im saying that medias are manipulating the information and that these protests are reactionary, not revolutionary. im curious to know what do you protest for if i may ask?
I was going to call you a tankie, but I then remembered that the IMT is Trotskyist. I never would have imagined the day when I see Trots and tankies would unite on a single issue.
One more thing, you sound like the American media when talking about Occupy, Fox News in particular.
im not troskyist even though you are right IMT is, actually im simply not what you can call an orthodox marxist. Neither am i leninist. well marxists in general support revolutions that are instigated by the people not the bourgeoisie, maybe thats why they get along on this issue, i dont know though?.
so i sound like manipulating media when i say medias manipulate? holy shit mate that's deep meta
I would rather take "bourgeois revolution" any day before police brutality, corruption, destruction of the press, incompetent management of the nation, inflation, and abuses of power.
granted that these are not appealing, but i hope you do realise that all these you named are in vogue in you're country. inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle (but lets not talk about the increasing poor in our own countries). corruption, incompetent management, abuse of power (isreal usa russia canada - my country - you name it) destruction of press has not yet happenned in venezuela, but in russia and israel..... police brutality: maybe you're not part of the "minorities" who get ID controlled every day or maybe have you never been hit by a cop in your life but it happens everyday even here. I'm not trying to normalize the situation, it is a dramatic one we'll all agree but let's say that not too far from our reality.
My point never was to support repression, im just part of those who think this is a bourgeois uprising, i may be wrong, only time will tell.
The reason I am not talking about those issues is because this is a thread about Venezuela.
Maduro expels 3 US officials amid protest tensions CARACAS, Venezuela: President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday ordered the expulsion of three U.S. Embassy officials after Washington came to the defense of an opposition hard-liner accused by Venezuela's leader of responsibility for bloodshed during anti-government protests.
.....
Triggering the expulsion was the Obama administration's siding with opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who is being hunted by police as Maduro accuses him of leading a "fascist" plot to oust the socialist government two months after it won mayoral elections by a landslide.
Maduro said State Department official Alex Lee, in a phone conversation with venezuela's ambassador to the Washington-based Organization of American States, warned that arresting the 42-year-old former mayor would bring serious negative consequences with international ramifications.
"These are unacceptable, insolent demands," Maduro said during a televised address Sunday night. "I don't take orders from anyone in the world."
.....
...which is also related to this:
Venezuela braces for protest led by fugitive; U.S. diplomats expelled
CARACAS, Venezuela — An opposition leader being hunted by authorities on homicide charges announced plans to lead a protest march Tuesday and then turn himself in to police.
Leopoldo Lopez, a former Caracas borough mayor, denies the criminal accusation made by President Nicolas Maduro, who is facing increasing criticism over his handling of the economy.
The government is blaming Lopez and other opposition leaders for inciting violence among antigovernment marchers that left three dead and scores injured last week. Lopez and allies who oppose Maduro say it was armed, motorcycle-riding government vigilantes who provoked the violence.
.....
In comments to reporters Monday, Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said the three U.S. Embassy staffers had 48 hours to leave the country.
Protests continued over the weekend in Caracas and other cities, resulting in dozens of injuries and arrests. The panorama is increasingly bleak in a highly polarized country in which Maduro, following the pattern of his predecessor and patron Hugo Chavez, constantly demonizes the opposition, leaving little space for mutual accommodation.
I think the US and foreign countries (even Maduro's buddies Castro and Evo Morales) play a very small role in what is happening in Venezuela; you can game people so much with petty arguments and lefist rethoric. When inflation, violence, government corruption and shortage of supplies happen people start manifesting and it has very little to do with international politics. They just want Maduro out and their freedom back.
Venezuela raids opposition party office, expels 3 U.S. diplomats Feb 17 (Reuters) - Venezuelan security forces raided the headquarters of an opposition party accused of fomenting nearly a week of violent protests, witnesses said, as the country expelled three U.S. diplomats on charges of conspiring with demonstrators.
Presumed military intelligence officers burst into the opposition Popular Will party office and attempted to forcibly remove several activists after throwing tear gas inside, according to party officials.
"The intelligence officers arrived and began to harass us," said party activist Adriangela Ruiz. "They threw tear gas, took computers and tried to take away several people."
The government has issued an arrest warrant for Popular Will's founder, Leopoldo Lopez, 42, the U.S.-educated opposition leader accused of murder and terrorism in relation to the violent demonstrations of the past week.
.....
The Caracas protests have been limited to mostly upscale areas, with little evidence so far that Venezuelans will join the demonstrations en masse across the country of 29 million people. Even so, thousands were out in the streets again on Monday.
.....
VIOLENCE ON BOTH SIDES Complaints about acts of violence by both sides have piled up over six consecutive days of confrontations between police and demonstrators. Only 13 students were still reportedly detained after nearly 100 arrests in the past week.
Opposition activists say some of the detained students have been tortured, while videos and photos circulating online show uniformed men firing on protesters. Maduro insists police have been restrained in the face of provocation and attacks.
.....
Venezuelan photographer Gabriel Osorio said that on Saturday troops hit him in the head with a pistol, shot him with rubber bullets and broke one of his ribs.
"I was working. I wasn't throwing rocks," Osorio told a local newspaper. "I yelled: 'I'm with the press,' but that actually seemed to be what triggered their attack."
Government leaders have denounced violence by demonstrators linked to opposition marches, including vandalizing buildings and burning of trash along city avenues.
Hooded protesters have gathered outside the headquarters of state TV channel VTV for the past few nights, lighting fires in the streets and hurling stones and Molotov cocktails.
"If anyone thinks they're going to halt the activities of (state TV), they're sorely mistaken," said the channel's president, Yuri Pimentel.
im saying that medias are manipulating the information and that these protests are reactionary, not revolutionary. im curious to know what do you protest for if i may ask?
I was going to call you a tankie, but I then remembered that the IMT is Trotskyist. I never would have imagined the day when I see Trots and tankies would unite on a single issue.
One more thing, you sound like the American media when talking about Occupy, Fox News in particular.
im not troskyist even though you are right IMT is, actually im simply not what you can call an orthodox marxist. Neither am i leninist. well marxists in general support revolutions that are instigated by the people not the bourgeoisie, maybe thats why they get along on this issue, i dont know though?.
so i sound like manipulating media when i say medias manipulate? holy shit mate that's deep meta
I would rather take "bourgeois revolution" any day before police brutality, corruption, destruction of the press, incompetent management of the nation, inflation, and abuses of power.
granted that these are not appealing, but i hope you do realise that all these you named are in vogue in you're country. inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle (but lets not talk about the increasing poor in our own countries). corruption, incompetent management, abuse of power (isreal usa russia canada - my country - you name it) destruction of press has not yet happenned in venezuela, but in russia and israel..... police brutality: maybe you're not part of the "minorities" who get ID controlled every day or maybe have you never been hit by a cop in your life but it happens everyday even here. I'm not trying to normalize the situation, it is a dramatic one we'll all agree but let's say that not too far from our reality.
My point never was to support repression, im just part of those who think this is a bourgeois uprising, i may be wrong, only time will tell.
im saying that medias are manipulating the information and that these protests are reactionary, not revolutionary. im curious to know what do you protest for if i may ask?
I was going to call you a tankie, but I then remembered that the IMT is Trotskyist. I never would have imagined the day when I see Trots and tankies would unite on a single issue.
One more thing, you sound like the American media when talking about Occupy, Fox News in particular.
im not troskyist even though you are right IMT is, actually im simply not what you can call an orthodox marxist. Neither am i leninist. well marxists in general support revolutions that are instigated by the people not the bourgeoisie, maybe thats why they get along on this issue, i dont know though?.
so i sound like manipulating media when i say medias manipulate? holy shit mate that's deep meta
I would rather take "bourgeois revolution" any day before police brutality, corruption, destruction of the press, incompetent management of the nation, inflation, and abuses of power.
granted that these are not appealing, but i hope you do realise that all these you named are in vogue in you're country. inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle (but lets not talk about the increasing poor in our own countries). corruption, incompetent management, abuse of power (isreal usa russia canada - my country - you name it) destruction of press has not yet happenned in venezuela, but in russia and israel..... police brutality: maybe you're not part of the "minorities" who get ID controlled every day or maybe have you never been hit by a cop in your life but it happens everyday even here. I'm not trying to normalize the situation, it is a dramatic one we'll all agree but let's say that not too far from our reality.
My point never was to support repression, im just part of those who think this is a bourgeois uprising, i may be wrong, only time will tell.
what the hell are you talking about?
well he just said that he'd rather have a bourgeois capitalist society than corruption, inflation, abuse of power, police brutality etc. and i pointed that you have all those things in bourgeois capitalist society. so what is it you'd rather not have ? that what im asking
im saying that medias are manipulating the information and that these protests are reactionary, not revolutionary. im curious to know what do you protest for if i may ask?
I was going to call you a tankie, but I then remembered that the IMT is Trotskyist. I never would have imagined the day when I see Trots and tankies would unite on a single issue.
One more thing, you sound like the American media when talking about Occupy, Fox News in particular.
im not troskyist even though you are right IMT is, actually im simply not what you can call an orthodox marxist. Neither am i leninist. well marxists in general support revolutions that are instigated by the people not the bourgeoisie, maybe thats why they get along on this issue, i dont know though?.
so i sound like manipulating media when i say medias manipulate? holy shit mate that's deep meta
I would rather take "bourgeois revolution" any day before police brutality, corruption, destruction of the press, incompetent management of the nation, inflation, and abuses of power.
granted that these are not appealing, but i hope you do realise that all these you named are in vogue in you're country. inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle (but lets not talk about the increasing poor in our own countries). corruption, incompetent management, abuse of power (isreal usa russia canada - my country - you name it) destruction of press has not yet happenned in venezuela, but in russia and israel..... police brutality: maybe you're not part of the "minorities" who get ID controlled every day or maybe have you never been hit by a cop in your life but it happens everyday even here. I'm not trying to normalize the situation, it is a dramatic one we'll all agree but let's say that not too far from our reality.
My point never was to support repression, im just part of those who think this is a bourgeois uprising, i may be wrong, only time will tell.
The reason I am not talking about those issues is because this is a thread about Venezuela.
well like i just said to the other guy, you find all these in a bourgeois society so you'd rather have a bourgeois society for other reasons but not to escape police brutaly corruption blablbabla and so on.
when we discuss politics you can't just isolate the subject ou of its context (a country and its relation to the world's dominant ideologies), we can't only speak about venezuela when there is a larger frame to it. especially when we talk ideologies.
on another note have we seen any women protest? usually a people's protest will involve most of the actors of a society, women, students, older people, politician also. if a major part of the actors of a society doesn't participate its a good sign that there are other interest than a people's revolution. eg. wright wing demonstration will almost everytime only be composed of men between 20-40 (or whatever the limited range it is you check it up)- u see that with neo-nazis, skinheads etc.
im saying that medias are manipulating the information and that these protests are reactionary, not revolutionary. im curious to know what do you protest for if i may ask?
I was going to call you a tankie, but I then remembered that the IMT is Trotskyist. I never would have imagined the day when I see Trots and tankies would unite on a single issue.
One more thing, you sound like the American media when talking about Occupy, Fox News in particular.
im not troskyist even though you are right IMT is, actually im simply not what you can call an orthodox marxist. Neither am i leninist. well marxists in general support revolutions that are instigated by the people not the bourgeoisie, maybe thats why they get along on this issue, i dont know though?.
so i sound like manipulating media when i say medias manipulate? holy shit mate that's deep meta
I would rather take "bourgeois revolution" any day before police brutality, corruption, destruction of the press, incompetent management of the nation, inflation, and abuses of power.
granted that these are not appealing, but i hope you do realise that all these you named are in vogue in you're country. inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle (but lets not talk about the increasing poor in our own countries). corruption, incompetent management, abuse of power (isreal usa russia canada - my country - you name it) destruction of press has not yet happenned in venezuela, but in russia and israel..... police brutality: maybe you're not part of the "minorities" who get ID controlled every day or maybe have you never been hit by a cop in your life but it happens everyday even here. I'm not trying to normalize the situation, it is a dramatic one we'll all agree but let's say that not too far from our reality.
My point never was to support repression, im just part of those who think this is a bourgeois uprising, i may be wrong, only time will tell.
what the hell are you talking about?
well he just said that he'd rather have a bourgeois capitalist society than corruption, inflation, abuse of power, police brutality etc. and i pointed that you have all those things in bourgeois capitalist society. so what is it you'd rather not have ? that what im asking
I put bourgeois revolution in quotes for a reason. Seriously man, give your Marxist terminology a break, it is outdated and only works when talking to other people on the far-left. This is the 21st century, not the 20th century.
im saying that medias are manipulating the information and that these protests are reactionary, not revolutionary. im curious to know what do you protest for if i may ask?
I was going to call you a tankie, but I then remembered that the IMT is Trotskyist. I never would have imagined the day when I see Trots and tankies would unite on a single issue.
One more thing, you sound like the American media when talking about Occupy, Fox News in particular.
im not troskyist even though you are right IMT is, actually im simply not what you can call an orthodox marxist. Neither am i leninist. well marxists in general support revolutions that are instigated by the people not the bourgeoisie, maybe thats why they get along on this issue, i dont know though?.
so i sound like manipulating media when i say medias manipulate? holy shit mate that's deep meta
I would rather take "bourgeois revolution" any day before police brutality, corruption, destruction of the press, incompetent management of the nation, inflation, and abuses of power.
granted that these are not appealing, but i hope you do realise that all these you named are in vogue in you're country. inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle (but lets not talk about the increasing poor in our own countries). corruption, incompetent management, abuse of power (isreal usa russia canada - my country - you name it) destruction of press has not yet happenned in venezuela, but in russia and israel..... police brutality: maybe you're not part of the "minorities" who get ID controlled every day or maybe have you never been hit by a cop in your life but it happens everyday even here. I'm not trying to normalize the situation, it is a dramatic one we'll all agree but let's say that not too far from our reality.
My point never was to support repression, im just part of those who think this is a bourgeois uprising, i may be wrong, only time will tell.
The reason I am not talking about those issues is because this is a thread about Venezuela.
well like i just said to the other guy, you find all these in a bourgeois society so you'd rather have a bourgeois society for other reasons but not to escape police brutaly corruption blablbabla and so on.
when we discuss politics you can't just isolate the subject ou of its context (a country and its relation to the world's dominant ideologies), we can't only speak about venezuela when there is a larger frame to it. especially when we talk ideologies.
on another note have we seen any women protest? usually a people's protest will involve most of the actors of a society, women, students, older people, politician also. if a major part of the actors of a society doesn't participate its a good sign that there are other interest than a people's revolution. eg. wright wing demonstration will almost everytime only be composed of men between 20-40 (or whatever the limited range it is you check it up)- u see that with neo-nazis, skinheads etc.
First off, those are just lazy opinions and talking points.
And concerning your second point, yes there are women protesters.
im saying that medias are manipulating the information and that these protests are reactionary, not revolutionary. im curious to know what do you protest for if i may ask?
I was going to call you a tankie, but I then remembered that the IMT is Trotskyist. I never would have imagined the day when I see Trots and tankies would unite on a single issue.
One more thing, you sound like the American media when talking about Occupy, Fox News in particular.
im not troskyist even though you are right IMT is, actually im simply not what you can call an orthodox marxist. Neither am i leninist. well marxists in general support revolutions that are instigated by the people not the bourgeoisie, maybe thats why they get along on this issue, i dont know though?.
so i sound like manipulating media when i say medias manipulate? holy shit mate that's deep meta
I would rather take "bourgeois revolution" any day before police brutality, corruption, destruction of the press, incompetent management of the nation, inflation, and abuses of power.
granted that these are not appealing, but i hope you do realise that all these you named are in vogue in you're country. inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle (but lets not talk about the increasing poor in our own countries). corruption, incompetent management, abuse of power (isreal usa russia canada - my country - you name it) destruction of press has not yet happenned in venezuela, but in russia and israel..... police brutality: maybe you're not part of the "minorities" who get ID controlled every day or maybe have you never been hit by a cop in your life but it happens everyday even here. I'm not trying to normalize the situation, it is a dramatic one we'll all agree but let's say that not too far from our reality.
My point never was to support repression, im just part of those who think this is a bourgeois uprising, i may be wrong, only time will tell.
what the hell are you talking about?
well he just said that he'd rather have a bourgeois capitalist society than corruption, inflation, abuse of power, police brutality etc. and i pointed that you have all those things in bourgeois capitalist society. so what is it you'd rather not have ? that what im asking
I put bourgeois revolution in quotes for a reason. Seriously man, give your Marxist terminology a break, it is outdated and only works when talking to other people on the far-left. This is the 21st century, not the 20th century.
im saying that medias are manipulating the information and that these protests are reactionary, not revolutionary. im curious to know what do you protest for if i may ask?
I was going to call you a tankie, but I then remembered that the IMT is Trotskyist. I never would have imagined the day when I see Trots and tankies would unite on a single issue.
One more thing, you sound like the American media when talking about Occupy, Fox News in particular.
im not troskyist even though you are right IMT is, actually im simply not what you can call an orthodox marxist. Neither am i leninist. well marxists in general support revolutions that are instigated by the people not the bourgeoisie, maybe thats why they get along on this issue, i dont know though?.
so i sound like manipulating media when i say medias manipulate? holy shit mate that's deep meta
I would rather take "bourgeois revolution" any day before police brutality, corruption, destruction of the press, incompetent management of the nation, inflation, and abuses of power.
granted that these are not appealing, but i hope you do realise that all these you named are in vogue in you're country. inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle (but lets not talk about the increasing poor in our own countries). corruption, incompetent management, abuse of power (isreal usa russia canada - my country - you name it) destruction of press has not yet happenned in venezuela, but in russia and israel..... police brutality: maybe you're not part of the "minorities" who get ID controlled every day or maybe have you never been hit by a cop in your life but it happens everyday even here. I'm not trying to normalize the situation, it is a dramatic one we'll all agree but let's say that not too far from our reality.
My point never was to support repression, im just part of those who think this is a bourgeois uprising, i may be wrong, only time will tell.
The reason I am not talking about those issues is because this is a thread about Venezuela.
well like i just said to the other guy, you find all these in a bourgeois society so you'd rather have a bourgeois society for other reasons but not to escape police brutaly corruption blablbabla and so on.
when we discuss politics you can't just isolate the subject ou of its context (a country and its relation to the world's dominant ideologies), we can't only speak about venezuela when there is a larger frame to it. especially when we talk ideologies.
on another note have we seen any women protest? usually a people's protest will involve most of the actors of a society, women, students, older people, politician also. if a major part of the actors of a society doesn't participate its a good sign that there are other interest than a people's revolution. eg. wright wing demonstration will almost everytime only be composed of men between 20-40 (or whatever the limited range it is you check it up)- u see that with neo-nazis, skinheads etc.
First off, those are just lazy opinions and talking points.
And concerning your second point, yes there are women protesters.
First, you give communism a bad name and now you give women's rights a bad name. Stay classy.
hmmk well are these from recent protest (cause i see no violence) or from the past electoral demonstration from the opposition party? how do i know. and how am i giving these a bad name, you're the one who is interpretting that way, and in that sense you have self empowrement if you were only taking what i said without interpretting your own way you'd simply take my message. YOU should stay classy, because on my part i've not gone into bashing
On February 19 2014 00:33 nunez wrote: two of them are from election last year, the one shira removed might be more relevant but couldn't really confirm. talking about lazy, haha.
Stay on topic mate. Preaching your "communism-is-good-capitalism-is-bad" rhetoric is not called providing an eclectic view, it's called derailing the thread.
Back to the topic on hand:
Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López hands himself in to police
Venezuela's opposition leader Leopoldo López has handed himself in to the authorities after coming out of hiding to attend a rally of supporters in Caracas.
.....
The Harvard-educated politician has been accused of terrorism for encouraging the anti-government protests in several cities that saw fierce clashes between opposition demonstrators, police and colectivo militia groups loyal to the government.
But in a speech to several thousand supporters dressed in white, López denied the charges and said he was turning himself in to a corrupt justice system as a means of promoting non-violent reform.
"I have nothing to hide. They want to jail Venezuelans who want peaceful, democratic change," he said from a plinth for the statue of 19th century Cuban independence hero José Marti in Plaza Brion de Chacaíto. "This is the first step in the construction of the road for change and it must, by necessity, be a peaceful process."
crazyweasel posted a relevant article (bolivarian the name of the venezuelan political movement), and raised legitimate concerns (media during chavez coup did what?).
if the url makes you so defensive (aka rabid in the case of DEB) that your parsing amounts to 'bad is good, good is bad' you'll have a hard time discerning what is on-thread, even though i applaud your enthusiasm.
The foreign minister, Elias Jaua, said the expelled diplomats had met student activists at private universities "for training, financing and creating youth organisations through which violence is promoted in Venezuela". The US government denies this.
it would be surprising if the us weren't backing them in various ways.
Venezuela went one step further, lobbying to end any further effort on the FTAA and to unify resistence against U.S. policies and presence in Latin America... ... President Chavez's staunch anti-Americanism and determined opposition to an FTAA bodes poorly for restarting the negotiations at any point in time. Bolivia has since sought to join Mercosur, which would unite in one trade pact nearly all opposition to the FTAA.
In early March Mercosur will have readied its proposal to liberate trade to be presented to the European Union, the basis for a wide-ranging cooperation and trade agreement between the two blocks, announced Rubens Barbosa, head of the Trade Council from the Sao Paulo State Industries Federation, FIESP.
im saying that medias are manipulating the information and that these protests are reactionary, not revolutionary. im curious to know what do you protest for if i may ask?
I was going to call you a tankie, but I then remembered that the IMT is Trotskyist. I never would have imagined the day when I see Trots and tankies would unite on a single issue.
One more thing, you sound like the American media when talking about Occupy, Fox News in particular.
im not troskyist even though you are right IMT is, actually im simply not what you can call an orthodox marxist. Neither am i leninist. well marxists in general support revolutions that are instigated by the people not the bourgeoisie, maybe thats why they get along on this issue, i dont know though?.
so i sound like manipulating media when i say medias manipulate? holy shit mate that's deep meta
I would rather take "bourgeois revolution" any day before police brutality, corruption, destruction of the press, incompetent management of the nation, inflation, and abuses of power.
granted that these are not appealing, but i hope you do realise that all these you named are in vogue in you're country. inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle (but lets not talk about the increasing poor in our own countries). corruption, incompetent management, abuse of power (isreal usa russia canada - my country - you name it) destruction of press has not yet happenned in venezuela, but in russia and israel..... police brutality: maybe you're not part of the "minorities" who get ID controlled every day or maybe have you never been hit by a cop in your life but it happens everyday even here. I'm not trying to normalize the situation, it is a dramatic one we'll all agree but let's say that not too far from our reality.
My point never was to support repression, im just part of those who think this is a bourgeois uprising, i may be wrong, only time will tell.
what the hell are you talking about?
well he just said that he'd rather have a bourgeois capitalist society than corruption, inflation, abuse of power, police brutality etc. and i pointed that you have all those things in bourgeois capitalist society. so what is it you'd rather not have ? that what im asking
not that, the bolded part: "inflation is dictated by world economy system of course planned economies will struggle". What do you mean by that?
On February 19 2014 22:03 nunez wrote: crazyweasel posted a relevant article (bolivarian the name of the venezuelan political movement), and raised legitimate concerns (media during chavez coup did what?).
Ah that sounds great...except for the fact that his alternate view is downright making libellous claims that this is simply another "bourgeoisie" uprising in disguise without providing any credible information whatsoever (an opinion piece from a clearly biased news website does not count as evidence). Note also that this whole uprising started because there are underlying socio-economic problems in Venezuela (the 56.2% inflation figure did not appear overnight).
These failures of course, are blamed on "permanent economic sabotage" by the opposition and outside forces and not by the government's poor policies and mishandling. It blames the "bourgeoisie" for creating the gap between the existing classes; to begin with, why is there even a class system in a supposedly classless society? (Shhh! Don't ask the Marxists about that!)
How exactly you see his alternate view as being related one-iota to the topic at hand is beyond me...
On February 19 2014 22:03 nunez wrote: if the url makes you so defensive (aka rabid in the case of DEB) that your parsing amounts to 'bad is good, good is bad' you'll have a hard time discerning what is on-thread, even though i applaud your enthusiasm.
Probably because the old rhetoric that this is all just a U.S. plot to "SEIZE THE MOTHERLAND ARGH!" is getting really, really stale and that it is not necessary to spout it at the first opportunity in every single piece that is critical of Communist-led governments?
I hope you realise that I also post news from sources that show both sides of the fence, and not just from sources that obviously would have an agenda behind reporting the protests (you know this principle applies to both sides right?). Then again, I might be asking for too much from you.
Moving on....
Pro-regime "Colectivos" vs. Anti-government protesters
Police disperse another rally in Venezuela as former beauty queen becomes latest casuality
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan police fired tear gas and buckshot to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters late Wednesday, and the death toll from two weeks of unrest rose to four.
As U.S. President Barack Obama urged the government to release detainees, hospital officials said a 21-year-old former beauty queen in the northern city of Valencia who was shot in the head Tuesday died of her wounds.
Unrest stemming from anti-government fervor was reported in several cities in the oil-rich but economically troubled nation.
In a rich neighborhood in the east of Caracas, police used tear gas and buckshot to disperse protesters who had blocked a road by burning garbage and debris. Several injuries were reported.
The demo was in support of a prominent young opposition leader, Leopoldo López, who turned himself in to the authorities on Tuesday after days of eluding police seeking to execute an arrest warrant.
He was making a court appearance late Wednesday but no details had emerged. He is charged with instigating street demo violence last week that left three people dead.
.....
Political scientist Ángel Oropeza said the government was walking a tightrope.
“They may hold him for a few days. If they free him right away, it would be a sign of weakness,” said Oropeza, a political science professor at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas.
“But if they hold on to him for a long time, it could fuel the protests even more and the government would come under more international pressure,” he said.
On Tuesday, López told thousands of his supporters, all clad in white, that he hoped his arrest would highlight the “unjust justice” in Venezuela. He drew an explosion of cheers from the crowds.
a view well aligned with modern history. good 'ol empire dollaz making latin american economies scream once more. you gotta be pretty naive to think it does not happen with us backing. really makes you wonder what is being shipped the other way...
Venezuelan toll authorities confiscated a shipment of 2.5 million dollars in cash last December 29th, which is presumed to have been used to circumvent Venezuela’s strict currency controls. The shipment, which entered the country on an American Airlines flight, weighed 25 kilos and was entirely denominated in $100 bills.
I think you misunderstand why US dollars are imported. No part of that suggests a US conspiracy or any government involved, individual Venezuelans want to use US dollars to preserve the value of their money and to provide a stable basis for exchange because their own currency is too unstable and they have no faith in the government that controls the mint.
Basically if your currency might not be worth the same today as it was yesterday then you don't want to use it as a means of exchange. The bolivars are unstable while assets keep their value so trading assets for bolivars is very risky which pushes you into bartering or hedging your money into assets. However people still want to buy and sell things because economy. So, what do you do if you want to buy a house but the seller won't accept bolivars because they're unstable? You give him dollars.
When a nation loses faith in the stability of their own currency individual citizens choose to use a more stable means of exchange, most often the dollar. Venezuelans know that a dollar today will be pretty much the same as it was yesterday because it's backed up by the US gov.
The Venezuelan gov don't like this because it allows people to bypass their price fixing and devalues their own issued currency reducing their control over the national economy so they try to make it illegal and seize the dollars, as in the news article you linked. It's nothing more than economic repression to protect themselves from their own mistakes, forcing the average Venezuelan (although $100 suggests they were going to someone not average) to suffer inflation and the collapse of the market rather than opting out.