Originally Posted by
Xiahou
No arrests, huh?
Though the ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has denounced such actions, the government has done very little to stop them. The government itself has been targeting student leaders, arresting dozens on vague charges. Accusations of terrorism have been made, and phones have been tapped. In one instance, a student leader’s phone conversation was taped and then aired on Venezuelan radio.
link
The common pattern seems to be Chavez supporters riot, attack and otherwise intimidate opponents. Chavez makes a token comment that he doesn't support what they're doing- and then he has more of his opponents arrested- charged with the same things that his supporters do while he turns a blind eye.
That applies to any number of governments. Its not the right thing to do at all - and I don't see how it could be defended, but that is the nature of power. And for the record:
http://cpj.org/2009/02/pro-governmen...n-media-ou.php
In an interview published on Friday, the leader of the Venezuelan pro-government group La Piedrita took responsibility for a series of attacks against local journalists and media outlets, and threatened to attack the 24-hours news channel Globovisión and RCTV Director Marcel Granier. The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Venezuelan authorities to investigate the allegations and to immediately bring those responsible for the attacks to justice.
In its February 6 edition, the Venezuelan weekly Quinto Día published an extended interview with Valentín Santana, leader of La Piedrita, detailing the pro-government group's political stand and its past actions. In the interview, Santana threatened to "take up arms" against Granier and Globovisión, accusing them of promoting violence against Venezuelan Pesident Hugo Chávez.
Granier issued a statement the same day calling on local authorities to detain Santana. Over the weekend, Chávez condemned Santana's declarations and said La Piedrita's actions could be defined as "terrorism," according to Venezuelan news reports. According to El Universal, Chávez ordered Santana's detention on Sunday; he has not yet been detained.
That seems like far more than a token comment to me.
Originally Posted by
Xiahou
Right. I'm sure had Bush made millions of Federal employees go out and do legwork for the McCain campaign, you would've brushed that off as well, right? I mean, Bush controlled the government, so its ok. While he was at it, he could've used the FCC to force broadcasters to run wall-to-wall campaign ads too. These are all hallmarks of fair elections.
Show me where anyone was forced to campaign for Chavez.
Bookmarks