Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has started down a well-worn path toward building a profile in this politically volatile country:...

RPT-Venezuela's Ivy League radical eyes prison as political springboard - Reuters

Friday February 21st, 2014 at 8:13 PM

Top Stories - Google News

1 Share

RPT-Venezuela's Ivy League radical eyes prison as political springboard
Reuters
(Repeats to widen distribution. No change to headline or text.) By Brian Ellsworth. CARACAS Feb 21 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has started down a well-worn path toward building a profile in this politically volatile country:...

Venezuela tells CNN journalists to 'get out'CNN 
Venezuela 'revokes accreditation and visas' of CNN journalistsBBC News
Venezuela protests: Has the opposition cleared a leadership hurdle?Christian Science Monitor
Bloomberg-TIME-Wall Street Journal
all 418 news articles »

CNN International

Venezuela News

Venezuela - Google News

-

» The Commune is the Supreme Expression of Participatory Democracy: A Conversation with Anacaona Marin of El Panal Commune
19/04/19 19:19 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
In this interview, VA talks with a member of the Alexis Vive Patriotic Force, an organization based in the 23 de Enero barrio in Caracas that has worked to build one of Venezuela’s flagship urban communes.

» US Sanctions Venezuela’s Central Bank
18/04/19 17:21 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
The latest sanctions are meant to limit Venezuela’s access to US dollars.

» Defending Venezuela: Two Approaches
18/04/19 13:48 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Chris Gilbert argues that solidarity movements defending Venezuela's sovereignty should also engage with the revolutionary proposals of the Bolivarian process.

» The Latin American Left’s Setbacks: What Does It All Mean?
16/04/19 09:23 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Steve Ellner and Alan Freeman talk about the Pink Tide and what came after in Venezuela and in the Latin American region.

» Venezuela: Canada Imposes Fresh Sanctions as Pompeo Vows to ‘Tighten Noose’
15/04/19 20:43 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Lima Group have pledged more sanctions against Venezuela.

» Who Are Venezuela’s Colectivos?
15/04/19 12:05 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Green Left Weekly's Federico Fuentes recently visited Venezuela, and offers his account on the famed "colectivos" who are so demonized by the mainstream press.

» Can the Bolivarian Revolution Survive the Venezuelan Crisis?
12/04/19 12:45 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Creating the space for and allowing the Bolivarian Revolution to flourish is perhaps the most important achievement of Venezuela’s Chavista government — but can it survive the current crisis? Dario Azzellini, George Ciccarello-Maher and ...

» Is the U.S. Prepared to Accept a Defeat in Venezuela?
12/04/19 12:29 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Analyst Marco Teruggi takes stock of the US-backed coup attempt and discusses what comes next.

» US Threatens Venezuela at UNSC as IMF Freezes Funds
11/04/19 17:33 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Diplomatic battles rage on at international bodies such as the UNSC, the OAS and the IMF.

» Venezuela: New Power Outage as Oil Output Plummets
10/04/19 22:19 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuela’s oil output fell significantly in March as a result of electricity problems and US sanctions.

» Socialism Has to Be Feminist or It Won’t Be Emancipatory: A Conversation with Indhira Libertad Rodriguez
08/04/19 20:44 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
In this interview, a young feminist intellectual looks at how feminism intersects with the anti-imperialist and anticapitalist struggles.

» Venezuela: US Imposes Fresh Sanctions as Rival Marches Held
08/04/19 18:18 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Washington further tightened the screws on Venezuela’s oil industry Friday.

» Over 40 Groups Call on Congress to Oppose Sanctions, Military Intervention
08/04/19 16:21 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Several US groups are pressuring Congress to oppose sanctions and military intervention against Venezuela.

» Guaido’s Parliamentary Immunity Revoked as Maduro Sacks Electricity Minister
03/04/19 19:55 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
The measure paves the way for criminal proceedings to be brought against the opposition leader.

» Venezuela, US Solidarity, and the Future of Socialism
02/04/19 16:09 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
The US left's failure to build solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution has opened the way for right-wing efforts to delegitimize Maduro as a dictator and justify US intervention. 

» Venezuelan Gov’t Authorizes Expansion of Red Cross Aid
01/04/19 19:57 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Opposition leader Guaido claimed “victory” but government spokespeople say the move has “nothing to do” with US efforts to force in “humanitarian aid.”

» Venezuela’s Maduro Announces Electricity Rationing Plan as Protests Break Out
01/04/19 13:11 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Scattered demonstrations took place in parts of Caracas and several provinces as the government tries to address water and electricity shortages.

» Venezuela: Why is Maduro Still in Power?
01/04/19 09:29 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Green Left Weekly's Federico Fuentes analyses why Maduro remains in power after recently visiting Venezuela.

» Everyone Washington Supports, by Definition, Is a Moderate Centrist
31/03/19 16:27 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Alan Macleod looks at how US backed figures get portrayed by the mainstream media, regardless of their true colors.

» Venezuela’s Oil Production Plummets in February Due to New US Sanctions
29/03/19 15:18 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
The Center for Economic Policy Research in Washington DC analyzes the "very harsh impact" of the latest sanctions imposed on Venezuela's oil sector.

» Venezuela: Guaido Barred from Public Office as Maduro Announces Temporary Electricity Rationing
28/03/19 15:10 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Workers from other industries have flocked to the Guri Dam to help repair the fire damage.

» Venezuela: Despite the Crisis, Chavez’s Legacy Endures
28/03/19 10:09 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Federico Fuentes reports on his recent visit to Venezuela where he encountered an entirely different reality to that depicted by the mainstream mdia.

» Trump: ‘Russia Has to Get Out’ of Venezuela
27/03/19 22:11 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Trump told reporters he would “fix” Venezuela.

» Pathological Deceit: The NYT Inverts Reality on Venezuela’s Cuban Doctors
27/03/19 17:41 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
VA's Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz examine a recent New York times article about the role of Cuban doctors in Venezuela.

» The Time for Peace Is Now: An Interview with José Alejandro Delgado
26/03/19 22:00 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Young Venezuelan singer José Alejandro Delgado talks to VA about the current struggle for peace and the role artists should play.

» Venezuela: New Widespread Power Outage as Gov’t Denounces Alleged Attacks
26/03/19 20:16 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuelan authorities denounced a “double attack” against the country’s electrical infrastructure.

» Venezuelans: 'We Want to Resolve Our Problems by Ourselves'
26/03/19 09:29 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Federico Fuentes visited Venezuela recently. This brief report channels the voice of working-class Venezuelans who are against US interventionism.

» Venezuelan Gov’t Presents Evidence of Alleged Opposition Paramilitary Plot
25/03/19 17:09 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuelan authorities claim to have uncovered the plot from a conversation between Guaido and Russian pranksters impersonating the president of Switzerland.

» Trump’s Sanctions Kill Venezuelan People. Why Can’t UN Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet ‘Fully Acknowledge’ That?
25/03/19 08:52 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
Joe Emersberger takes apart Bachelet's recent comments on Venezuela and US-led sanctions.

» Thirty Years after Venezuela’s 'Caracazo': A Conversation with Livia Vargas
23/03/19 16:17 from New on venezuelanalysis.com
During three days in late February 1989, the Venezuelan people rose up to protest the newly-elected government’s neoliberal policies. The repression that followed left thousands dead, but the rebellion spelled the end of an epoch and the...

» This feed is not available.
07/12/18 11:08 from Google News
For the latest headlines visit Google News .

Powered by Feed Informer

Venezuela says 8 killed in violence | Venezuela protests: demonstrators tell us why they're taking part - The Guardian (blog)

Venezuela says 8 killed in violence

Friday February 21st, 2014 at 7:16 PM

CNN.Com - World

1 Share

Venezuela's western state of Tachira was the flashpoint of tensions between anti-government protesters and security forces Friday,

Venezuela protests: demonstrators tell us why they're taking part - The Guardian (blog)

Friday February 21st, 2014 at 7:35 PM

World - Google News

1 Share

Venezuela protests: demonstrators tell us why they're taking part The Guardian (blog) We have one of the highest murder rates in the world – two people per hour – rampant inflation at a rate of 60% a year, basic products like milk, oil, sugar, chicken are not available in supermarkets, if we want to travel we have to go through a ... Venezuela's Leopoldo Lopez eggs on protesters from jailCBC.ca Is Venezuela burning while world watches Ukraine?Channel 4 News all 431 news articles »

Venezuela expats are tweeting the way for embattled protesters | GlobalPost

Venezuela expats are tweeting the way for embattled protesters | GlobalPost

Friday February 21st, 2014 at 7:14 PM

1 Share

Wesley TomaselliFebruary 21, 2014 16:02

Venezuela expats are tweeting the way for embattled protesters

The government is squeezing critical TV, blocking websites and even cutting off the internet. Here's how Venezuelans abroad are helping protesters cope.

Facebook 7

0

26

Enlarge

A Venezuelan protester lights a fire during clashes with riot police in Caracas on Feb. 20. (Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images)

Advertisement

BOGOTA, Colombia — As anti-government protesters descended on Caracas’ main plaza this week, marcher Eiker Ramirez called a Venezuelan living in neighboring Colombia and asked her what was happening.

His friend here, 24-year-old university student Yoselie Gonzalez, checked her Twitter feed.

“They’ve got the whole avenue militarized,” Gonzalez told him via cellphone.

She warned Ramirez to avoid possible clashes between opposition demonstrators and government forces or the armed militia supporters of President Nicolas Maduro, after a wave of violence over the past week has left eight confirmed dead.

“You’ve got to go through the other way. There isn’t any other route,” she said.

Since the Maduro government blocked access to a range of visual media covering the protests, young Venezuelans abroad have resorted to online social networks to keep family and friends inside the country informed.

This is part of a global trend where young people from Kyiv to Tehran, Cairo to Rio de Janeiro have swarmed to social media for organizing, spreading the story, and voicing anger at their leadership.

Venezuela’s government, also an avid tweeter, is well aware of this. The authorities are now blockingwebsites and cutting off the internet in parts of the country after bloody scenes from the clashes went viral.

With very few remaining independent and critical local media, President Maduro is also cracking down on international broadcasters he deems dangerous to the stability of his regime. The country's telecommunications regulator took a Colombian network off the air last week. Now, Maduro isthreatening to do the same to CNN.

“We’re living through the worst media blackout in our history right now,” said Lorena Di Cecilia, chief of operations at Digital Monitoring, a Caracas-based media watchdog.

“The government has launched an investigation into CNN. And they’re the very last channel on the air with a voice. If we lose CNN, the country goes blind — it’ll be an absolute blackout.”

Telecom regulator CONATEL, Di Cecilia explained, has threatened news anchors and broadcasters with heavy fines against their companies or getting taken off the air if they communicate information that the government considers to be “destabilizing.”

This has scared the national media into "a form of self-censorship," she added. “Basically everything expressed in opposition to this government implies ‘fascism’ or ‘destabilization’ … so they refrain from publishing it.”

In an attempt to muffle the noise of protests, Maduro’s government blocked images on Twitter last week, a spokesman for the social site told Bloomberg. After three days, Twitter’s image-publishing service was back online there, but other outlets have suffered.

Not long after that, the government removed NTN24, a Colombian 24-hour TV news station, from Venezuelan televisions after the network showed footage of violent clashes between police and protesters.

As the protests crescendo, the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Maduro’s actions toward the press, saying, “Media blackouts, arrests, and a campaign of harassment against dissenting voices has become a hallmark of this administration.”

Gonzalez insists that citizen journalism through social media has become the only way for Venezuelans to publish and verify information as the government tightens its control over traditional forms.

On top of that, many protesters are relying on people like Gonzalez who are safely outside the country to monitor social networks since many protesters can’t get internet access on the streets to find out where violent flare-ups are happening.

“We’re trying to publish the human rights violations that are happening,” Gonzalez said. “That’s what is not getting published on [Venezuelan] national television right now and these images need to be seen.”

The tone of Venezuela’s protests is eerily similar to other violent clashes around the world, including Ukraine and Brazil. Deadly and lasting clashes in all three countries started with smaller rallies of young people — many of them college students — protesting the government plus a host of social and economic woes.

Venezuelan protesters are speaking out against a deepening economic crisis, high crime levels and corruption. Many feel strongly that President Maduro is incapable of solving the problems that lie ahead, while his staunchest critics say he's making those problems worse.

Indeed, Venezuela’s economy is in shambles. Consumer prices are up a whopping 56 percent. Many basics — like food and medicine — are widely unavailable across the country.

Yet, as to the causes and solutions to these problems, Venezuela is very polarized. That's clear just by watching the demos. Ardent government supporters have also swarmed the streets in counter-protest. Many Venezuelans still support the left-wing movement launched by the late Hugo Chavez in 1999. And they fear that Chavez’s disciple, President Maduro, is right: that his opponents are “ultra-right-wing fascists” backed by US interests who are trying to incite a coup — lines that are repeated by most national media outlets as fact.

Not 25-year-old Giovanna Delgada. She's a Venezuelan teacher who fled her native Caracas a month ago after finding that the economic situation had become intolerable for her profession. She now lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Commenting on Venezuela’s rampant inflation, Delgado says, “If I were working as a teacher in Caracas right now, I’d be dying of hunger.”

In addition to inflation problems, Venezuela’s debts are piling up and its foreign currency reserves are dwindling. It owes $3 billion to foreign airlines, and roughly $9 billion in private-sector imports. And even though Venezuela sits on top of what many agree to be the world’s largest oil reserves, it isn’t reaping all the rewards it could from its oil sales.

Right now, Venezuela is sending hundreds of thousands of barrels to pay off $40 billion worth of debt to China, one of its main trading partners.

Instead of claiming responsibility and confronting deep-seated economic problems, Maduro seems to be putting more energy into measures that quell the dissent. Over the weekend the government ousted three US diplomats and, on Tuesday, arrested opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez for inciting the marches.

Lopez, a 42-year-old Harvard-educated local mayor, is among those Maduro labels a “fascist.”

How Lopez’s trial in the courts, and Venezuela’s trial on the streets, shape up over the next week should tell the world a great deal about President Nicolas Maduro’s leadership. That is, if he doesn’t shut down the story on social media before Venezuela’s citizen journalists tell it.

Back in Bogota, as she scrolls through her Twitter feed showing images and videos of violence from the day in Caracas, Yoselie Gonzalez asked out loud to herself, “How did we come to all of this? This isn’t my Venezuela.”

Follow this journalist on Twitter: @wesleytomaselli

• > Continue Reading

<a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/colombia/140221/venezuela-blackout-expats-social-media" rel="nofollow">http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/colombia/140221/venezuela-blackout-expats-social-media</a>

Read the whole story

 

· · · · · ·

Venezuela expats are tweeting the way for embattled protesters

Friday February 21st, 2014 at 7:09 PM

GlobalPost - Home

1 Share

Will Ukraine peace deal hold? by CNNInternational

Friday February 21st, 2014 at 7:08 PM