Venezuela because U.S. citizens might start fighting for similarly helpful social programs -- like totally free medical, dental and optical care, free public education to the doctoral level, low cost food markets and government loans for buying houses and starting small businesses and cooperatives. Given that the corporate banksters in the U.S. have totally destroyed the U.S. economy, such programs are desperately needed by all Americans.

While the U.S. Department of Education reports that 47 million Americans are functionally illiterate, illiteracy, which was common before Chavez was elected to office in 1998, has almost disappeared here. Poverty has been halved. We need to do the same in the U.S.

[IndianaGreen]

6. The things we could achieve with an American version of the Bolivarian Revolution

That's what our ruling class fears the most!

[K8-EEE]

7. Maria Conchita Alonso will unrec this thread

NOW YOU'VE DONE IT! ha...