BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 02:06 PM

He thinks lies and boasts and threats are lawful tools for him to use

Aren't those pretty normal tools generally used by our leaders?

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 30 Jan 09 - 11:26 PM

Maybe yours.

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 30 Jan 10 - 07:28 PM

The Chávez Meltdown

The Wall Street Journal JANUARY 30, 2010

To the short and brutal list of life's certainties, let us add that socialism invariably leads nations to economic ruin. Latest case in point: Hugo Chávez's "Bolivarian" Republic of Venezuela.

Earlier this month, the Venezuelan strongman moved the official U.S. dollar exchange rate to 4.3 bolivars to the greenback from 2.15. At a stroke, he wiped out the savings and purchasing power of the very working-class people he purports to represent, most of whom have barely been getting by. News of the devaluation instantly sent the countryâ€"where consumer prices had already risen by 25% in 2009, according to official figuresâ€"into a panic, with consumers standing in line to stock up on goods before prices rose.

Mr. Chávez next decreed that he would fine and even arrest any merchant caught adjusting prices, eliding the fact that Venezuela imports nearly everything and exports only oil. Now Venezuelans have the Hobson's choice of either complying with the diktat, which means shortages, or disobeying it, which means inflation.

Yet no sooner was one catastrophe of "21st-century socialism" inflicted on Venezuelans than Mr. Chávez unveiled another. On January 12, the government instituted a series of rolling blackouts due to an electricity shortage that had been building for months. Ostensibly, the reason for the shortage was a drought that had left water levels at the country's huge Guri Damâ€"the source of more than 70% of its electricityâ€"at critically low levels. But that is a function of the government's failure to maintain the dam and build additional capacity.

The instant result of the blackouts was chaos, particularly in Caracas, where people were left "stuck in elevators or in dangerous parts of town without street lighting," according to Reuters. The capital city already has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world, and Mr. Chávez was forced to suspend blackouts there two days later. The rest of the country, however, remains subject to sporadic power outages.

Behind the crack-up of Mr. Chávez's utopia is the fact that he's running out of money because Venezuela's oil production is plunging. In 1998, the year Mr. Chávez was first elected, the country pumped 3.3 million barrels a day. Today, the figure is 2.4 million barrels, and that's an optimistic estimate.

Venezuela isn't running out of crude. The problem is that Mr. Chávez has expelled or seized the assets of foreign companies capable of properly maintaining the country's fields, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. It didn't help, either, that in 2002 Mr. Chávez fired thousands of skilled employees of state oil company PdVSA because he didn't like their politics and replaced them with his political cronies.

On Monday, Mr. Chávez made a grudging concession to reality when he agreed to a joint venture with Italian oil major ENI, which itself had been run out of Venezuela in 2006. We'll leave it to the Italians to place their own bets about the limits of Mr. Chávez's caprice. They've already had fair warning that Bolivarians, like other predators, rarely change their spots.

¡Viva La Revoluctón!

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: mousethief
Date: 30 Jan 10 - 11:29 PM

Short story: Things are going tits up in Venezuela because they're having trouble selling enough oil. Therefore it's because they're socialist. Socialism caused the oil production to plummet? Even the WSJ isn't usually this blinkered.

O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 12:27 AM

Hey Mouse, is any other country that lives on oil exports going tits up?

"Mr. Chávez has expelled or seized the assets of foreign companies capable of properly maintaining the country's fields, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips."

Then: In anticipation of Thursday's Carabobo oil field auction, outspoken Marxist president Hugo Chavez quietly pleaded for foreign investment.
"Investment and experience from foreign oil firms is necessary in Venezuela. We need it," Chavez said.

The statement is a serious turnaround for a government that has nationalized dozens of foreign oil companies in recent years. But they 'need' foreign investment because mismanagement is turning the country into another failed petro-state.

This is also the second instance of Chavez backtracking today.

Chavez reversed a six-year ban on the sale of U.S. dollars by Venezuela's central bank, in an effort to control the vast amount of money that was leaving the country through unregulated exchange, according to Bloomberg.

He had previously threatened to "burn the hands" of speculators who speculated against the bolivar.
Riots Disrupt Venezuela's Biggest Oil Auction In Years

---

Hugo Chavez targets Venezuela media
The Venezuelan leader says the steps he is taking shift communications 'hegemony' away from private interests to the people, but critics express fear for free speech rights.
July 22, 2009 LA TIMES:

CARACAS, VENEZUELA â€" Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has made moves to tighten government control over national media, say critics who warn that the Internet and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter could be his next target.

Chavez recently announced that the government would review the licenses of and possibly close as many as 240 radio stations -- more than one-third of all AM and FM broadcasters. He has proposed rules that would limit the sharing of programming by stations, something that helps many stay economically viable.

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 12:40 AM

Military Takes Control of Major Venezuelan Cities Amid Protests

CARACAS, Venezuelaâ€"The Venezuelan National Guard moved into Mérida, Venezuela on Tuesday, in response to protests which have erupted across the country. Seemingly unmoved, university students expressed they will continue to march through the streets to protest several new policies enacted by the Venezuelan government.

"The city is militarized since early hours of the morning (from tuesday) and will remain like that as long as its necessary in order to avoid further confrontations in the city of Mérida," said Marcos Díaz, governor of Mérida State on Wednesday.

Waves of protests errupted throughout all of Venezuela on Jan. 23, in response to rationing of water; new increase on the devaluation of the Venezuelan currency; and the recently established weekly rationing of electricity.

Even larger protests were triggered after the government ordered the blocking of six television channels. Among them was “RCTV Internacional", a channel characterized for having an editorial style critical of the government. The government suspended the channels on the grounds of “not complying with Venezuelan laws,â€쳌 for refusing to broadcast nationally chained transmisions of presidential speeches.

Protests escalated in Mérida to violent confrontations with police. Two students have been reported killed and close to 30 students and policemen have been reported wounded.

The governor of Mérida, declared the military action is due to the presence of "snipers and urban warfare in the state," which aim "to subvert order." He noted that the National Guard and the state government are taking measures to control these groups that, according to the governor, allegedly belong to the opposition.

El Trigal Highway was taken by the military in the city of Valencia, capital of Carabobo State. The soldiers said it was a precautionary measure to prevent further unrest among the population.

There is a tense uncertainty among residents in Venezuela. Many fear the conflicts will continue to escalate.
Teetering Power

The events are viewed as what could be the beginning of the end for Chavez. The National Assembly is occupied by an overwhelming majority of government supporters. A victory by the opposition could limit Chavez's ability to implement laws and policies to his liking.

Things have not changed much since Venezuela President Hugo Chavez took office 11 years ago. Many residents believe that the situation has instead worsened. For Chavez the protests are a further inconvenience, as they are taking place in the same year the legislative elections will be held.

Suspicion behind recent events have gone unanswered. In the last several days, two officials have renounced their positions without providing explainations. The vice president of Venezuela who is also the defense ministerâ€"renounced his position. His wife, the environment minister also renounced. Even the president of the Bank of Venezuela has renounced his position, saying he has health problems.

Last week, after the disasterous rationing of electricity, Chavez asked the minister of energy to renounced as well. The rationing of electricity was so poorly implemented that states outside Caracas were often without electricity for up to nine hours. The plan was implemented the day it was announced. Another plan to ration electricity will be implemented next week.
Rising Tension

Before it was blocked, “RCTV Internacionalâ€쳌 continued to broadcast its signal through private cable networks despite having been denied a renewal of its broadcasting consession as a national channel by the Venezuelan government two years ago. This consession was instead granted to a new channel called TVes (Social Venezuelan Television).

The situation led to numerous protests around the country and residents complained that their freedom of speech was being violated. Several months after the protests, “RCTVâ€쳌 changed its name to “RCTV Internacionalâ€쳌 and began broadcasting through cable and satellite networks.

The Venezuelan government said that as soon as television channels are willing to comply with Venezuelan law, their signals will be restored on cable and satellite networks. The claims, however, have not deterred the ongoing protests.

The international community has condemned the actions of the Venezuelan government.

"The Rapporteur exhorts the government to reconsider these measures, and to re-establish the guarantee to freedom of expression and opinion and the proper respect to procedures," said a statement from Frank La Rue, the special rapporteur of the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression.

His statement adds that the international treaties and internal legislation should be respected as well. La Rue noted that no tribunal ordered the closing of the television channel. He added that, “Any closure of a media must obey a previously established legal procedure, conducted by an independent state authority, and cannot be the product of an administrative decision by the government.â€쳌

Human Rights Watch director José Miguel Vivanco said in a statement that, “In 2009, Hugo Chávez forced radio and TV stations to broadcast live 141 speeches, including one which he prolonged for 7 hours and 34 minutes. Now he also wants to punish those channels that refuse to spread his personal political agenda.â€쳌

During an OAS (Organization of American States) meeting in Washington on Wednesday, the United States, Colombia, Peru, Panama, and Canada also condemned the Venezuelan government for its decision to suspend the six channels.

The Venezuelan government has not taken the criticism well. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the Venezuelan government to "reverse quickly" its decision in order to guarantee the "pluralism of information."

The Venezuelan government responded harshly by rejecting the claims, saying in a statement, “The comments from the spokesman of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs are inacceptable and reprehensible, and they prejudice against the principle of noninterference with the state's internal affairs.

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: mousethief
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 12:43 AM

Hey Mouse, is any other country that lives on oil exports going tits up?

Ah well yes then that proves it then, doesn't it? The only reason to go tits up if your main import is oil is socialism. There is no other reason, for instance, that your government could be incompetent or capable of mismanagement. Thanks for explaining that.

O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 12:45 AM

Cable TV Station Critical of Chávez Is Shut Down

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS January 25, 2010

The station was taken off the air after defying new government regulations requiring it to televise some of the Venezuelan president’s speeches.


Venezuela: 15-Year-Old Is Killed During a Demonstration

REUTERS January 26, 2010

A 15-year-old student was killed and nine police officers injured on Monday in violence linked to protests over the suspension of a television station opposed to President Hugo Chávez. Cable providers, responding to government orders, stopped carrying the station, RCTV Internacional, on Sunday. The interior minister, Tareck El Aissami, said the student, Josino Jose Carrillo, who he said was a supporter of Mr. Chávez, was killed while participating in a peaceful demonstration in the Andean city of Merida. There were also protests in the capital, Caracas, and elsewhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 08:56 PM

"If your main import is oil" I think you have your imports and exports mixed up Mouse.

If no other countries that are oil rich are going broke "because they're having trouble selling enough oil" then why would the reason be anything other than mismanagement? and if the management is a socialist dictator, why could that not the reason?

Perhaps you can analyze the situation for us better than the WSJ.

First he seizes the assets of foreign oil companies and the he says we need "Investment and experience from foreign oil firms"

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 07 Feb 10 - 09:24 AM

Chavez blames U.S., Canada for enticing dissent in Venezuela

"The United States and its allies, such as the ultraconservative Canadian government, are attacking Venezuela in an attempt to unleash violence and destabilize the situation in the country"

REUTERS 7/02/2010

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the United States and Canada of encouraging opposition rallies to destabilize the situation in the Latin American country.

A wave of student protests against Chavez social and economic policies has recently swept through the country. Police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse the crowds. At least two students died in clashes with police.

"The United States and its allies, such as the ultraconservative Canadian government, are attacking Venezuela in an attempt to unleash violence and destabilize the situation in the country," Chavez said on national television on Saturday.

Chavez criticized, in particular, the new U.S. ambassador to Brazil, Thomas Shannon, for "throwing darts at Venezuela."

Shannon, a former Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, earlier called on the Chavez government to stop repressions against the Venezuelan people, which protested against frequent power outages, the closure of opposition TV channels and rising crime in the country.

According to Venezuelan officials, at least 12,200 people were murdered by criminals in the country in 2009.[Population 28 M]

The U.S. Department of State has rated Venezuela a critical threat country for crime, and many experts have named the capital city of Caracas murder capital of the world.

Murder, kidnappings, armed robberies, car-jackings and residential break-ins occur with impunity and perpetrators are rarely brought to justice.

Chavez announced on Saturday that special anti-crime measures will be introduced on March 1 in 10 states and 36 municipalities, which registered the highest crime rates in the past.


¡Viva La Revoluctón!

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 07 Feb 10 - 09:33 AM

Venezuelan police break up anti-Chavez protest

Washington Post Feb. 4, 2010.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Police used tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons to scatter hundreds of students protesting against the government Thursday, while President Hugo Chavez's supporters celebrated the 18th anniversary of his failed coup as an army officer.

Caracas Police Chief Carlos Meza said authorities broke up the protest because university students had not been granted permission to march. He said the denial was aimed at preventing clashes with thousands of "Chavistas" marching across the capital to mark the botched 1992 military rebellion that Chavez led as a lieutenant colonel.

"They don't have permission to march," Meza said.

Student leaders countered that they have the right to stage peaceful protests, and they said authorities loyal to Chavez frequently deny them permission to demonstrate. Before the protest was dispersed, students chanted: "We're students, not coup plotters!"

"This is one more demonstration of the government's abuse of power," student leader Roderick Navarro said.

Students started leading protests last week after the government pressured cable and satellite TV providers to drop an opposition channel. Students have organized demonstrations in cities across the country, accusing Chavez of forcing Radio Caracas Television International off the airwaves as a means of silencing his critics.

Chavez challenged the students to continue staging demonstrations, saying they won't weaken his socialist government. But he warned them against stirring up violence, suggesting authorities would break up protests that get out of control.

"Don't make a mistake with us. You'll get a firm response," Chavez said during a speech to his supporters at Venezuela's largest military fort.

Thousands of Chavez's backers gathered to listen to Chavez, who hailed the Feb. 4, 1992, military uprising against then-President Carlos Andres Perez as a justified rebellion seeking to topple a corrupt government that ignored the plight of Venezuela's poor.

More than 80 civilians and 17 soldiers were killed before troops loyal to the government quelled the coup attempt, which Chavez commemorates annually.

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 27 Feb 10 - 12:47 AM

Cuba's Doctor Abuse

Health Care: Remember Cuba's vaunted medical missionaries, those who treated the poor abroad for nothing, supposedly out of selfless motives? A lawsuit shows they were nothing but a communist slave racket.

It ought to bear a few lessons for our own country as the role of doctors in the health care debate drags on.

Back in 1963, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro launched a much-praised initiative to share Cuba's medical doctors with the poor around the world. The idea, of course, was to appear to be acting on higher motives than the profit-driven doctors in free societies. It was small scale and propaganda-oriented.

But in 2003, Castro went big, and shipped 20,000 doctors and nurses to Venezuela's jungles and slums to treat the poor, doing the work "selfish" private-sector doctors wouldn't. Hugo Chavez touted this line and the mainstream media followed.

Now the ugly facts are getting out about what that really meant: indentured servitude to pay off the debts of a bankrupt regime.

This week, seven escaped doctors and a nurse filed a 139-page complaint in Miami under the RICO and Alien Tort acts describing just how Cuba's oil-for-doctors deal came to mean slavery.

The Cuban medics were forced to work seven days a week, under 60-patient daily quotas, in crime-riddled places with no freedom of movement. Cuban military guards known as "Committees of Health" acted as slave catchers to ensure they didn't flee.

Doctors earned about $180 a month, a salary so low many had to beg for food and water from Venezuelans until they could escape.

What they endured wasn't just bad conditions common inside Cuba. The doctors were instruments of a money-making racket to benefit the very Castro regime that has ruined Cuba's economy.

"They were told 'your work is more important to Cuba than even its sugar industry,'" their attorney, Leonardo Canton, told IBD.

That's because their labor was tied to an exchange: Castro took 100,000 barrels of oil each day from Venezuela's state oil company in exchange for uncompensated Cuban labor.

Most of the oil was then sold for hard currency, bringing in cash. Cuba also charged Venezuela $30 per patient visit, meaning a $1,000 daily haul per doctor. But the doctors never saw any of it.

In a situation like this, it's pretty obvious that when the state gets involved in medical care telling doctors whom they can serve, what they can charge and what they can treat it doesn't take long for slavery to result. The Cuban government has told other doctors, such as surgeon Hilda Molina, that her brain "is the property of the state" as reason to control her travel.

That ought to be lesson to those who seek to reform medical care in the U.S. on the backs of doctors. Free medical care is never free.

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 27 Feb 10 - 12:54 AM

France 24

By Lorena Galliot 25 February 2010 -

Eight Cuban medics sue Caracas and Havana for 'forced labour'
Seven Cuban doctors and a nurse have accused their government of engaging in a modern form of slavery with Venezuela after bartering their services for cheap Venezuelan oil.

Seven Cuban doctors and a male nurse who claim they were made to work against their will in inhuman and degrading conditions in Venezuela have filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Miami, where they have been granted asylum.

The lawsuit seeks at least 60 million dollars in compensation for each plaintiff, naming Cuba, Venezuela and Venezuela’s state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) as defendants.

In 2000, Cuban President Fidel Castro and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez concluded an oil for manpower deal, known as the Convenio Integral de Cooperacion", under which the communist island supplied Caracas with trained professionals and equipment in exchange for cheap subsidized Venezuelan oil. The doctors have described the deal as a modern form of slavery and say they fled to Miami to escape servitude for debt .

'A modern form of slavery'

The eight medical workers, two women and six men, were enrolled in a Venezuelan government mission called Barrio Adentro , in which doctors are posted in poor neighborhoods to provide care to Venezuelans free of cost. Cuban doctors are often sent to remote or dangerous parts of the country, like the border area with Colombia, home to drug traffickers and FARC rebels.

The doctors told reporters at a press conference in a Miami suburb on Tuesday that they were forced to enrol in the programme with Venezuela due to dire economic circumstances and political pressure at home.

According to several US and Venezuelan media sources, the plaintiffs described being held captive in crowded lodgings or with families affiliated with the Venezuelan regime, and forced to work seven days a week. We were under strict surveillance at all times. We weren’t allowed to go out when we wanted to or interact with Venezuelans other than our guardians, plaintiff Frank Vargas, a 33-year-old general practitioner from Havana, told reporters. His colleague Maria del Carmen Milanés, 34, added that interacting with known regime opponents was especially forbidden.

Five months in hiding

Had they protested, the doctors explained, they would have been forced to return to Cuba where they would have paid for their insubordination. They said they went into hiding for over five months before they were able to travel to the United States in January, sneaking out less than once a week to find food and plan their escape.

The eight plaintiffs are represented by Miami lawyer Leonardo Canton, who has indicated to reporters that he is ready to represent any other Cuban doctor in the same situation who wishes to join the lawsuit. Canton believes there is a 70% to 80% chance that the suit will be successful, adding that if this is the case, PDVSA assets in the United States could be frozen by court order.

In 2008, a Miami judge awarded 80 million dollars to three Cubans who claimed they were forced into slave labour at a shipyard on the island of Curacao. However, so far none of it has been collected.

Subject: RE: BS: Chavez moves against second TV channel
From: Sawzaw
Date: 27 Feb 10 - 02:51 PM

Venezuela annuls election of anti-Chavez mayor

Washington post 2 24, 2010

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's highest court on Wednesday annulled the election of an opposition mayor, replacing him with a supporter of President Hugo Chavez until a new vote is held.

The Supreme Court threw out the 2008 election of Jorge Barboza, mayor of the Sucre municipality in western Zulia state, on grounds that he failed to pay $292 in local taxes.

The justices ruled Barboza was ineligible to continue as mayor because he lacked "the suitability (required) for the management of a mayoral post."

In brief comments on the local Globovision television channel, Barboza called the ruling a coup against a democratically elected official and denied any wrongdoing.

His brother, Omar Barboza, said the arguments behind the ruling "constitute proof that the justice system is being used to politically persecute opponents" of Chavez's socialist government.

Barboza said the owner of a house rented by the mayor apparently failed to pay the $292 in taxes. He called the court's ruling ridiculous, saying his brother should not be held responsible for the home owner's lack of responsibility.

The Supreme Court appointed Humberto Franka Salas, a member of Chavez's ruling party, as interim mayor. Franka Salas, who was runner-up in the 2008 mayoral vote, will hold the post until a new election.

Chavez foes have long accused the president of using judges and prosecutors to bring trumped up criminal charges against government opponents. International rights groups have criticized the lack of independence of Venezuela's judiciary, noting that Chavez appears to hold sway over the system.

Chavez rejects the allegations, saying he has never pressured judges or prosecutors to target his adversaries.

¡Viva La Revoluctón!