You know, I want to like Hugo Chavez, I really do. He’s a populist, he appears to fight for his people, he’s a snappy dresser. He makes fun of George Bush, and provokes televangelists into calling for his assasination. Generally, Chavez is the go-to guy for entertaining latin american politics.
And then he does something like this. I know opposition media can be irritating, but when you shut them down, it just gives fodder to your enemies.
Hence my general unease with leftist populist dictators. Castro has done much for Cuba, including the creation of a health care and education system envied by many. And its not easy to stick to the army fatigue look, especially when it’s so hot out. But then he goes and puts journalists in jail. I can understand where he’s coming from. Mossadegh refused to censor the press in Iran, and look what happened to him.
Democracy isn’t easy, and it’s easily manipulated by your enemies. But to remain democratic in the face of external and internal threats- as Castro failed to do- is the greatest victory a nation can achieve. So c’mon Chavez…let RTV have its license back. State TV is boring anyway.
Well said. That’s the problem with the whole left/right thing… it’s not really a line it’s a circle so if you go too far to the left then you’ve ended up on the far right…. boo jailing journalists. Yay making fun of Bush!
Umm… it might help if you did a little research first before weeping boo hoo over the death of a CIA propaganda outlet that failed to serve the public good. All that happened was the license on this station was not renewed because they were derelict in their duties. Even a little bit of research points out that this station made FOX News look like Edward R. Murrow. They didn’t even COVER the coup attempt that Bush made on Chavez! They ran American movies and cartoons. We need to return to the days when US stations were held accountable like this, but the republicans canned the Fairness Doctrine back in the 80′s. Back then, FOX News would have literally been illegal, which is what this station here was in Venezuela. So really stop boo hoo hooing without doing a little mouse-clicking first. Shame on you.
Boo hoo hooing? Your gift for onomatopoeia is truly unique.
You’re right. I have been terribly negligent in my blogging duties. If you could provide me with the link that demonstrates a clear financial relationship between RTV and the CIA, I’d love to see it. Because, I mean, if you didn’t have such a link in your possession, that would be a little like calling the kettle black, n’est-ce pas?
Or, I guess you could always cheap out and say something like “the proof that this is a conspiracy is that there is no evidence”. JFK theorists have been pushing that for years.
And more to the point: it doesn’t matter who funds the station. So long as they’re not breaking any laws (those concommittant with the freedom of expression and the press, anyway), shutting them down (and this is the point I made in my post) just justifies critics who call Chavez undemocratic. If the station were CIA funded, I suspect this is exactly the kind of thing they were after. Shutting down a media outlet can only hurt Chavez’s popularity.
I’m confused: are you advocating that Fox news be closed down for being the mouthpiece of crazy right-wingers? While its pedigree as a font of lunatic right babble is unquestioned, I think the constitutionality of such an act would be highly suspect.
I think my basic problem with your point, Peter, is that I don’t really trust the government to decide which media I should consume. The problem with the left/right media bias hystericists is that the assume people are stupid. I’m not stupid, Peter, and I doubt you are. So can’t we make up our own minds when we’re getting fed a line of bull from bad media? And can’t the people of Venezuela do the same?
Awwwww SNAP!
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