With the press now muzzled, who will report on human rights abuses in Venezuela?
Over the weekend the Venezuelan government under the autocratic rule of President Hugo Chavez shut down the one remaining independent broadcast outlet - the opposition television station Radio Caracas Television (RCTV). Twenty minutes after the station went off the air, its frequency was taken over by the official government network.…
Article comments
76 - Dave Nalle
Clavos, I will CONSIDER taking time out from lliving a REAL LIFE to post REAL SOURCES when I see you and Nalle post REAL sources--not opinions from the BBC and the Miami Herald or other such non-sources.
The major news services including AP and CNN have people on the ground in Venezuela and they are primary sources. Unlike local media they have not yet been kicked out, shut down or intimidated into silence. Most of the news stories Clavos or I would link to are based on sources like that, so they are certainly as much derived from primary sources as anything you would provide, and probably better researched and more competently presented.
Now, in the original article I did not link to news sources. I linked to NGOs. Those NGOs operate on direct contact from concerned citizens in the countries involved. In the case of RSF they get their information directly from editors and reporters in Venezuela who are willing to complain to them about problems which they cannot safely talk about publicly within the country.
Your attempt to raise the issue of 'primary sources' is obviously a ploy to attempt to silence the truth, but it's as transparent and self-serving as most of your attempts to prop up tyrrany and promote oppression.
Dave
77 - moonraven
Yep, Moonraven is the New Native American Teddy Roosevelt--running around Latin America with a big stick.
Hah! At least this bird has SOMETHING that is big....
Nalle, you have never referenced real sources in any piece you have published here, and you have also never done so in your comments.
And there is a reason for it: You are only here to promote propaganda--not INFORMATION.
And don't bother to tell me about the pristine sanctity and professionalism of CNN. It is a joke being told by an idiot, signifying nothing.
A pretty comon activity in the US, actually.
Which is just one of the reasons that my former country is sitting in the toilet, waiting to be flushed.
A hawk IS different from a handsaw--and it doesn't matter from which direction the wind is blowing, Hamlet.
78 - moonraven
Clavos, the medium IS the message, baby.
I ain't changing a feather for the likes of you.
Could not possibly care less if I am banned.
It would, in fact, prove the point that this site is not about free speech, but intolerance.
I am just having some fun with you.
79 - Nancy
Moonraven, how is it you keep assuring everybody this is absolutely positively definitively the very last ever comment you're going to make on something ... and then you're back again with yet another comment? And another ... and another. Face it: you're just another blog junkie like the rest of us. However it does make you look very silly when you do that.
80 - moonraven
That's what ideological trolls like moonraven DO--post the good stuff on the sites that they care about and feel sympathy with--and bait the folks on the other side of the political fence in their little dens and virtual caves.
Of course we receive a lot of batshit in those caves from you hysterics--but in my case I have plenty of insulating feathers--and all you can do is point up your hypocrisy by banning me.
You got very little firepower to work with.
I have to laugh picturing Nalle abusing his editorial privilege checking to find out to his consternation that YES, moonraven is in Caracas. Just like she said.
Meanwhile, life goes on. Somewhere else. HERE in CARACAS, for example.
81 - moonraven
Nancy, It is all part of the game of trolling.
You look silly when you take the bait.
I thought you were dead.
82 - troll
moonraven - do the people that you interact with seem content with the pace of reform - ?
a 9% reduction in the household poverty rate still leaves 34% of families living in poverty
is Chavez getting any pressure from the left - ?
83 - Nancy
MR, I thought I was, too. Should'a been, probably, except for the air bags & seat belt. As it is, I'm working on getting a new leg. As I told Clavos, then maybe I can appear on Dancing With The Stars. It helps to have a sense of humor about it, I guess. I keep telling myself at least if I stub my 'toe' it will hurt the furniture more than it will me.
84 - moonraven
Troll, one of the most important things to consider anywhere in Latin America is whether things are getting better, first. If they aren't, then it's pointless to ask them many questions.
In Mexico, for example, there has been a negative growth plotting itself on the graph since 2001--despite the fact that the past 3 years have brought as much money into Mexico's coffers in windfall petroleum profits as it has in Venezuela's. Yet poverty increases every year--now the most conservative government figures put it at just over 50%--and considering the numbers of immigrants still pouring over the US border it is pointless for folks on this forum or any other to try to fabricate arguments that the rightwing governments of Fox and Calderon have made thigs better--as despite the oil money, conditions worsen in all sectors daily. That's because Mexico's coffers are in reality the pockets of the wealthy--who pay no taxes and actually receive bogus sales tax refunds in the billions.
In Venezuela, by contrast, during the past 3 and a half years, growth has been above 10%, and poverty has been reduced to the 34% figure most folks are managing. Considering that realistic figures of Venezuelan poverty when Chavez took the power in 1999 were close to 80%, that's a pretty dramatic betterment of the standard of living for the folks here.
Indices of financial wellbeing--the traditional ones--show the economy continuing to boom and folks are out there buying new cars like mad and beating the doors down at the shopping malls. Chavez gets himself around when he's on his own in a used VW Beetle, so there are some values issues here--but in a certain sense you can't blame folks for consuming like mad when for years they really couldn't do that.
So some of the progress issues here are bound to focus on values--and when folks are having a consuming boom along with a big growth in the economy, there is inflation.
I can see it's an issue--things cost more than they did 3 years ago. Some things like hotel rooms are probably double in some extreme cases--although more expensive ones like the government-owned Hilton are relatively cheaper. For someone like myself, who is not that much of a consumer, I see that prices for stuff I am paying for are till lower than they are in Mexico--yet the minimum wage in Venezuela is about 40% more than it is in Mexico.
In this part of the world, troll, it's important to folks to see positive economic trends. And Venezuela is where one sees more dramatic positive changes in the quality of life indicators (free medical care for everybody, free meals if you want them, discounted basic food items, free schooling at all levels, etc.).
No, this is not Norway--but the indicators are going up every year, and considering the similarities in social philosophy and economic base, the comparison is not all wet to consider.
Folks where I live in Mexico--and I don't live in an area where poverty is considered extreme--would be dancing in the street to have anywhere near the economic and social conditions that are the norm in Venezuela.
Are people frustrated, think progress happens too slowly, consider bailing out on democracy--not for a minute. All one has to do is look at the results of the Latinobarometro periodic surveys to see that Venezuelans have a high level of confidence in their democracy and are happy with the conditions in their country--in more than double the percentage of Mexicans, for example, or of the average of all Latin American countries.
The only folks who are bitching are the folks who, like their counterparts in Mexico, used to put the petroleum revenues into their pockets. And those folks are still doing just fine. Maybe they aren't shopping every weekend at the Chanel boutique in Miami--but I don't think that is a hardship.
Is Chavez getting any pressure from the left? Depends on what you call the left, troll. There are folks here like Ted Petkoff who roams around Latin America and worms his way into almost every issue of Gatopardo magazine (Latin America's answer to Vanity Fair, maybe) talking about how he used to be a guerrillero back in the day and therefore is a leftist and commenting from a leftist perspective. The previous president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, called himself a leftist, too--which was a big surprise to his fellow PAN party members--the party furthest to the right in Latin America--and damn proud of it. Petkoff's newspaper, Tal Cual, is definitely a rightwing publication--and Petkoff--like other Latin Americans who were leftists back in the day--writer Mario Vargas Llosa and former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda come to mind--has hardened his political arteries as he has aged and would now probably support Pinochet.
In short, folks on the left or right are definied by their actions--not by what they claim to be. And here, although there is always infighting among the chavistas thatI have personally witnessed--this is a conflictive culture, after all--if anything Chavez receives pressure from definable leftists to be more radical.
Chavez is--if one looks at what he DOES--a pragmatic centrist--what used to be called a social democrat in this part of the world. He is not about to take foolish risks--he knows exactly how far he can go--politically, economically and socially--and he's been extremely successful.
But because global politics have moved so far to the right that now Barry Goldwater would be called a radical leftist, things are relative.
Hope that fleshes things out a little.
Nancy, glad you are keeping a sense of humor. I recommend Radical Forgiveness for seeing the perfection in those blasts the universe occasionally gives us. Google the website if you are interested.
85 - Dave Nalle
Petkoff's newspaper, Tal Cual, is definitely a rightwing publication--and Petkoff--like other Latin Americans who were leftists back in the day--writer Mario Vargas Llosa and former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda come to mind--has hardened his political arteries as he has aged and would now probably support Pinochet.
What MR misses here is the irony of how apt a comparison between Chavez and Pinochet might be. Putting aside their opposing political philosophies, if she's right about the economic improvements Chavez is bringing the Venezuela, then he might be fitting into the same mold of benevolent, beloved and yet basically dictatorial leader which Pinochet and some others have tried to live up to.
It seems quite common in Latin America and throughout much of the third world, that the population is more than willing to give up the basic trappings of liberty if they can get some improvement in the economy as a result. The problem, as demonstrated in North Korea and Cuba, is that under a socialist system the economic benefits are inherently short-lived. After the initial redistribution of land and wealth, the centrally-controlled economic system cannot sustain prosperity or generate authentic growth, and the economy goes into a hard decline.
But maybe Chavez is perceptive enough to realize that long term prosperity requires economic opportunity, entrepreneurship and encouragement of new industry, not juet 5-year plans.
Hell, I've always been a fan of benevolent dictators. If Chavez shows the vision and self control to steward his country through reforms and back into some semblance of a free society my hat will be off to him. But there have been damned few leaders with the integrity to pull something like that off.
Dave
86 - moonraven
Nalle,
Just a couple of quick comments.
1. Pinochet was put in place by Nixon and Kissinger and the US held his hand all the way to opening his hundreds of bank accounts in Miami. Chile still has one of the most unequal distributions of income in the hemisphere--second only to the inequality of income in Brazil. I do not consider that Pinochet made any social progress--his regime cancelled the agrarian reform and other reform programs and put the increased copper revenues in the pockets of the wealthy--as well as in his above-referenced bank accounts. A little progress has been made in the past 17 years since he left power, but until his minions are pushing up daisies it's going to be more than an uphill battle.
2. WITHOUT USING DICTATORIAL POWERS, Chavez has managed to pull his country out of the toilet. Oil was at 7 bucks a barrel when he took office in 1999, and the coffers were empty. Where is oil now--thanks to Chavez' revival of OPEC? Just about 10 times the price, I believe. He also has managed to thwart the US government's schemes to destroy Venezuela's economy and take over its resources, and despite the lockout in 2002-2003 that damaged the economy to the tune of 10 billion dollars, he has managed from 2004 to the present to create a booming economy (higher growth that China's is NOT to be sneezed at in my book), renationalize much of the country's resources, create a free health care scheme, free schooling for all (meals included while on campus), free and discounted food, eliminate illiteracy, dramtically reduce the poverty level, and a long list of etceteras.
3. He has done all of the above and more WITHOUT killing thousands of folks opposed to him like Pinochet did with the approval of the US government and the active participation of the CIA. Some of his supporters have been murdered, true--most notoriously the prosecutor Danilo Anderson--but he has not returned the favor. And Marcel Granier may be no longer on Channel 2, but he is not in jail (where he probably should be and would be in just about any other country) but is going about his business and the case he put before the Supreme Court will proceed to be heard.
I think it's time that you put your money where your mouth is, Nalle, and take off that cowboy hat. It's still not to late to repudiate the demented Texan DICTATOR in the Oval Office and join the rest of humanity that is pushing for a better world being possible.
87 - MBD
#85...
"Hell, I've always been a fan of benevolent dictators."
Which ones do you like best?
BTW, did you mean to say "In Hell"?
88 - moonraven
George Bush can't be on Nalle's list of benevolent dictators, as he is malevolent.
Just shows you that retarded people are not all cherubs like we thought they were....
89 - Clavos
Apparently, not even oil revenues are a bottomless barrel.
Bloomberg News, in an article published today, reports that the Central Bank of Venezuela announced that the Chavez government's budget deficit for the first Quarter of 2007 was more than double the that of the same period in 2006, bringing Venezuela's deficit to its highest level in the eight years Chavez has been in power.
Attributing the gap between revenue and spending to greatly increased social spending and government workers' salaries, the Central Bank also noted that the spending is fueling inflation to the tune of 19.5% through May; the highest in the hemisphere.
According to the Bloomberg report,
"Chavez, using government largesse to consolidate political support, has handed out subsidies to millions of poor families. Spending has outstripped revenue pushed higher by rising crude oil prices."
Apparently, Chavez doesn't have any decent economists working for him. Or perhaps he does, and is simply ignoring them.
90 - Clavos
Here's Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Americas Editor of the Wall Street Journal, on the ongoing food shortages in Venezuela.
Video was taped May 23, 2007.
91 - Clavos
Sorry, above link won't work.
Video also available here.
Scroll down to video.
92 - moonraven
Nonsense--I have observed no food shortages here. I can buy anything I want for much less than it would cost me in Mexico.
Inflation comes with a economic boom. Theproblem is when itcomes with a recession--like it has in Mexico, where prices rise monthly.
Clavos should get over his fear of flying and hop on a cheap flight from Miami. Then even HE would see what a crock is being peddled by the anti-Chavezmedia. yesterday El Nacional was FULL of woeand gloom and breast-beating and tearing ofclothes becayse the Venezuela petroleum was only at a little over 60 dollars a barrel. To read the story, the country was bankrupt.
It wasmy laugh of the day--wellmy laugh of the day besides reading this thread on blogcritics.
Ignorant experts like Clavos and Nalle are getting paid what they are worth to write articles here: nothing.
Hundreds of thousands of folks marched in support of the government yesterday--just a few blocks from here. In a real democracy, the majority prevails. Really good to see.
93 - MCH
"Ignorant experts like...Nalle are getting paid what they are worth to write articles here: nothing."
Yeah, but he designs a mean font...
94 - moonraven
That doesn't cut it. Thirty years ago I was manager of the typesetting department of a large printing companyin Jurassic Park
Even thirty years ago there was no need to DESIGN any fonts.
There are hundreds of them, and some have been around since the time of Gutenberg.
There's nothing new under the sun--not even in Texas.
95 - Dave Nalle
There's no absolute NEED to have more than one brand of microwave or more than one different style of shirt, yet there are many and new variations are produced all the time, because there is a desire and a use for them.
That you don't understand the marketing aspect of type explains why you aren't working in a typesetting department anymore. Even when I was working as a typesetter at that same time, I realized that products needed a unique identity and one way to establish that was through the use of fonts which had not been seen time and time again and are distinguishable from other popular fonts.
And there aren't hundreds of fonts - though back in the 70s we only had a few hundred available on a Compugraphics system. There are actually tens of thousands of fonts, but there is still demand for new variations, and that creates a market for what I do.
And BTW, that period 30 years ago was the era of some of the most successful and highly regarded modern type designers. As usual your ignorance knows no bounds. Have you ever heard of Hermann Zapf or Eric Gill or Rene Chalet? They all had their peak of original type design in the 1970s. But I guess they were just wasting their time. No one today uses Palatino, right?
Dave
96 - Dave Nalle
1. Pinochet was put in place by Nixon and Kissinger and the US held his hand all the way to opening his hundreds of bank accounts in Miami. Chile still has one of the most unequal distributions of income in the hemisphere--second only to the inequality of income in Brazil.
But yet it still has one of the most prosperous economies in the region with a per capita GDP almost double that of Venezuela, an unemployment rate less than half that in Venezuela, less than 1/5th the inflation rate of Venezuela, etc. Sure, it's GINI rate is slightly higher (8pts), but that's more than made up for by the overall level of higher pay and employment in every level of the society.
I do not consider that Pinochet made any social progress--his regime cancelled the agrarian reform and other reform programs and put the increased copper revenues in the pockets of the wealthy--as well as in his above-referenced bank accounts. A little progress has been made in the past 17 years since he left power, but until his minions are pushing up daisies it's going to be more than an uphill battle.
Yes, but your standards of social progress are based on how much the business class is harmed, not on how much the population in general is benefitted.
2. WITHOUT USING DICTATORIAL POWERS,
Everyone here knows that's a lie, except you.
Chavez has managed to pull his country out of the toilet. Oil was at 7 bucks a barrel when he took office in 1999, and the coffers were empty. Where is oil now--thanks to Chavez' revival of OPEC? Just about 10 times the price, I believe.
Again, your ignorance shows. Stick to the price of bread in Caracas. You clearly know nothing about the oil industry. The current price increase has nothing to do with OPEC. They're trying to stop it from happening. It's mostly the result of limited refinery capacity, which some are claiming is an artificial crisis created by the oil companies.
He also has managed to thwart the US government's schemes to destroy Venezuela's economy and take over its resources,
You don't seem to grasp that the US and its government pays virtually no attention to anything that goes on in Venezuela. It's trivial.
and despite the lockout in 2002-2003 that damaged the economy to the tune of 10 billion dollars, he has managed from 2004 to the present to create a booming economy (higher growth that China's is NOT to be sneezed at in my book),
An 8.8% growth rate looks nice on paper, but remember where he's starting from. 8.8% growth on a GDP per capita of only about $6000 isn't enough to bring incomes in Venezuela up even to the level of Mexico any time soon.
renationalize much of the country's resources, create a free health care scheme, free schooling for all (meals included while on campus), free and discounted food, eliminate illiteracy, dramtically reduce the poverty level, and a long list of etceteras.
And all you have to pay for that is your right to a free press, to join a political party, to assemble in public or to acquire wealth and property.
3. He has done all of the above and more WITHOUT killing thousands of folks opposed to him like Pinochet did with the approval of the US government and the active participation of the CIA.
Pinochet killed remarkably few people during his time in power. Sure, more than anyone would like to see, but what makes him a benevolent dictator is that on the whole he did a lot more good than harm.
Some of his supporters have been murdered, true--most notoriously the prosecutor Danilo Anderson--but he has not returned the favor.
You might want to tell that to the families of those murdered by his police and his supporters since 1999. You might want to start by looking into the assassinations of journalists like Joaquin Tovar and Jorge Aguirre - but maybe there's no informaton on those crimes available there in Caracas.
And Marcel Granier may be no longer on Channel 2, but he is not in jail (where he probably should be and would be in just about any other country) but is going about his business and the case he put before the Supreme Court will proceed to be heard.
By a court packed by Chavez which rubberstamps his edicts.
join the rest of humanity that is pushing for a better world being possible.
Oh, I'm all for a better world. I just don't think we get there by confiscating property and taking away peoples rights.
Dave
97 - bliffle
Put the cowboy hat back on, Nalle! I can't read your articles, blinded by the gleam from the chrome dome. You can get one just like the old one for about $2.99 at the truckstop down the road.
98 - MBD
Nallecon says...
"Oh, I'm all for a better world. I just don't think we get there by confiscating property and taking away peoples rights."
But that is exactly what we encourage Israel to do.
Without US Taxpayers footing the bill, it couldn't happen.
You want a better world?
Start there.
99 - Dave Nalle
I hope I've never given you the impression that I support Israel or their rather barbarous behavior, MBD.
Dave
100 - MBD
"I hope I've never given you the impression that I support Israel or their rather barbarous behavior"
Do you have a link where you display your lack of support of their rather barbarous behavior?
101 - Dave Nalle
Have you stopped beating your wife?
The burden of proof is on you, MBD. Show me where I've ever written anything particularly positive about Israel.
I'm not sure I've ever even written an article about Israel at all.
And BTW, objecting to Hamas or Hezbollah is not the same as supporting Israel.
Dave
102 - MBD
LOL!
Your response is too evasive for any other comment.
103 - Dave Nalle
MBD, that's not an answer. Just accept that I'm not a big fan of Israel. Unless you can prove otherwise you kind of have to take my word for it.
Dave
104 - MBD
Just as a dime wouldn't buy a cup of coffee, your word wouldn't buy it either.
105 - moonraven
Nalle supports Pinochet (mercifully dead now), yet is against folks who take away people's rights?
??????????????????????
The right to live, apparently, is not a right that Nalle is concerned about. Folks tortured, imprisoned, thrown into common graves that are still being found all over Chile, folks being thrown out of airplanes over the Pacific--just collateral damage for folks like Nalle who think about nothing but money--but, oddly, never have any.
Nalle, Call me when you get off the plane--I'll taxi down to the airport on the coast and pick you up. You'll need a translator while you're here...
106 - Dave Nalle
MR, if I ever have so much time on my hands that I decide to do a tour of socialist hellholes (having already done my time in far too many of them), I'll bring along a translator of my own choosing, to make sure the translations are accurate. Maybe Clavos will come with me - or wait, I live i Texas, so half my friends and neighbors speak Spanish. Hell, I'm even developing some facility myself. How far will I get saying "Recuerde de utilizar suficiente mortero, Paco."
Dave
107 - moonraven
Interesting, Nalle. I have always considered Texas to be a hellhole.
Different strokes for different folks. On this site--the circle jerk. Out here in the real world, life STILL goes on.
108 - MCH
To me, just living in a fortified compound would be hell-hole. I can't imagine being so paranoid. (Howard Hughes comes to mind...)
109 - moonraven
Oh well--what do you expect from Nalle, who tries to write ONE sentence in Spanish--after telling us he has some facility in the language--and it comes out making absolutely no sense--not grammatically, nor in meaning....
My chuckle of the day.
110 - Dave Nalle
MR, if you think Texas is a hellhole I suspect you've never been to Austin. You'd fit right in. Everyone here has NPD.
As for my excellent Spanish sentence, I think you prove that I'm on the right track with my ongoing efforts to communicate with illegals.
Dave
111 - moonraven
Sorry, Nalle:
Been to Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. A couple would probably be okay places except for the people....
Well, now, you managed to write a sentence in English that made absolutely no sense.
Keep up the good work.
112 - MCH
"MR, if you think Texas is a hellhole I suspect you've never been to Austin. You'd fit right in."
- Dave Nalle
What's your point, Vox? So if Austin isn't a hellhole, then it's an OK town; and if moonraven fits right in, than she's OK, too...?
113 - moonraven
Back to the topic of this thread:
Just to show readers how much the opposition here in Venezuela is on its knees before the US: Tonight, in the Plaza Afredo Sadel in Caracas, RCTV will be showing--on a giant screen--¿Quien quiere ser milionario?
The station owners know that when something is out of sight, it is out of mind, so they have decided to take their programs--no longer on Channel 2--to the streets. Only in middle or upper middle class areas, of course.
But their choice of programing is a giant Fruedian slip!
114 - Dave Nalle
MR, that idiotic show is not even on the air here in the US anymore.
Dave
115 - J.J. Hunsecker
Is that "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"? In Austin, it's on KEYE at 12pm and they are preparing to tape the '07 season late summer. It was surprisingly easy to Google.
116 - Clavos
Here's an excellent (and on topic) NYT op-ed piece by former President of Peru Alejandro Toledo.
Chávez's actions are clearly beginning to worry some of his Latin American neighbors. As President Toledo notes:
" This is about more than one TV station. President Chávez has become a destabilizing figure throughout the hemisphere because he feels he can silence anyone with opposing thoughts. He wishes to hear only his own voice, to see his own face replicated a thousand times on the television channels that he controls. He ignores the fact that the true revolution of our era consists of listening to others rather than silencing them through repression or government decrees.
The rest of Latin America’s leaders cannot remain indifferent to the closing of RCTV or to Mr. Chávez’s threats to close other media outlets that give time to opposing opinions. Those of us who confronted authoritarianism in the past must again stand up for continent-wide solidarity."
Mr. Toledo gets right to the heart of what is, despite Chávez's avowals to improve the lot of Venezuela's poor, the fatal flaw in his leadership and administration:
"Latin America’s common enemies are poverty, inequality and exclusion " not dissident thought. Hunger is not fought by silencing critics. Unemployment does not disappear by exiling those who think differently. We cannot have bread without liberty. We cannot have nations without democracy."
¡Hazle caso, Hugo. Escuchale!
117 - Dave Nalle
Found a fascinating video on YouTube which shows armed chavistas firing on protestors during the shutting down of RCTV.
dave
118 - Julia_1984
Since the RCTV clossure for many venezuelans, like me, internet has become the only source of information, although we suspect its sometimes banned by the government. Many things that happens here don't reach even Globovision, the last remaining oposition channel. That's why, among other reasons, I started a blog. Although It's not exactly a news blog (and I don't intend it to be), I tell there how is my life under Chavez regime. Others have been doing the same for years. I encourage who ever is reading this to use those blogs as a source no matter if you are agree with Chavez policies or not, you should hear venezuelan voices, since we are losing the regular channels to inform. I'm sorry about the commenters who thinks this is only a rich people issue, everyone no matter how rich or poor is, should have equal rights. But in Venezuela if the government thinks you are rich, and you are not agree with the revolution, you dont have those rights. I guess for many some people are just more equal than others. For me anyone is a human been and deserves to live with dignity. A list of venezuelan blogs among other links can be found at www.venezuelatoday.net, I also provide a few links.
PS: Excuses about the grammar and spelling mistakes you might find on the lines above. As Celia Cruz used to say "my english is not very good looking"
119 - Clavos
Re #117:
You tube now has about a dozen videos from Caracas with footage of chavistas firing on demonstrators.
120 - Dave Nalle
Thanks for the link, Julia. Access to Venezuelan blogs from the grassroots ought to be very helpful in getting a real ground-level view of what's really going on there.
Dave