The Last Defenses Are Crumbling

[Yogur griego]

I know you folks are getting completely fed up with my comparisons with Venezuela, but there's an interesting development going on at the moment. As some of you might know the last independent tv channel in Venezuela has been acquired by new owners just after the last elections and there has been a lot of speculation about possible changes in editorial policy. In the last few days one of the mayor journalists of the channel has been fired because apparently he would not submit to newly introduced censorship.

I believe this is what Kirchner will also try to achieve with regard to major newspapers and TV channels in Argentina. I would not be surprised if in a few years we shall see ''interventions'' in influential media like La Nación, layoffs, etc. If you look at the way how she has built her own media empire, has been expropriating entreprises over the last few years and is becoming increasingly authoritarian.... can you imagine La Nación as something like this?

Of course, it's difficult to get rid of dissident voices on the internet too, but we should not underrestimate how many people are still being influenced by newspapers and TV. Things are getting scary at the moment, mostly because of the Venezuela comparison.

 

[trennod]

Its the elephant in the room, thats for sure.

 

[Napoleon]

The guy in that photo was long dead when that photo was taken.

There's still never been a photo of Nestor's corpse.

Elephant in the room that no one even acknowledges exists, much less prefers not to talk about.

 

[Yogur griego]

I am still convinced that the image is fake.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Dead for months before. They had to let Birdy get his act together in time for the elections.

All academic now, even the Church is running out of wine in Venezuela. Wonder will they accept some cheap plonk from Argentina in lieu of those billions of dollrs held in bonds.

 

[French jurist]

At the same time, Globovision is the media that did not transmit the pro-Chavez protests during the Pedro Carmona putsch in 2002.

This event must be understood in the Venezualian context of the past 15 years, mainly the Chavist fight against local oligarchy (and the fight, by this local oligarchy, against the Chavism). Politically, it's not the higher middle class or the oligarchy who will change the political orientation of Venezuela, rather the lower (and rather new) middle class (they are the ones who changed their votes for Capriles).

As for press censorship, this applies to most of the newspapers worldwide who did not tell about the violent protests wished by Capriles, or who misinformed readers by telling that "10 people had died" without mentioning they were all Chavists (except for a Police officer).

Something is rotten indeed, but not only in Venezuela.

 

[French jurist]

Another one for censorship/manipulation.

The opposition had anticipated the possibility that the vote results would be tight, and of course, claiming there were frauds was chosen. So they started making claims, before the vote, that frauds could occur, that dead people could vote, that results could be changed, etc.

But they then realized that this was discouradging their own supporters from voting, thinking that they'd lose anyway!

So, a very conservative newspaper (El Nacional) who had strongly supported the 2002 coup, published on april 13 (before the elections) an article telling that the voting system is perfectly safe!
http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/tu_decides/voto-secreto-blindado_0_171582857.html

Funny, no?!

 

[Yogur griego]

Like you have repeatedly done when you are making an argument about Venezuela, you're turning the problem around. The origin of this chaos is Chavez with his politics of intolerance and the abolition of a free society.

 

[French jurist]

Like you have repeatedly done when you are making an argument about Venezuela, you're turning the problem around. The origin of this chaos is Chavez with his politics of intolerance and the abolition of a free society.

Not turning the problem around, using a broader perspective. After all, Chavez went through 17 elections and won 16 of them. Economical situation is indeed a mess, at least for now, but there must be a reason why he won so many elections.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Not turning the problem around, using a broader perspective. After all, Chavez went through 17 elections and won 16 of them. Economical situation is indeed a mess, at least for now, but there must be a reason why he won so many elections.

Chávez, though, was himself a golpista who should have spent the rest of his life in prison.