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and I find no substance in it whatever. When you say, "Benevolent Despot or Malevolent Corporate-owned pResident," you are opposing a phantom--a bogeyman, a non-existent creation of the corpo-fascist press--with "Malevolent Corporate-owned pResident." "Malevolent Corporate-owned pResident" does have substance, in my opinion. That was certainly true of Bush. (Obama I would say is "Corporate-owned" but I wouldn't say "malevolent.") But "Benevolent Despot"--or any kind of despot--does not hold up, for Chavez, when you examine the allegations upon which it is based. Name any one of them and I will tell you the other side of the story, which, in every case, I have found more convincing.
I will give you the example of Chavez's de-licensing of RCTV. Much was made of this in our corpo-fascist press, as to Chavez being a "dictator" who was suppressing "free speech." But the facts say otherwise. First of all, the broadcast airwaves in Venezuela belong to the PUBLIC, as they do in most countries. Corporations have NO right to use those airwaves. They have to apply for a license, and most countries put CONDITIONS on those licenses. We once had the "Fairness Doctrine" here (and we most definitely need it again) which REQUIRED businesses using the public airwaves to provide truly balanced coverage of political news and public affairs, as well as public service broadcasting (for instance, broadcasting the entirety of our political conventions). They have to satisfy these conditions or lose their license to broadcast.
And there is no country in the world that would tolerate a private broadcaster colluding with a coup that tried to overthrow the legitimate government--which is exactly what RCTV did. Their owners and execs directly colluded with the violent rightwing military coup in 2002. They hosted the coupsters. They refused to allow any legit government spokespeople on TV. They broadcast false video footage and false information on behalf of the coup.
So, when their broadcast license came up for its 20-year renewal, Chavez very rightfully denied them a renewal. He then gave that airwave over to independent producers with the mandate to provide programming for excluded groups--such as women, the Indigenous and African-Venezuelans.
The first thing that the coup that was supported by RCTV did, after kidnapping Chavez, was to suspend the Constitution, the Courts, the National Assembly (congress) and all civil rights. And once these things were accomplished (but before the people of Venezuela defeated the coup), RCTV and other corporate broadcasters ran cartoons and other trivial programming and banned any information about the coup. The next step would likely have been brutal suppression of anti-coup protests and targeted murders of the members of Chavez's government and other leftists--with the public airwaves basically shut down.
Now tell me: Whose actions more promoted "free speech" in its real sense--the freedom of EVERYONE to be informed, the freedom of EVERYONE to express their opinions and to participate in the political life of their society--Chavez or RCTV?
In truth, Chavez would have been within his rights to storm RCTV studios, the moment that the Venezuelan people returned him to power, and to shut them down on the spot, and arrest the owners and executives. They SPONSORED the coup! But he didn't do that--likely because he wanted to calm the country down. He waited until their license came up for renewal and quite rightfully denied it.
Does it harm "free speech" in Venezuela to have one less rabid rightwing channel in what is a sea of rightwing broadcasters, who dominate TV/radio in Venezuela? Or does it, in fact, ENHANCE the "free speech" of most people to be rid of one of them--the worst of the lot, the one who openly aided the coup attempt? And what about the majority in Venezuela and their right to have the government they elected? Is that not an even more fundamental democratic right--the ultimate act of "free speech"--voting?
RCTV and the coupsters cancelled all of these rights. RCTV then broadcast cartoons while a million Venezuelans poured into the streets and surrounded Miraflores Palace (the seat of government) to peacefully demand the return of their kidnapped president and the restoration of constitutional government. Do those million Venezuelans not have a right of "free speech" that entitled them to COVERAGE of their amazing protest? What kind of irresponsible, vicious, privately interested broadcaster, using the PUBLIC airwaves, would do that--would deny coverage to the most important event in Venezuela's history--and should they not be denied a government license to use those airwaves?
EVERY criticism of Chavez, on this "dictator" "talking point," is like this. It is crap. It dissolves when you understand the context. Chavez has broken no law, and has in fact scrupulously adhered to the Constitution. He is a strong president, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but NOT an autocratic one. He has ENHANCED the ability of ordinary people to participate in government and politics. Venezuelans regularly express their great satisfaction with their democracy in regional polls. In their opinion--the only opinion that counts--they have a great democracy! And whatever "decree powers" Chavez has used have been given to him by the National Assembly, which is ALSO elected. The "decree powers"--a common practice in Latin America--are time-limited and issue-limited. Recently, he was given "decree powers" to deal with catastrophic floods that have made some 30,000 people homeless. New homes and entire new communities need to be built--and the financing and organization of construction and new infrastructure must be seen to. Lula da Silva, in Brazil, recently used "decree powers" to set aside a wide swath of the Amazon for an uncontacted indigenous tribe. This is NOT unusual in Latin America. Like their frequent re-writes of their constitutions, it is merely different from our practice.
Context is all. And context is ALWAYS LEFT OUT of corpo-fascist 'news' articles about Chavez. When Chavez denied a license renewal to RCTV, several other countries' governments had recently done the same, for far less cause. This was NEVER MENTIONED in the corpo-fascist 'news' articles and editorials on Chavez and RCTV.
The corpo-fascist press feels that the power of multinational corporations is deeply threatened by a government that dares to conduct REAL regulation of the public airwaves IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. Their monopolies over 'news' and information are threatened. Their power over public opinion is threatened. THEY are the "dictators," not Chavez. Chavez genuinely represents the majority in Venezuela. Who do they represent? Moneyed interests; the few. Chavez loves debate. He has an hour-long TV show on the tiny government station every week, where he freely gabbles with guests and call-in's on every political subject. Would that WE had a president so willing to freely communicate--to show himself, to defend himself and his policies, to explain, to reveal who he is! Chavez is not a secretive personality. He is wide open. Venezuelans KNOW WHO HE IS. He is NOT repressive, NOT secretive, NOT hiding from anybody. Would a "dictator" behave that way?
Anyway, I ask you to investigate this matter, as I have, before you judge Chavez to be a "despot"--benevolent or otherwise. DO NOT rely in "impressions" from our corpo-fascist media. I view them as participating in a disinformation campaign about Chavez, that I see across the board, in ALL of our media. It is a calculated, propagandistic LIE, on the order of Stalin's "Big Lie" technique--repeating something over and over and over again, until the human mind abandons facts and rationality, and gives in. They hammer Chavez day in, day out, with false, distorted 'news' stories totally lacking in context. To them, a "despot" is a leader who does not yield to corporate/rich-people power. But is that really a "despot"? Or is just strength in a good cause? Is Chavez a "dictator" or is he just a strong leftist leader like FDR? You be the judge. But please do not base you judgement on "impressions" from distorted 'news' stories. Base it on facts and context. Facts and context CAN be found, these days, with the Internet.
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