We have been discussing the rapid decline of civil liberties in Venezuela after the socialist takeover by Hugo Chavez and his successor, Nicolas Maduro. The denial of free speech and free press protections only increased as Chavez/Maduro destroyed one of the most productive economies in Latin America and turned it into an economic basket case. Now, the “red revolution” can take credit for reducing the judicial system to a virtual caricature of itself. The Venezuela’s Supreme Court ruled this week that the media cannot publish videos of lynchings because such true images would produce “anxiety and uncertainty” among citizens. The Maduro government has been trying to prevent citizens from seeing such images as it denies the social and economic meltdown in the country.
The Supreme Court is widely viewed as filled with cronies of the government. The Court declared
“The Supreme Court has ordered a ban on digital outlets ‘La Patilla’ and ‘Caraota Digital’ from publishing videos of lynchings, via their internet sites, as well as their social media accounts . . . Media have the right to journalistically express a news event … but these rights should not create anxiety and uncertainty in the population.”
The lynching are on the rise as the public deals with the shortage of essential and a rise in crime. The solution of the government is to prevent people from seeing the images. Problem solved.
Venezuelan lawyers have bemoaned the loss of the integrity of the court system. In combination with the denial of a free press, the socialist government has moved closer to Chavez’s model of a Cuban-like system. In the process, he and Maduro has succeeded in reducing their economy to the same primitive state as Cuba in the name of creating a worker’s paradise.
The real reason is they dont want the people to get ideas about what to do to the govt. Hang em high.
I think that we need to televise each and every killing undertaken by the states or the federal government. Those entities call their killings “executions”. Put it on Kid Tv on PBS and show the children how we really admire the Sixth Commandment in this so called Christian nation.
A longtime resident of Venezuela writes, in an article at Global Research:
in the world’s most prosperous nation 20% of children face undernourishment, while in Venezuela the number is 19.3%. Since these statistics are so close, I suggest that Town Hall publish a more accurate and equally urgent article entitled: US Capitalism Fails at Feeding the Children, and Venezuelan Socialism Does only Slightly Better.
But most of our caution with these stories comes because we smell danger. How many times have we seen the first step on that well-traveled road to US intervention paved by these heart wrenching stories rammed 24/7 by the media. They lay the groundwork, help to justify almost anything.
The corporate media in our country is “fair and unbiased” — in its support of illegal invasions and perpetual war for perpetual profits.
“Media have the right to journalistically express a news event … but these rights should not create anxiety and uncertainty in the population.”
Any good citizen of a totalitarian regime knows that the creation of anxiety and uncertainty is the right ONLY of the government.
A representative of and for the 1% has spoken. The 1% always prefers friendly dictators who allow their country’s natural resources to be exploited by avaricious U.S. corporations. Countries that act to lift up all of their citizens are considered enemies and our intelligence services work night and day to overthrow those democratically elected governments and replace them with cooperative oligarchies.
Public executions have been a thing of the past for a very long time. We apparently do not allow them in our media, so this is strange to criticize Venezuela for adopting a policy similar to our own.
The Venezuela Supreme Court judges traded their decision for how much flour, milk, eggs, and meat? The theory behind Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy is clear. People will dramatically change their behaviors when their basic needs are not met.
I live in Texas where the “death penalty” has frequently been executed by the state. I have never seen any live or recorded executions made available to the public. This seems a strange criticism of Venezuela.
Obama has been slow walking information to the media since he got in office. Where is the difference?
Not that I condone dictatorships, but there’s a price to pay for not being another of our banana republics. I strongly support the sovereignty of Latin America against our intervention which is mostly where its problems lie.
It’s hypocritical to criticize the Maduro government while at the same time denying that ours is an opaque government controlled by he who has the most money to influence it or a press with access only through the sole discretion of the Executive.
Choose your poison.
Good point Doglover.
Got Milk? Got Socialism? No milk, and no freedom either.
“media cannot publishing videos of lynchings because such true images would produce “anxiety and uncertainty” among citizens.”
Is that the reasoning used to “protect” US citizens from seeing the rest of the AbuGraib torture photos?