Friday, April 25, 2008

Venezuelan Ambassador's Speech At USF Disrupted

With shouts of 'shame on you' and 'no more Chavez,' opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez disrupted a presentation by Venezuela's ambassador to the United States at the University of South Florida on Wednesday. The ambassador, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, spoke to about 100 people, including Latin American studies students and Chavez supporters. At one point, while Chavez opponents shouted and clapped, Chavez supporters began yelling 'Viva Chavez.' Harry Vanden, professor of international studies at USF, tried to quiet the protesters by reminding them that having respect for the freedom of expression meant letting the ambassador speak."



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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousApril 25, 2008 at 2:46 PM

    One wonders after reading to the attempt to gag the Venezuelan Ambassador's speech whether the U.S. is a democracy at all. Why not allow the free exchange of views before creating a scene or disrupting a speech? What are these people students or goons, to think that they can interrupt a speech and stop someone from expressing the views of the country he represents.

    For a moment, I was puzzled into thinking that the place was the Josef Stalin University in Moscow , rather than the University of South Florida. But that is to expected in today's USA is it not? What ever happened to the words of the patriot Patrick Henry's 'Give me liberty or give me death' speech? This is certainly not in keeping with the spirit of America's founders, is it? I guess in this age of the suppression of FREEDOMS in America, there is no longer any right to free speech. It fits in well with the U.S. that George W. Bush now rules with an IRON FIST.

    Sincerely,

    Kenneth T. Tellis

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