The US Media, Latin America and Snowden's Asylum

[Catherina]

The US Media, Latin America and Snowden's Asylum

...

But Russia wasn't the only country that Snowden considered for asylum. There was a long list of countries where, according to WikiLeaks, he could end up. These included several Latin American nations: Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua. His choices for asylum received extensive coverage in the media.

Now, a group of Latin America scholars and professors have sent out a letter to media outlets across the United States addressing the media's portrayal of Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela in relation to the Edward Snowden case. The letter is critical of how these countries have been covered by the media and states, for example, that "media distortions of the state of democracy and press freedoms in countries that are routinely condemned by the U.S. government – such as Venezuela and Ecuador - contribute to a climate of demonization that enables U.S. aggression against those countries and damages relations between the people of the U.S. and our foreign neighbors."

You can read the entire letter here:

An Open Letter to the Media - Snowden and Latin America

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/17646-latin-american-scholars-critical-of-coverage-of-snowden-affair

[think]

1. Great read and an impressive list of cosigners.

K&R

[Starry Messenger]

2. I got used to my bubble here in Bay Area activist circles.

The viciousness about the LatAm socialist countries here and in the news shocked me, though if I'd thought harder about it, it shouldn't have. I'm always such a Pollyanna.

I swear, this country has the biggest case of Stockholm Syndrome.

[Laelth]

3. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth