Venezuela orders arrest of TV owner critical of Chavez

[Jeffersons Ghost]

Venezuela orders arrest of TV owner critical of Chavez

The Venezuelan authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the owner of a private television channel fiercely critical of President Hugo Chavez.

Prosecutors accuse Guillermo Zuloaga, who owns the Globovision channel, of business irregularities.

Mr Zuloaga's supporters say the warrant is an effort to silence him. The government says all due legal procedures have been followed. Opposition groups accuse Mr Chavez of trying to control the media.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/latin_america/10300428.stm

[DavidDvorkin]

1. And away we go ...

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. last week he nationalized a big food corporation, now this

[DavidDvorkin]

39. Somehow, that must be yet more proof of his wonderfulness.

[EFerrari]

43. Whelp, the oligarchy used to control the food supply in Ven

just like Israel controls the food supply in Gaza. If the unions or the electorate didn't fall in line, the food supply would mysteriously choke up.

The Chavez government is re-arranging that and as the UN has attested, food security is much better now in Venezuela even for the poorest folks.

But, if you want to see this as more proof that he rivals Cheney as an evildoer, go right ahead.

[proteus_lives]

2. Of course, Dear Leader has a good reason for this.

:eyes:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. Before reading the article in the OP, I thought Chavez was a decent leader. My opinion has changed

[The Doctor.]

17. Unfortunately, your new opinion may be unfounded.

For years, Chavez allowed this;

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=RCTV

The CIA has been http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2914">working for some time to destabilize Venezuela. Corporations have been very upset that Chavez has managed to bring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Venezuela">prosperity to Venzuelans at great cost to their profits. As you may be aware, the media has become more corporate the world over.

What's really happening may be a little fuzzier than the press at large is willing to report.

[laughingliberal]

19. Yes. My question was: is it a network 'critical' of Chavez or another calling for overthrow...

of the government?

[tritsofme]

25. Hugo's Venezuela is still mired in recession with 30% inflation, while his neighbors grow.

An interesting idea of prosperity you have.

[The Doctor.]

36. It's called a 'hyperlink'.

You 'click' on it and it takes you to the page that shows the growth of the Venezuelan economy while Chavez has been in office.

[jazzelle]

16. Funny...

hes beginning to lose me too.

[The Doctor.]

38. Yeah, I remember how you used to defend him all the time and champion his efforts...

No... really.

:silly:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

44. I was guily of doing the same thing

[The Doctor.]

45. No guilt necessary... you should read through this thread. Pay particular attention to #24

There is good reason to defend him.

[David__77]

3. If there were justice, many thousands of coupsters and fascists would be locked up.

They should not be free to act with impunity. The road of Allende should not be followed.

[EFerrari]

5. This case isn't even new. It looks like Zoloaga and his son

or their agents were illegally selling cars to avoid paying some kind of tax on them.

http://venezuela-us.org/live/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/PolicyUpdate-Kerry-Statement-May-23rd-2009.pdf

[Jeffersons Ghost]

8. that memo could easily be pure propaganda. I trust the BBC as a media source...

As much as I trust ANY modern media sources, that is

[EFerrari]

11. I looked this case up when it first surfaced in the media.

These guys seem to be dirty, or maybe, entitled is a better word.

The right wing opposition is full of corrupt crooks. Every time the state goes after their scams, they say it's political. In a way, I guess it is political. :)

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Charged with being crooks.

"But the state prosecutor, Luisa Ortega, said on state television that the men were being sought over alleged irregularities in two car dealerships of which they are the main shareholders.

The government has repeatedly denied any persecution of Mr Zuloaga for his political views.

Our correspondent says it insists that crimes have been committed within the car dealerships and both Guillermo Zuloaga and his son must answer the charges against them."

Oddly enough, crooks get charged with crimes in Venezuela. Horrors!

[Rage for Order]

12. Apparently, so do people who say the wrong things

From the article in the OP:

"Mr Zuloaga's supporters say the warrant is politically motivated, after President Chavez recently referred to comments made by Mr Zuloaga at an international press forum earlier this year.

At the conference, Mr Zuloaga suggested that Mr Chavez was responsible for most of the deaths which occurred in April 2002 during a short-lived coup.

"How is it possible that he can accuse me of such things and still walk free?" the Venezuelan leader (Chavez) asked during a recent televised address.

But the state prosecutor, Luisa Ortega, said on state television that the men were being sought over alleged irregularities in two car dealerships of which they are the main shareholders."

[EFerrari]

13. Except this case is over a year old. n/t

[laughingliberal]

20. Guess it's a good sign. Having to recycle the propaganda means they have nothing new to say. nt

[EFerrari]

21. This article is an excellent example of "how it works", isn't it?

[Rage for Order]

22. We should invade Venezuela to stop this injustice. n/t

[EFerrari]

28. Should be pretty easy. We've surrounded it with bases

which you and I are paying for!

[Rage for Order]

31. I advocate for an extended ground war...

And a counter-insurgency strategy of winning the hearts and minds of the people of Venezuela.

Of course, if that doesn't work we could just blast the crap out of them until they see the error of their ways.

[EFerrari]

34. I still like the idea of a Marine dance off better.

:)

[Jazzgirl]

35. It absolutely is a great example of "how it works".

I am so sick of people falling for all the propaganda posted by "established news" it isn't funny. Really, BBC is sometimes no better than CNN or Fox. They play the propaganda game very well.

[EFerrari]

40. If you bookmark the OP, #5 (the pdf) and #24 (the UK study)

you have the whole cycle exemplified. :hi:

It's funny because now I can spot this material about Venezuela pretty easily. But it makes me wonder, how much bs goes right by me on other topics.

[ProgressiveVictory]

9. well its easy to follow all due legal procedures when you make them up as you go.

[The Doctor.]

10. And of course you have some kind of evidence that such is the case here...

Oh, wait... you don't.

[ProgressiveVictory]

14. I have proof from his whole political career and how he has always done the right thing.

[The Doctor.]

18. What are you talking about?

Seriously... does he make up the laws as he goes, or does he 'do the right thing'?

[Warren Stupidity]

29. i.e. crickets

you've got nothing to back up your assertion.

[ProgressiveVictory]

42. USA in the world cup is on. i put EVERYTHING else on hold :)

[immune]

15. Whoo, shades of John Adams

and his alien and sedition acts.

[laughingliberal]

26. Although the alien and sedition acts were struck down, sedition is illegal in the US.

I assume the same is true in most countries.

[Warren Stupidity]

33. The Alien and Tax Cheats Act?

I never heard of that.

[immune]

41. Could you expand on that thought, please.

I don't think Benjamin Franklin's grandson was either an alien or seditious, yet he was jailed by Adams for speaking out against his administration, along with several other journalists of that time. I was merely making a comparison between Adams and Chavez in that specific regard.

[Warren Stupidity]

46. sure

Zuloaga is charged with evading tax regulations. Of course he claims it is really about Globovision's relentless anti-chavez propaganda, it's support for the aborted CIA backed coup, etc. but it seems that the specific charges are about a bunch of cars.

[immune]

47. That's what you get for staying on point ...

while I was busy going off the track.

Sorry.

[The Straight Story]

23. It's from the BBC. The only real, unbiased info, comes from Chavez run papers/news

DUH. You are just showing your bias, you can't handle the truth.

Chavez is really Jesus and he has returned to earth - and he has yet to sin!

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

27. LOL. Check out #24. It's a UK university study of BBC Venezuela coverage.

:rofl:

[The Straight Story]

32. Has any one studied their study? We must get to the bottom, there is no good source

Except the one we agree with. All others are to be trusted only when they print stories we agree with (like about bush, etc - then they are good sources).

Bias. It's what for dinner.

[EFerrari]

37. Isn't that the "everything is everything" argument?

Unless the University of West England is also on the Chavez payroll, might be worth a look.

lol

The corruption in Venezuela would float boats. But every time the Attorney General goes after anyone, they scream that it's political. I guess this is what it would look like if Obama went after BushCo. Whatever. There is also an amount of corruption in the Venezuelan government but no one has ever been able to find anything on Chavez although gawd knows, they're still trying.

This BBC article is clearly bulleria because they link the arrest warrant to comments Chavez made months AFTER the case was opened.

[EFerrari]

24. Jeffersons Ghost: you might be interested in this article

A Decade of Propaganda? The BBC’s Reporting of Venezuela
By Lee Salter - Venezuelanalysis.com, December 14th 2009

Researchers at the University of the West of England, UK, have exposed ongoing and systematic bias in the BBC’s news reporting on Venezuela. Dr Lee Salter and Dr Dave Weltman analysed ten years of BBC reports on Venezuela since the first election of Hugo Chavez to the presidency in an ongoing research project, and their findings so far show that the BBC’s reporting falls short of its legal commitment to impartiality, truth and accuracy.

The researchers looked at 304 BBC reports published between 1998 and 2008 and found that only 3 of those articles mentioned any of the positive policies introduced by the Chavez administration. The BBC has failed to report adequately on any of the democratic initiatives, human rights legislation, food programmes, healthcare initiatives, or poverty reduction programmes. Mission Robinson, the greatest literacy programme in human history received only a passing mention.

According to the research the BBC seems never to have accepted the legitimacy of the President, insinuating throughout the sample that Chavez lacks electoral support, at one point comparing him to Hitler (‘Venezuela’s Dictatorship’ 31/08/99).

This undermining of Chavez must be understood in the context of his electoral record: his legitimacy is questioned despite the fact that he has been elected several times with between 56% and 60% of the vote. In contrast victorious parties in UK elections since 1979 have achieved between 35.3% and 43.9% of the vote; the current UK Prime Minister was appointed by his predecessor, and many senior members of the British cabinet have never been elected. It will come as no surprise that their legitimacy is never questioned by the BBC.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5003

[The Straight Story]

30. This thread needs some pics