On
30 May, Dan Rather, one of America's best-known journalists, referred
to [Venezuelan president Hugo] Chávez as "the dictator" – a term that
few, if any, political scientists familiar with the country would
countenance.
Here is what Jimmy Carter said about Venezuela's
"dictatorship" a few weeks ago: "As a matter of fact, of the 92
elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in
Venezuela is the best in the world." Carter won a Nobel prize for his
work through the election-monitoring Carter Center, which has observed
and certified past Venezuelan elections.
The opposition will probably lose this election ... because the living
standards of the majority of Venezuelans have dramatically improved
under Chávez.
Since 2004, when the government gained control
over the oil industry and the economy had recovered from the
devastating, extra-legal attempts to overthrow it (including the 2002
US-backed military coup), poverty has been cut in half and extreme
poverty by 70%. And this measures only cash income.
Millions
have access to healthcare for the first time, and college enrolment has
doubled, with free tuition for many students. Inequality has also been
considerably reduced. By contrast, the two decades that preceded Chávez
amount to one of the worst economic failures in Latin America, with real
income per person actually falling by 14% between 1980 and 1998.
In
Washington, democracy has a simple definition: does a government do what
the state department wants it to do?
Note:
For a powerful movie which shows how much our media distorts our
perception of global events, watch "The Revolution Will Not be
Televised" about Venezuela and Hugo Chavez at this link.
For deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources on mass media corruption, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment