Venezuela News And ViewsVenezuela News And Views: Does Barbara Walters work for Chavez?
Venezuela News And Views
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Does Barbara Walters work for Chavez?
Well, based on this advertisement appearing in EL Universal print edition today, it sure looks like Barbara Walters interview is perceived as helping greatly Hugo Chavez (click to enlarge, apologies for the quality, but it is a picture from the smeary paper edition).
(Translation: We invite all Venezuelans to watch the interview of the year. The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, "comandante" Hugo Chavez Frias, leader of the XXI century socialism, in an exclusive interview with the journalist Barbara Walters, star anchorwoman of the main US network ABC news)
Where do I start on something like that? The other night I was trying to ignore the interview that Barbara Walters made a few days ago to Chavez. I argued that I never liked her, that she was basically fluff. But when I saw a little while ago this advertisement, well, I had to deal with it.
See, for the Chavez government to promote the interview tonight on ALL STATE media, well, the interview has to be a big boon for chavismo. That is, the woman must have done a heck of a flattering interview. Imagine that, Venezuelan state media, socialist, revolutionary, devoting hours everyday to call the US the evil empire and excoriating Bush even when he brushes his teeth, is broadcasting tonight ON ALL OF ITS AIRWAVES (even the radio) some TV show from the very hated Empire... Need I insult the intelligence of the reader further?
Good job Barbara!!! Way to go to in shoring up a wanna-be dictator! Did it ever occur to you to read the US constitution to find out that your hated Bush is gone in barely 20 months? Not to mention that he has a new Congress stuck in him as a fish bone... When the "very intelligent" Chavez is still president in ten years from now and that I am in exile somewhere will you come to gloss over him again? Why the need to use Chavez to make a home point against Bush? Can you not find something more palatable at home?
But I do get a double bonus with this post: see, there is the proof on how the Venezuelan media is now controlled by Chavez. All sorts of PSF, of which Barbara Walters is now a full fledged member, keep stating that the Venezuelan media is all against Chavez and that he is always on the defensive. Well, let's look at the picture above.
Once you pass the invitation to watch the show at 9 PM tonight, you will read the list of all the media transmitting SIMULTANEOUSLY the Walters farce. Details:
National TV broadcast (open signal most of the country): VTV, VIVE
National on Cable and on the main TV markets: TeleSur, ANTV
Local TV: CatiaTve (Caracas), and many local TV stations
The only radio station allowed to broadcast all over the country: RNV
A network of pseudo individual radio Stations in fact owned by chavista agents: Radio Rumbos, Mundial
Many community radios (almost all Venezuelan community radios are authorized by the government, if I wanted to open one I would be quickly shut down)
And to ice the cake, 1 hour later the Venevision network will rebroadcast the interview. Venevision is supposedly private but for the last two years has found itself collaborating closer and closer to the government. I suppose that now that any journalist that criticized the government has been fired, it is a kosher network again and allowed to broadcast to the glory of EL Surpremo.
List of media that WILL NOT broadcast Chavez interview?
RCTV (soon to be closed)
Globovision and Televen (both do not have open signal all over the country, and Televen is semi pro Chavez anyway)
ValeTv (cultural TV that does not have news or talk show whatsoever and only in Caracas or on Cable)
Some local radio and TV stations, very few of them.
As you see, the ratio is now approximatively 3 to 1 in favor of Chavez for all broadcast access existing. In some areas Globovision is not allowed to have open air signal and once RCTV is gone, there will be NO media critical of the government on the air. Only on cable if you can afford it ( a huge if for most Venezuelans). Nice, no?
Now, would not Barbara want to have her stuff covered to such extent in the good 'ole US of A?
Will I watch it tonight? Not a fat chance! At the same time Lat Am Fox on cable is starting the Latin American season of "Nip and Tuck" and I am certainly not going to miss a show who does a much better social study and criticism of US society than whatever Barbara ever did....
PS: some other reviews which are pointed to me since I posted this, here (with speculation on drug addiction) and here (with a more moderate look). Quico in particular notes a comment from one of his readers which is worth quoting here too: "Her show is where disgraced celebrities go for their first public reappearances". Bull's eye, no?
PS2: and of course Youtube had to get it BEFORE it was broadcast in Venezuela. VTV against Youtube? No contest!
PS3: Oh heck! There is Andres Oppenheimer been targeted by Chavez. So Andres offers him a REAL Interview, not a Walters elegant tea party, an interview where Oppenheimer would ask the following questions, hoping for a reply.
So with all due respect, I would like to pose the following questions: If you are so democratic, why do you glorify military coups? If you are so progressive, why do you close down independent television stations? If your hero Fidel Castro is so popular in Cuba, why doesn't he allow a free election? If you respect human rights, why don't you allow OAS human rights inspectors into your country?
And, finally, if you are so convinced of what you say, why do you only grant interviews to nonchallenging reporters? Last time we met and I respectfully asked you for an interview, you told me to go to hell.I challenge you to answer all these questions personally. We would get a great audience.
See Barbara, this is what a real journalist looks for, not how many cups of coffee the guy drinks.
Written from the Venezuelan provinces, this blog started as private letters to my friends overseas, letters narrating the difficult days of the 2002/2003 strike in Venezuela. These letters became this mix of news, comments, pictures of the Venezuelan situation. Unknowingly, I have written the diary of Venezuela slow descent into authoritarianism, the slow erosion of our liberties, the takeover of the country by a military caste, the surrendering of our soul to our inner demons.
Click logo above to go directly to the English language blog. Click here to go to the Spanish language mirror.
Estamos en Venezuela, nunca se sabe. In spite of its Spanish title, an irregular blog about a French student observing Venezuela. Interesting pictures.
General info and discontinued blogs but with good archives
Venezuela Crisis has a visual and textual record "hors pair" of the recent electoral campaign in Venezuela, the first blogger to have covered live a Venezuelan campaign. Seems to be on a resting phase for a few weeks.
Digital papers with Venezuela and LatAm in mind (in Spanish)
There are two major digital papers with forums and all, for a permanent clash between factions. Noticiero Digital is the oldest one and Noticias 24 is giving it a run for tis money.
And a new comer:Venezuela es noticia.
Ciudadania Activa has a large selection of articles on Venezuelan politics and civil rights issues.
Relevant info to expose some of the regime's propaganda and human rights violations
The lies of April
The famous "infamous" video "The revolution will not be televised" has been duly analyzed and shown to be in large measure a crass manipulation. Counter-video in Spanish here, and summary of main points here.
There is a documentary that follows the April 2002 events from the perspective on what Chavez did that April 11, "La Cadena". It is about the forced broadcast made by Chavez to hide the massacre of the pacific march on Miraflores.
The infamous apartheid like system of the Tascon and Maisanta lists
The compilation of various documents from Miguel.
The video "La Lista" and my reviews in English and Spanish by invitation at Hispalibertas.
The El Nacional review of Perez Oramas.
The original video itself can be seen here.
Diverse Human Rights pages
Of course, from Amnesty International to the Human Rights Watch page, without forgetting local organizations such as prestigious COFAVIC, the Venezuelan government comes only too often lacking in its Human Rights record.
OTHER FOLKS WITH VENEZUELA MORE OR LESS IN THEIR MIND (Please send links that should be added here)
And of course to be fair there must be links to pro-Chavez sites. I do pride myself of having been the first opposition blog to have listed pro Chavez links; a situation that has now changed. However extremely rare is the pro Chavez page or blog that links to any of the sites listed above. The readers might draw their own conclusion
Aporrea (Beat up, bruise! as in the imperative mode of the verb; the only interesting one if you can read Spanish. Predicts the future)
And of course the full time propaganda agencies, ALL at tax payer expenses, the National Radio coverage, RNV, and the rather deficient official news agency, ABN (both in Spanish).
Without forgetting the "official" newsletter in English.
Some blogs, more or less sycophantic.
Yosmary, campaigning for Mario Silva, quite something.
Less sycophantic, even critical on occasion Terreno baldio.
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Map of Venezuela to help you locate the different locales mentioned through the blog (click here for a more detailed map)
For the memories. The picture below dates from the epic days of the December 2002/January 2003 "El Paro", when the opposition was strong and decided, and when Chavez was low in polls.
Then came the "misiones" and the worst populist episode of our history. Through pacific protests and strikes we tried to preserve democracy.
History proved us right even if we lost that battle.
Marching toward Hotel Melia, 01/31/03, 5 PM.
Small yellow square under the Pepsi ball is the big stage.
A special thanks to JoAnne Schmitz for the suggestions and help in setting this blog up.
(Translation: We invite all Venezuelans to watch the interview of the year.
