[News] Media War Against Venezuela Continues

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December 05, 2013
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/12/05/media-war-against-venezuela-continues/



*Fear of Socialist Revolution Continues*


  Media War Against Venezuela Continues

by MARIA PAEZ VICTOR

Since the election of President Hugo Chávez in 1999 there has been 
antipathy and deliberate media distortion of the political events in 
Venezuela.

Last Sunday, the Toronto Star (newspaper that self-identifies as 
liberal, broad thinking, progressive) published a defamatory article 
about the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro.  Once again the Canadian 
press goes on the attack against Venezuela, ridiculing and 
misrepresenting its president. And if at any time you thought that it 
was the personality of President Chávez that offended the world press, 
think again because all that media aggression now focuses on his 
successor, President Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro is a tall, dark, handsome man, a good orator, intelligent and 
friendly, but he is not charismatic like Chávez. But who could possibly 
be like Chávez? He was a singularity. Maduro is the first to admit it 
and so repeats that he is not Chávez, but with the slogan /"We are all 
Chávez"/ he spurs solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution of his 
government.

The Toronto Star is worried about inflation in Venezuela -- but did it 
worry in the decade of the 1970's when inflation jumped from 7.6% to 
20.4%? Or that in the decade of the 80's the average inflation rate was 
19.4% until it reached 47.4% in the decade of the 90's?[1] And what 
world newspaper or politician at that time forecasted with undisguised 
glee the ruin of the Venezuelan economy? None.  Which newspaper 
denounced the immoral excesses -- mistresses, drinking, fraud and 
corruption- of presidents Betancourt, Leoni, Caldera y Carlos Andrés 
Pérez? None.

But now, President Maduro is ridiculed for his symbolic language and, 
curiously, BECASUE HE IS NOT CHAVEZ

I have just returned from Caracas where I witnessed that there is social 
order; people go out Christmas shopping to shops full of products, all 
anticipating the season festivities. There is however, strong political 
activity because  of the coming municipal elections on December 8^th . 
It is so good to see a population that is politically alert, not like 
Canadian elections that seem to be done by sleepwalkers due to the lack 
of confidence that erodes political participation here.

Not so in Venezuela. The Communal Councils and the Communes are at the 
front of political activity; the government does not take a step without 
consulting them, and the participation of the communes in local projects 
is essential as they are its initiators.

Maduro has taken measures to combat what is called/ " an economic coup 
d'etat"/. Chileans know what this means because before the coup that 
overthrew the unforgettable martyr of the Americas, President Salvador 
Allende, the opposition with full support of the United States unleashed 
a terrible economic sabotage against Chile, with the aim of, as the 
sinister Richard Nixon stated: /"to make Chile scream"./ And so it was.

Venezuela has the advantage of learning from that experience and Maduro 
has taken the offensive with strong measures to control the economy, 
which have proved to be very popular.  His popularity however was not in 
question. In October he was considered the #1 most popular president in 
the Americas according to a survey by the international news outlet 
NTN24 and by the ICS network.[2]

Corruption in the Venezuelan private sector works like this. It is an 
oil economy, the private sector is not the main sources of income, and 
instead of investing in their own country, the private sector prefers 
the comfort of importing, and depending on government largess. If 
Venezuela let the bolívar float in the international currency market, 
there would be a spectacular exodus of capital because that class that 
believes it is "capitalist" is not. In truth, it is a bourgeois, 
parasitic, rentist class that produces nothing.

The merchants obtain dollars from the government at a preferential price 
of 6.30 bolívares supposedly because they are going to bring into the 
country, imported goods, which is not always the case. They then sell 
those goods as if the dollars had cost them the price on the black 
market, which could be from 60 to 80 bolívares. Thus they make a profit 
of 200%, 300% even up to 1,500%. Normally in capitalists countries 
merchants can obtain a profit of about 15% -- but not even the drug 
traffickers have profits like those of the corrupt Venezuelan merchants. [3]

Maduro did what Chávez did not do. He got the troops out into the street 
to find hoarded goods in hidden warehouses, inspected the large 
commercial houses that obtained government dollars, compared prices, set 
fines and even there will be jail sentences if they do not comply.

The business elite  - which led the coup d'etat in 2002- is a minority 
that considers itself privileged, it systematically commits fraud 
against the nation obtaining and misusing dollars; they create 
artificial scarcity through hoarding, scandalously overprices goods, 
practices usury, promotes capital exodus, and unleashes rumors and lies 
to create panic and destabilize a government that is not convenient for 
their immoral avarice. The problem is not economic it is political.

The Venezuelan economy is doing very well. Its oil exports last year 
amounted to  $94 billon while the imports only reached $59.3 billon -- a 
historically low record. The national reserves are at $22 billon and the 
economy has a surplus (not a deficit) of 2.9% of GDP. The country has no 
significantly onerous national or foreign debts. These are excellent 
indicators that many countries in Europe would envy, even the USA and 
Canada. [4]

So good is the economic future of Venezuela that even imperial banks 
recognize it. The multinational bank Wells Fargo has recently declared 
that Venezuela is one of the emerging economies that is most protected 
against any possible financial crisis and the Bank of America Merril 
Lynch has recommended to its investors to buy Venezuelan government 
bonds. [5]

How sad that the Toronto Star should publish an article more appropriate 
to the sensationalist press. Its main sources were  people from the 
United States who oppose Venezuela,  and not a single source from the 
Venezuelan government itself.

I am sorry for the Canadian public who are not allowed to form their 
opinions in a balanced manner, exposed to a press sold out to United 
States hegemonic interests that does not even have a Canadian 
perspective on international affairs.

Behind all this aggression against Venezuela is the fear of a successful 
socialist revolution that is profoundly democratic, so much so that it 
shines and reveals the democratic deficit of the capitalist powerful 
nations. [6]

/*Maria Páez Victor*, Ph.D., lives in Toronto. /

*Notes*

[1] /Estudio sobre la inflación en Venezuela/, Estudio del Banco Central 
de Venezuela, Caracas 2002

[2] /Maduro es el presidente más popular del continente Americano/, 
www.aporrea.org <http://www.aporrea.org/>, 01/10/13

[3] /Entre usureros te veas/, Luis Brito Garcia, aporrea, 2 diciembre 2013

[4] /La Guerra económica y las elecciones municipales, /Juan Manuel 
Karg, Rebelión, 2 diciembre 2013

[5] /La Guerra económica y las elecciones municipales, /Juan Manuel 
Karg, Rebelión, 2 diciembre 2013

[6] /Is Venezuela in Crisis?/ Ewa Sapiezynska & Hassan Akram, AL 
JAZEERA, 2 December 2013; Venezuelanalysis.com 
<http://venezuelanalysis.com/>

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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