A Venezuelan two-fer
Two stories from that workers paradise, Venezuela:
From
Yahoo/Associated Press:
Critics march against Chavez across Latin America
Thousands of opponents of Hugo Chavez marched against the Venezuelan president across Latin America on Friday, accusing him of everything from authoritarianism to international meddling.
The protests, coordinated through Twitter and Facebook, drew more than 5,000 people in Bogota, and thousands more in the capitals of Venezuela and Honduras. Smaller demonstrations were held in other Latin American capitals, as well as New York and Madrid.
The Honduras march was led by Roberto Micheletti, who became president when Chavez ally Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a June coup.
"Any politician who tries to stay in power by hitching up with a dictator like Hugo Chavez, he won't achieve it," Micheletti said. "We'll stop him."
And, despite Associated Press' obvious bias, Honduran ex-president Zelaya was ousted because he tried to circumvent the Honduran constitution and install himself as president for life. He was staging an election and was ousted before the election took place. In his offices were vote tallying computers showing that he won the election that never took place. This was not a coup, this was a rightful action of a democratic government and they deserve our support and truthfulness in reporting.
Item number two -- from the UK branch of
Reuters:
Chavez minister vows more Venezuela radio closings
Venezuela will pull the plug on 29 more radio stations, a top official in President Hugo Chavez's government said on Saturday, just weeks after dozens of other outlets were closed in a media clampdown.
Infrastructure Minister Diosdado Cabello closed 34 radio stations in July, saying the government was "democratizing" media ownership. Critics say the move limits freedom of expression and has taken critical voices off the airwaves.
The powerful Chavez ally has threatened to close over 100 stations in total, part of a long-term campaign against private media that the government says are biased against Chavez's government.
"Another 29 will be gone before long," he told thousands of Chavez supporters at a political rally, without giving details which stations would be closed or when.
Cabello also said he was launching a new legal case against Globovision, the country's most prominent anti-government television network, accusing it of inciting a coup against Chavez.
Business as usual. I hope that they do stage a coup here. Chavez is bankrupting the country and when the oil runs out, Venezuela is going to be in a very sad shape.
Posted by DaveH at September 6, 2009 12:21 PM
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