International media ignores Serra assassination
International media ignores Serra assassination
By Ewan Robertson, Venezuelanalysis
GlobalResearch.ca
Friday, Oct 10, 2014
The gruesome assassination of pro-government lawmaker Robert Serra (27) and his partner Maria Herrera last Wednesday has shaken the administration of President Nicolas Maduro and the wider country. Serra was the youngest member of the National Assembly and a rising star in the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
When details of the assassination first emerged, including that Serra had been gagged, handcuffed and stabbed up to 40 times in his Caracas home, the hypothesis that the murder was an act of political terrorism linked to far-right extremists gained traction among several politicians, diplomats and academics. These observers pointed to the way Serra’s assassination was carried out, other recent assassinations or attempts on chavista figures, the presence of far-right armed groups in the “guarimba” barricades earlier this year, and the emergence of videos tying far-right Venezuelan activists with former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. Perhaps the most forthright and unexpected statement came from UNASUR secretary general Ernesto Sampar, himself a former Colombian president, who tweeted that, “The assassination of the young legislator Robert Serra in Venezuela is a worrying sign of the infiltration of Colombian paramilitarism”.
Venezuela’s conservative opposition has played down the murder as just another case of common crime, drawing attention to the high homicide rate and obliquely using the issue to further criticise the government’s performance. This stance drew fire from Eleazar Diaz Rangel, the editor of the country’s largest newspaper, Ultimas Noticias, who wrote in his Sunday column that the opposition had “missed another chance” to distance itself from far-right violence and “those who internally must have applauded it”.
International media sidesteps the issue
International media outlets appear to have taken a similar approach to the Venezuelan opposition, downplaying Serra’s assassination and the hypothesis that it was a pre-planned act of political terrorism. As such, articles by Reuters, the BBC and others were quick to draw attention to the country’s crime rate in their articles reporting the high-profile murder. Perhaps the most obfuscating article was the Christian Science Monitor which led with, “Venezuelan politician’s murder: More pressure on Maduro to crack down on crime”. Fox News meanwhile headlined: “Venezuelan lawmaker who taunted government opponents slain at home”, a slur for which the article itself provided no evidence.
More:
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_67778.shtml
