(Venezuela) Telecoms agency fines Globovisión for coverage of prison riot

[ChangoLoa]

Source: El Universal

Venezuela's National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) imposed a USD 2.1 million fine to TV news network Globovisión, an amount that represents 7.5% of the TV channel's revenue. The private channel was fined in connection with the coverage of riots occurred some months ago in Venezuela's prison El Rodeo.

Pedro Maldonado, the director of Conatel, said that the penalty is mandatory and must be paid immediately.

"The fine was imposed by the editorial behavior and the way Globovisión dealt with the events carried out in El Rodeo (prison)," said the Venezuelan official.

Maldonado added that the private TV news channel reported that the National Guard was "massacring" inmates and "this is a way of promoting hatred." He said that the network "created unrest" when it aired the statements made by the mothers of some prisoners.

Read more: http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/111018/telecoms-agency-fines-globovision-for-coverage-of-prison-riot

[ChangoLoa]

1. The military police forces (Guardia Nacional) filmed themselves during the intervention

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZPwymWZsS8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0nZ7Vvw5OI&feature=related

[txlibdem]

26. lack of control of prison in Juárez, where riots left 17 inmates dead

Video suggests Mexico prison guards' apparent involvement in shootings
Tensions between local and federal authorities follow lack of control of prison in Juárez, where riots left 17 inmates dead
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/28/juarez-prison-police-violence-mexico

[Bacchus39]

2. "created unrest" when it aired statements made by the mothers of some of the prisoners n/t

s

[txlibdem]

3. Good job of doing this smear job for the CIA and M$M

Did the Venezuelan police mace little girls even though they were complying with orders? Did the Venezuelan police viciously beat peaceful protestors with their batons?

Your OP is a smear campaign against Hugo Chavez, a Democratically elected leader.

[Bacchus39]

7. they fired tear gas at the families n/t

s

[ChangoLoa]

13. The damned GN killed a family visitor too

They freaking handled this riot with the paratroopers at the end.

The army and the police are the ones creating this situation with their weapon markets in the prisons and the constant racket of inmates and families. The military guards are at the head of those so called "mafias" ruling the jails from the inside. If you don't pay them, you die.

But don't anybody dare criticize any aspect of this paradise, theoretical worshipers will immediately go out shouting "ideological murder".

[Bacchus39]

14. your posts are the ones everyone needs to read n/t

s

[txlibdem]

23. Guards in Corporate-Occupied-America prisons are dealing drugs to inmates, what's the difference?

Corrupt people will find a way to be corrupt. The challenge is for every country, the US included.

Guards take a payoff to "look the other way" when someone wants to kill another inmate. Guards abuse inmates, sell drugs and cigarettes to inmates at inflated prices.

Abu Graib.

America isn't the pure innocent paradise you think it is either.

[octothorpe]

28. So that excuses these events or means these events should not be discussed?

Isn't it reasonable to discuss both? Couldn't we turn that around and say "Stop talking about the corruption in US prisons, look what happened in Venezuela"? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't accept that argument for that, so why accept it for this?

[txlibdem]

32. 5 inmates shot and killed by guards in CALIFORNIA

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/28/authorities-say-inmates-folsom-state-prison-shot-guards-riot-prison/

PS, this excuses NOTHING. All I'm saying is that the poster put those deaths by guards *against prisoners armed with firearms* as something that is out of the ordinary, something that should demand the removal of the entire Chavez government. When, in fact, it happens right here in the USA. Are you also calling for the forced removal of the US government??? I wouldn't recommend it!

Use your logic skills, man! Prisoners are in prison for a reason, by and large. And if given a pistol or a rifle they are a danger to themselves and to the guards -- not to mention the mayhem they would unleash if they ever escaped from the prison.

[ChangoLoa]

35. You can perfectly give your opinion and defend it without making up stuff

"America isn't the pure innocent paradise you think it is either"
Where did you understand I was saying that? Nonsense.

"the poster put those deaths by guards *against prisoners armed with firearms* as something that is out of the ordinary, something that should demand the removal of the entire Chavez government"
Are you doing that on purpose? As you can easily see, I've never mentioned anything about the removal of any government. You're just a liar.

In fact, I haven't even mentioned Chavez. I criticize the army for treating the prisoners like dogs and the institutions for giving a huge fine to the TV station because they used the word "massacre". If you want to justify it and applaud them, go ahead! Tell us why you support the Mexican, Chinese, Haitian, Californian or Venezuelan way of dealing with this events. Tell us why you support punishing a TV station after it talked harshly about the killing of 19 inmates. I'm sure some people would gladly agree with you. Just avoid attributing words to me that I haven't typed.

Happy soliloquy.

[ChangoLoa]

11. So what do you support?

The army spraying inmates with their assault rifles after selling them those weapons?

The State giving a 2.7 mill.$ fine to the TV station for saying they were committing a massacre when in fact the army killed "only" 19 inmates (and had some soldiers killed too)?

Or perhaps you deny the existence of this events?

If you stand with the milicos, that's your opinion. I'd consider it quite reactionary for many obvious reasons. But if you're going to call a "smear campaign" the simple fact that I posted this news, have the intelligence to say something other than "Did the Venezuelan police mace little girls even though they were complying with orders?". Because any progressive having the slightest clue of how these prisoners live and are treated in those jails should strike his teeth with a stone before speaking that way.

[txlibdem]

24. Guerilla groups backed by the wealthy land owners are the biggest problem in Venezuela

Listen to what you just wrote: prison guards "sold" weapons to inmates. Why on Earth would they do that... don't you think they'd know that would endanger their lives???

It's far more likely that the land owners smuggled the weapons into the prison. That I would believe.

[joshcryer]

12. Eh, if you believe the rumors floating around, there won't be any more smears against Chavez.

...interesting rumors to be sure. :hi:

[Faithful One]

4. So...statements by prisoner's mothers is "inciting violence"?

Have they got something to say about prison conditions? Or maybe under the circumstances of how their sons ended up in jail?

Political prisoners, perhaps? People Comrade Chavez/Stalin didn't manage to get on his side through bribery or violence?

Venezuela is a dictatorship. Plain and simple.

[txlibdem]

33. "Venezuela is a dictatorship. Plain and simple. " - Wrong, here's why.

Hugo Chavez is an elected leader, with a congress that he has to convince of his programs. They do NOT always agree and he has to accept their rulings. Does THAT sound like a Dictator to you???

http://left-click.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=172&Itemid=30 - "any legislation passed in this way can be overturned by the National Assembly or by the population through popular referenda."

Spin: Hugo Chávez is a dictator.

Truth: The government of Venezuela has held, and Chávez and his party have won, repeated elections throughout his time in office. These elections have been considered free and fair by the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union (EU) and the Carter Center — three major electoral observation bodies. Some criticize the Chávez government because his political party has near total control over the National Assembly; however this is a direct result of the opposition’s actions. Just days before the 2005 legislative elections most of the opposition decided to stage a boycott of the vote. This came only a few days after their representatives had told the OAS and other electoral observers that conditions had been met for their participation. The move handed almost complete control in the National Assembly to Chávez’s allies while failing to delegitimize the legislature internationally. Prior to these elections, the opposition held significant power in the National Assembly, which allowed them to block many of the Chávez administration’s policies.

Real attacks on democracy have come from sectors of the Venezuelan opposition. In April 2002, a broad group of opposition forces directly supported and participated in a short-lived coup d’etat against the elected government. In late 2002 and early 2003, opposition groups paralyzed the oil industry and provoked a deep recession, in a second attempt to force President Chávez from power. In 2005, the country’s main opposition parties tried to provoke a destabilizing political crisis by boycotting the legislative elections. All of these undemocratic actions only succeeded in further discrediting an opposition movement that many Venezuelans identify with the failed policies of the unpopular governments of the past

read more at http://southoftheborderdoc.com/spin-vs-the-truth/

So if all of the Democratic legislators walked out before a critical vote and Republicans got everything they wanted... would a Republican President then be a Dictator??? By your logic, yes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/27/hugo-chavez-congressional-election-venezuela

[UnrepentantLiberal]

5. You've gone and smeared Hugo again. Was that really nessessary?

I hope you're happy with yourselves.

[Faithful One]

6. Chavez is a dictator, though;

His support of Gaddafi and Assad in Syria - brutual tyrants with aims of genocide set against freedom fighters.

His economic policies are kind of odd;

-Nationalization of big industries; it's driven most foreign investment AWAY from Venezuela; I'd dare say without the oil industry it would be another poverty-stricken "socalist" country.

-"In July 2010 it was reported that the annual Venezuelan inflation rate was "the highest in the region and one of the highest in the world." The annual rate stood at 30% through July and the rate for the first seven months of the year was 18% reflecting a "trend toward slower inflation"

-"Since the main agricultural measures of the Chávez administration took effect, however, food imports have risen dramatically, and such agricultural mainstays as beef, rice, and milk have seen drops in production. With declining oil revenues, food shortages have become more widespread."

-"n 2006, the business environment in Venezuela was listed as "risky and discouraged investment", by the opposition newspaper El Universal. As measured by prices on local stock exchanges, foreign investors were willing to pay on average 16.3 years worth of earnings to invest in Colombian companies, 15.9 in Chile, 11.1 in Mexico, and 10.7 in Brazil, but only 5.8 in Venezuela. The World Economic Forum ranked Venezuela as 82 out of 102 countries on a measure of how favorable investment was for financial institutions. In Venezuela, a foreign investor needed an average of 119 days and had to complete 14 different applications to organize a business, while the average in OECD countries was 30 days and six applications."


Human rights are abysmal under Comrade C:

-"Amnesty International has criticized the Chávez administration for targeting critics following several politically motivated arrests.<258> Freedom House lists Venezuela as being "partly free" in its 2009 Freedom in the World annual report, claiming that women's rights and indigenous rights have improved, but that press freedom has been threatened. A 2010 Organization of American States report found concerns with freedom of expression, human rights abuses, authoritarianism, press freedom, threats to democracy,] as well as erosion of separation of powers, the economic infrastructure and ability of the president to appoint judges to federal courts. OAS observors were denied access to Venezuela"

-"In 2008, Human Rights Watch criticized Chávez for engaging in "often discriminatory policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression.""

-"In 2008, Human Rights Watch released a report reviewing Chávez's human rights record over his first decade in power. The report praises Chávez's 1999 amendments to the constitution which significantly expanded human rights guarantees, but notes a "wide range of government policies that have undercut the human rights protections established" by the revised constitution. In particular, the report accuses Chávez and his administration of engaging in discrimination on political grounds, eroding the independence of the judiciary, and of engaging in "policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression, workers' freedom of association, and civil society's ability to promote human rights in Venezuela."

[redixdoragon]

8. We've got our own dictators to worry about! -n/t

[txlibdem]

9. Of course their are no poverty-stricken "capitalist" countries...

Your brain is closed to any way to live that differs from the sick and corrupt capitalism we have today. I feel sorry for you.

[Faithful One]

15. I never said that. I do think Capitalism is flawed

but out of the three; it's the best system we have.

Socialism and communism put too many restrictions on people; "oh, you want a new car? Gotta wait 10 years", "oh! You want to have another child? Gotta wait 5 years!" "Oh! You want to pray! GULAG FOR YOU!"

That said, there is plenty of suffering in capitalist countries. Tackling those issues is why there are things like OWS and other grassroots.

Chavez, Castro....they're dictators. Plain and simple.

[txlibdem]

16. I hope capitalism has worked out well for you...

But for the sick... no.

For the 47% WHO ARE TOO POOR, so poor that they live below the poverty line and therefore pay no taxes (the GOP loves to call them every name in the book). You know what I call them? Hard working Americans who are doing the best they can in a corrupt and broken system. Or, sometimes I call them "the victims of American Capitalism."

For the elderly (who were not well off when young)... no.

Let's face it, capitalism works for the top few percent and that is all. The rest of us labor and sweat and worry and eventually die for THEIR lives of leisure.

The CIA and the Oligarchs HATE the fact that there are some countries that have a non-capitalist economic system --- it proves that everything they say about Capitalism being so great is a flat out lie. It proves that Government Healthcare is far better than Capitalism-driven "for-profit" healthcare. By far. It proves that Communism WORKS. And that is the last thing that they want you to know: that you have a choice!

[UnrepentantLiberal]

10. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, eh?

More CIA backed Chavez haters.

[Odin2005]

30. Chavez is an asshole, but he's no dictator

I may not approve of his authoritarian methods, but at least he's doing something for his people, unlike Gaddafi and Assad.

[Renew Deal]

17. Is Globovision contracted by MSNBC?

:evilgrin:

[txlibdem]

22. explain to us that Globovisión manipulates and lies, because we’ve understood that for awhile now.

http://transdeuce.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/the-media-cliche-and-other-pressing-worries-by-carola/

[EFerrari]

18. Compare and contrast with the murder of prisoners by the Haitian police

after the earthquake, fully supported by the MINUSTAH, and fully reported in the American media.

Oh, wait.

[Bacchus39]

19. ok, the OP is from Venezuela media. here is a link on Haiti from the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/world/americas/22haiti.html

the characterization of events doesn't jibe with yours.

another contrast, media wasn't fined for reporting on Haiti's situation.

[msanthrope]

20. In Haiti, the warden went to jail. Not so in Hugo's glorious worker paradise......

per the NY Times article you posted.

[ChangoLoa]

36. Do you mean Venezuelan media shouldn't cover Venezuelan news?

I'd be shocked if you didn't find this military intervention revolting. The fine for using the term "massacre" is a different issue, even if I personally consider that kind of punishment quite unacceptable. Especially after the army killed 19 inmates and when it's a prisoner's mom speaking. IMHO, it's not the TV which is promoting hatred in this case.

[txlibdem]

21. And you trust the M$M there in Venezuela??? I wonder if you trust the M$M here in USA???

I know of very few DUers who do. They know that the "corporate line" is all they will get from the corporate-owned or rich-owned media outlets. What do you think they are going to say about a government that taxes them fairly to pay for healthcare for all???

M$M is M$M, it does not matter what nation you are in. There are even outlets in the UK that are untrustworthy. Choose your media wisely...

[Little Tich]

25. Is Associated Press good enough?

Court, regulators hit Chavez opponent, TV channel

Source: Associated Press

By IAN JAMES

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Opponents of President Hugo Chavez have been hit with a double-blow this week: a court ruling that threatens to sink the presidential hopes of one key contender and a $2 million fine that will squeeze the finances of a staunchly anti-government TV channel.

The back-to-back decisions by the Supreme Court and National Telecommunications Commission have provoked an outcry by opposition leaders and human rights activists who say judges and government regulators are increasingly acting as agents of the president by selectively targeting his foes.

The actions against candidate Leopoldo Lopez and the channel Globovision represent a significant tightening of a squeeze on critics as Chavez prepares for a tough re-election fight after undergoing cancer treatment.

"The government is trying to show it is firmly in control and can play offense, even at a time when questions are being raised about Chavez's vulnerability in next year's elections," said Michael Shifter, an analyst and president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_VENEZUELA_CHAVEZS_FOES?SITE=CARIE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[txlibdem]

27. Who pays the salaries of these reporters?

They are M$M, just as much as any media outlets in our Glorious American Corporatocracy.

[COLGATE4]

29. You're right. It's all part of the great coverup/plot by the US government, CIA

NSA, Red Cross, IGA, Winn-Dixie, Illuminati and Masons to discredit Fearless Leader. But be careful - once THEY know that you're on to them, you may be in danger. I recommend lining the rooms of your house with tin foil - that generally stops the gamma rays they project on their opponents.

[txlibdem]

31. You cannot stop gamma rays with tin foil! Don't trust that as a solution

The gist of my argument is, yes, some leaders are sh*t-heads and need to be elected out of office. But IMO the only reason the US "Gubmint" doesn't like Chavez is because his Socialist economy is working FOR THE PEOPLE and NOT for the wealthy. But the rich of Venezuela are free and still own all their newspapers, radio and tv stations. Does that sound like a Stalinist-type dictator to you? They are free to print all the lies they want.

Earlier I asked the question: do we DUers trust the Main Stream Media here in the USA? I sure as heck don't and I'll bet you a dollar that the great majority of DUers don't either. So why should I treat the bought-and-paid-for media in Venezuela that are owned by the rich a-holes who are now having to pay their fair share of taxes and had to give back some of the land that they stole at gunpoint or by murder or terrorist tactics from their rightful owners???

Where is the difference??? I see none. Please educate me.

[txlibdem]

34. Chavez nationalized the GOLD industry, will use profits for the benefit of the people

THAT is why the US and the Venezuelan wealthy class hate him.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/17/chavez-to-nationalize-venezuelan-gold-industry_n_929816.html

Who owns the gold under the ground, the oil, the natural gas, the metal resources??? Do they rightfully belong to a few powerful companies? Or do they rightfully belong to every citizen of the country. I believe the latter.

Some may want to side with the rich and those who would take what belongs to everyone and use it for their own profits, to have a fantastic life of luxury while the rest of the people toil in poverty. I, for one, DO NOT.