Venezuela and Freedom of Speech.

 

This is the hard thing about fighting against the US imperialism: They fight you back in every single dirty way possible, you start trying to find allies , and generally end up of course really getting on the wrong side of the tracks.

 

I don't really find his support to Bolivia, Ecuador (both fighting the indegenous cause as he is) or even Cuba a problem, but lately, he's been making friends with Iran, and this bugs me incredibly. This is exactly were the US want him to head in order to have him demoted.

 

The constant pro-US olligarchy harassment (as well as the US itself) is pushing him to become increasingly paranoiac and making idiot mistakes such as these.

 

Chavez is not (yet) a dictator (but it looks like if he keeps going in his direction, he could become one someday), since he is regularly elected and those elections have always been scrutinized by the UN as fair.

 

 

It would be useful for Lula and Morales to have a good talk to Chavez about lightning up on his authoritarian stances.

 If you think that a channel is full of imperialist propaganda, YOU and only YOU can say " I dont like this, or I disagree", only you. Not the goverment, and to make it worse, from a bunch of people that are talking the whole day about that wealth is bad, that being rich is bad.....yes good one..but all the ones that tell you that, are driving Hummers and going on vacations to the USA as much as they can and their children with Ipod's talking about what 's new on cable tv. 

 

 Does anyone believe in that Speech?????....

 

"...Tariq Ali, the British political activist.

"This was a channel openly calling for the overthrow of a democratically elected government," said Mr Ali.

He compared the case to Thames Television's loss of its broadcast franchise after airing Death on The Rock, a 1988 documentary about the killing of three IRA members which infuriated Margaret Thatcher's government. It was a controversial but legal decision, said Mr Ali."

The channel in question hasn't been closed down by force, it didn't get its licence renewed - big difference. The channel can still broadcast via sattelite and the internet. The majority of Venezuela's media are anti Chavez but still seem to be operating as previously.

 

And remember - Chavez is a democratically elected leader who has twice been re-elected. He didn't seize power by military force, nor has he maintained power y military force.

 

None of which, incidentally, means that I support this action specifically or Chavez's regime of the last couple of years in general. The non renewal of the licence has been a disastrous own goal in propaganda terms which has only served to alienate many of his supporters and give more ammunition to his critics, and the treatment of the demonstrators was disgusting.

 

Wrong, the majority of Venezuelan channels are pro-Chavez now, he through his comrades bought them and/or their owners, now only one channel covers the street movements (it's concession expires later on, and it most surely won't be renewed), while the rest keeps putting their crappy programme, and anti-Chavez workers were thrown recently from those channels. Since RCTV decided not to sell itself, not only did he not renew their concession, but they STOLE their equipment with the help of a "judicial" sentence, not expropiated, STOLEN!. I'm sorry but I explained before they did not back a military coup, that was just a dirty campaign Chavez had mantained through all these years, as well as the anti-imperialist propaganda; they couldn't air what was happening on april 13th because they were threatened, as they are now. Also the universities around the country are threatened; today I was at a pacific protest in Brion Square, when I left five minutes later the police started to detonate tear-gas bombs without apparent reason, the tanks were arriving to the scene threatening the people there, who were at their most pacific stance. I'm sorry but Freedom of Speech is not a favour of the government, it's a right, and we're now fighting for it. Now they're also saying that there's also a coup behind the students' movements, and there are political forces behind, when it was most apparent that we went there by our own conviction, and we ordered the political parties' flags to be put down in our protest.

 

I heard that too, my friend. Unfortunately Globovision's microwaves can't operate (they were confiscated) so they can't put images on air outside the confines of Caracas 

 

Sean,

The T wrote:  Those who don't come from SouthAmerica maybe can't properly understand the populist phenomenon.... I see some posts here supporting Chavez... I don't want to be harsh, sorry, but when you have never known what it's like to live without democracy or rights, it's very easy to applaud from afar when you see a southamerican president standing up to the stupidity of Bush, for example.... That's what gains supporters outside his borders....   All of you who don't know what populism is because you haven't lived with it, congratulations!

 

 

Although I haven't been in South America recently, I did a crossing of the Andes in 81 from Caracas to Santiago De Chile (originally intending to go to Tierre Del Fuego, but we never got therefor smoking reasons), and I had plenty of time to see the realities of the continent (including a few hours in an Ecuador police post, saved from a trip to jail by a diplomatic passport) and sleeping in Indian "huts" at 4000 m altitude, eating mashed (trampled by the housewive but uncooked) potatoes with locals.

 

I can tell you that those populist and left-leaning democracies cannot be worse than most of the right-leaning dictators of those years ( Pinochet never bothered me as long as I stayed a tourist and didn't get involved). Surely the Indios cannot be worse of in Venezuala or Ecuador than they've been for the last 300 years.

 

 

As for populism, there is not a single definition of populism, because every populism depends of the populist deploying it. To take the Netherlands (since you addressed Tuxon about this) , the only known populist was Pim Fortuyn who had a much success  and got shot dead a few uears ago, definitely burying the movement. This guy had close to fascist stance even slightly racist remarks, yet was highly popular amongst the poorer classes and actually had many immigrants backing him. This was puzzling as hell. I only came in the country a few months after his murder, so I was never able to really understand the mechanics it was working on.

 

 

 

 

 

IVNORD wrote:   Sean,   I don't know why it never occured to me that you are a radical as you have conformed to  every definition in my book... I like radicals, they usually honest and well-intentioned guys, though grossly confused... >> I was never a radical, but have voted left wing for most of my life. But in Europe and especially in Southern Belgium, the Socialist party has become more the problem than the solution >> they almost incite people to stay at home and not get jobs so that they can profit from programmes etc.. (>> if you want more >> In a PM).   So for the first time in my life, I am actually contemplating voting for the liberals (I hate conservateur or Christian democrats as they called themselves) next month in the national elections, just because it is time to send the socialist in the opposition for a renewal of the people. Indeed the left has become so corrupt and rotten and they are not able (or worse, lack the will) to get rid of the rotten apples in the basket.   Chavez is a pathetic opportunist. He does not fight the US imperialism. It's a smoke screen to achieve his personal goals. I don't know exactly what goals and I don't care to know as he is of little significance. >> Chavez is so far rolling for the Amerindians majority of his country who own less than 5% of the wealth of the country. This is why he nationalized the oil industry.     If he fought the US imperialism he would have stopped selling us his oil. Instead he enjoys the nice run-up in prices to support his domestic programs (throwng a bone to the population) squeezing all he can as he most likely still remembers as Venezuela was on the brink of bankrupcy just some 8 years ago when the price was just slightly above $10 and the cost of production in  Venezuela  happened to be over $8. Wonder if he still pays his workers the same $8 , such a caring fellow. >> Part of the profit from the oil he sells to the US is to compensate the oil sales to Nicaragua, Cuba and otherneedy countries for a quarter of the price of the market.   I don't think the US really harasses him. >> they have systematically fuelled/financed the opposition's cries for strikes against the Chavez politics. We need his oil and he needs our $$. So any tough talk from both sides is just a little show for the masses .   You take him too seriously.  >>> I wish I did. As I said I don't mind him support those left wing gov't of Latin America, but making technology pacts with Iran is very dumb. And I doubt the Bush admin appreciates, after he freely breaks the Cuban embargo by shipping oil for a few cigars, therefore allowing for the Castrist to survive longer