Open University of Mexico media professor, Fernando Buen Abad will propose a continental discussion on media terrorism by presidents and heads of state. The professor made the proposal on the VTV program, En Confianza a day before the Latin American meeting on media terrorism kicks off. Buen Abad has warned about the media blockade Latin America is experiencing and he says the problem should be addressed on a presidential level. The blockade not only occurs internationally but also internally and within government institutions. The latter phenomenon the professor calls "endogenous blockage," which is influenced by the ravages of corruption, inefficiency, vanities and petty hegemonies or fiefdoms. Buen Abad states that the meeting of the Inter American Press Association should be taken seriously and what is discussed by the owners of the industry must be analyzed because such meetings have important geopolitical repercussions in the region.
The government insists on consulting workers at the Sidor iron plant for their opinion on the latest company pay offer. The Sutiss trade union has rejected the idea of a referendum as an imposition from Labor Minister Jose Ramon Rivero and answered with a decisive 72-hour stoppage. Labor deputy minister, Rafael Chacon says the Ministry has contacted the National Elections Council (CNE) and Ombudsman's Office to organize the internal consultation process, which he hopes will end months of labor unrest at the important plant. The referendum consists of one question, namely the acceptance of the last wage proposal.
The Belarus parliament will debate the ratification of an agreement with Venezuela to supply that country with an anti-air defense system. The agreement was signed by the presidents of Venezuela and Belarus in 2007 and consists of installing anti-air defense systems in Venezuela during a six-year period, including the preparation of specialists and training of officers. The news report indicates that Venezuela does not have a unified anti-air defense system, just a few isolated units. Belarus will send a group of specialists to start the training process within a couple of months. According to Belarus experts, they will create a system of automatic command for a battery of Russian missiles: S-300 PMU-2 and Tor-1, which Venezuela intends to purchase.
National Assembly (AN) deputy, Wilma Azuaje has been criticized by La Hojilla TV program presenter and United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) hierarch, Mario Silva, who slams Azuaje as a "revolutionary error." The deputy wants the Attorney General's Office to investigate one Nestor Izarra for purchasing a farm valued at 800 million bolivares allegedly in the name of two of President Chavez's brothers. Silva accuses Azuaje of using the accusation in his campaign as candidate to the governorship of Barinas State. Azuaje, Silva proclaims, has no right to talk because he has spent vast amounts of money on electoral propaganda and the questions the source of Azuaje's funding. While Silva was denouncing Azuaje, the deputy was being interviewed on the opposition 24-hour news station Globovision where the mudslinging continued.
Owner and editor of El Nacional broadsheet, Miguel Henrique Otero says the annual report on the press in Venezuela, which will be presented at a meeting of the Inter American Press Association, will include threats to Globovision TV channel, the closure of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), aggression against journalists and educational reforms. Commenting on a statement from Communication & Information Minister, Andres Izarra, Otero argues that while the Minister maintains that Globovision should remain open, threats against the channel are public and in evidence from the "enormous quantity of legal actions, fines and even demonstrations outside the channel's front doors." Otero reserves his strongest criticism for the government's education reform, which he lambasts as the government's way of pushing through the rejected constitutional reform, namely via the schools. As for the government-sponsored meeting on media terrorism, the newspaper owner sees it as positive because he contends that before there had been exclusion. "They are now taking us into account and seeking alternative measures, such as debate ... I think that's very good."
Continuing his campaign of writing letters to editors of important newspapers, Communication & Information Minister Andres Izarra has directed his attention to Spanish newspaper El Pais and its editor, Javier Moreno. Izarra says the newspaper's editorial line has shown an evident bias in manipulating information against Venezuela and its people. "We are deeply concerned about the violation of the right of readers to receive as complete truthful information as possible ... (which) is one of the newspaper's main professional principles." In a similar vein to his letter to the Washington Post, Izarra lists the number of times the words " authoritarian," " dictator," " totalitarian" and " populist" have been used to describe Hugo Chavez. Between January 15 and March 15, the newspaper has published 142 articles on Venezuela, of which five were editorials and 21 opinion pieces with a clear negative tendency against the Venezuelan government. The Minister highlights the newspaper's treatment of the recent conflict with Colombia and concludes that it has shown a marked disregard for the truth and denied access to truthful information. International journalists are wondering, which is the next broadsheet to receive a letter, perhaps the liberal UK broadsheet, The Guardian, which is emerging as clear favorite.
British High Court judge, Paul Walker has finally published the reasons for his decision to lift the injunction freezing Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) assets in favor of ExxonMobil. In a 45-page document the judge has rejected the majority of arguments put forward by the transnational dismissing its argument of urgency and stating that PDVSA has not acted inappropriately regarding its assets. Furthermore, the judge reasons, PDVSA has no relevant connection with the United Kingdom where the injunction had been applied. Walker questions Exxon's allegations about supposed expropriations without compensation on the part of the Venezuelan state oil company. The court has also established a time-limit to fix the amount that Exxon must pay PDVSA for damages caused by the injunction and has ordered the company to pay PDVSA's legal costs.
Patrick J. O'Donoghue
patrick.vheadline@gmail.com
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