Tens Of Thousands Protest Chavez In Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela — Tens of thousands marched through Venezuela's capital on Saturday to protest what they call growing authoritarianism by President Hugo Chavez.

A few thousand of the president's backers held a separate counter-rally to express support for the government's policies.

Anti-Chavez protesters, many of them wearing white, filled the streets of Caracas, denouncing recent arrests of opposition members for alleged violence during protests and a new education law that critics fear could lead to indoctrination in schools.

"It's very concerning because education is Venezuela's future," said 23-year-old engineering student Carlos Delgado, who also complained of soaring inflation and rampant crime after more than a decade under Chavez.

"We have 11 years with the same faces, the same problems, and the truth is that we don't see any solutions," Delgado said.

Carlos Garcia, a 41-year-old administrative worker who attended the pro-government march, said Venezuela's poorer sectors have achieved greater equality under Chavez. He dismissed the opposition's claims about the education law, saying it aims to make the system more inclusive, and defended the recent jailing of opposition demonstrators.

"If a person is provoking violence, they should be punished," Garcia said.

There were no reports of disturbances Saturday.

(This version CORRECTS that opponents were arrested for alleged violence during protests, instead of during the protests.)

Comments

[Ergon]

11:00 PM on 09/06/2009

He cut off access to the best producing oil fields to American companies.
He closed down radio and TV stations that tried to overthrow him.
The Americans tried to kill him, and caused the death of his chief of staff.
You can all huff and puff, but he seems to be doing quite well, bless him.
Btw, the 'tens of thousands' were a few thousand students from the elite classes. Tough noogies.

[andresfusion]

11:05 AM on 09/06/2009

People that defend Chavez makes me sick, the world is realizing who Chavez really is and several cities around the world held rallies on Friday against-Chavez:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090904/world/lt_anti_chavez_protests

And today more protest from the Venezuelans people, specially students:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8240188.stm

Chavez is a wannabe dictator, with links to terrorist organization, so yes defend him why don't you?!

[cliffhammond]

01:45 PM on 09/06/2009

Notwithstanding all the good he's done in Venezuela, I agree that the people should pressure him to ease back from the authoritarianism that comes with power. In fact, I hope we can soon repeal our own "Patriot Act" and scale back the "Imperial Presidency" that King George put in place.

[foxnewsfan]

11:12 AM on 09/07/2009

Has Obama's bill to repeal the Patriot Act got to Congress yet? Pelosi should have passed that bill before the August recess. Is it true Obama outlawed waterboarding but reserved the right to use it ,just in case?

[Ergon]

05:46 PM on 09/08/2009

Yet he has held 15 elections since coming to power in 1999 including the latest in February allowing him to run again, which he won, 54.8% to 45.1% and has consistently held approval ratings over 50%.
So your problem is he wins elections?

[revbob22]

12:31 PM on 09/09/2009

No it's what happens AFTER them. Ask Antonio Ledezma, Mayor of Caracas, who despite garnering almost 800,000 votes, was stripped of his budget, his offices invaded by party goons and has been forced to be a mayor with little or no legal recourse to right this wrong.

George Orwell said it best in Animal Farm: "All animals are created equal, it's just that some are more equal than others"

[raaf]

01:32 AM on 09/06/2009

Oliver Stone has recently made a documentary about Chavez and more generally the broader changes in Latin-America, it would be an interesting watch. You can see a preview here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/sep/03/oliver-stone-south-of-the-border-hugo-chavez

[GH]

05:20 PM on 09/06/2009

Well, the radical Chavez lovin Oliver Stone's view of Chavez might be curious - I don't know about an interesting watch.

May I suggest that a very in-depth look was done by Frontline on PBS almost a year ago (of course that was before many of the more recent power-grabs and attacks on free speech by Chavez).

"The Hugo Chavez Show" -- you can watch it here on-line.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hugochavez/

And don't let the headlines fool you. That thousands or "tens of thousands" of folks are marching in over 100 cities across Latin America in protest of Chavez is most probably mis-leading.

Rather like there was over 200,000 in Berlin to see Obama speak last fall. There were tens of thousands there - perhaps 70,000 (if one is really giving in the count.)

In 2006, this is what the press called tens of thousands supporting the opposition in Venezuela:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41443000/jpg/_41443923_bbcgreg203bodycrowd.jpg

Here's 200,000 listening to Obama in Berlin:
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/images/commentarynews/zdffanmile.jpg

[Ergon]

02:31 PM on 09/09/2009

Nope, this is an teeny tiny untagged photo that could well be that of a demonstration in Greece, for example.

[lavici]

01:48 PM on 09/08/2009

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/05/tens-of-thousands-protest_0_n_278231.html
that's all i'm going to say, just read and look:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/05/tens-of-thousands-protest_0_n_278231.html

[Ergon]

02:32 PM on 09/09/2009

Read. Looked. Unimpressed.
Get back to me when the Coupistas actually win an election, will ya?

[RandomMandarin]

12:35 AM on 09/06/2009

How many Americans actually avail themselves of the opportunity to find out about the Chavez government from the horse's mouth, and not from Fox or other Wall-Street-owned smear channels? Let Google Translate be your guide. See, Chavez has his own weekly Venezuelan TV show (no kidding). It's called Alo Presidente. The website has lots of articles you can read in (adequately-translated) English, such as a recent one about how a decree in March, banning factory trawlers in Venezuelan waters, has helped the artisanal fishery and fish species begin to recover in only months.
The website:
http://translate.google.com/translate?ie=utf-8&oe=UTF&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alopresidente.gob.ve%2F&sl=es&tl=en&hl=en
A fisherman lists recovering species he has seen:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Falopresidente.gob.ve%2Ftestimonios%2Fla-pesca-artesanal-se-lleva-en-la-sangre.html

Truth. It nourishes the soul.

[kgb999]

12:37 AM on 09/06/2009

So, we're supposed to reject Fox and the WSJ (sound advice), and then take the words of Chavez' own TV station as gospel (laughable suggestion)?

[RandomMandarin]

01:02 AM on 09/06/2009

Wouldn't kill you to sample it, no? Free country, innit? You're allowed to look at it! You're free to see what the other side REALLY says and THINK FOR YOURSELF. Are you saying that freedom is too burdensome for you?

[Venise Alstergren]

04:51 AM on 09/06/2009

You simply cannot understand the intellectual laziness of the electorate. So much easier to pick up the latest anti-Chavez claptrap going around the circuits, than to actually have to sit down and think. How dare you question what does the average red-neck's thinks and cares about fishing problems? After all a properly managed fishing industry can feed hundreds of thousands of people.

What does your average red-neck do? He goes to a bar and drinks beer.

I also happen to believe Chavez is perfectly correct in saying that Israel pursues a genocidal path against the Palestinians.

[Citizen4Justice]

12:33 AM on 09/06/2009

If you haven't checked out the film, The Revolition Will Not Be Televised, you really should!

It started as a documentary about the controversial figure, Hugo Chavez, and ended up covering the failed 2002 coup de etat. The coup was done with the oligarch media, military leadership and by ginning up rabid right wing anti-chavez protesters. The coup ended days later when hundreds of thousands of people surrounded the palace demanding that the constitution be followed and then the royal guard turned on the illegal imposed military dictatorship. Chavez taught the poor to read the constitution among other things, so they knew with confidence that the coup was illegal and demanded justice. Its the most uplifting film I have ever seen, and it is not fiction.

See it for yourself for free on google video (1:14:31)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144#

[kgb999]

12:45 AM on 09/06/2009

This is relevant ... how? We already know Bush was totally lame, but that doesn't make Chavez any less lame. And also, doesn't this ignore the fact that Chavez himself attempted not one but two coups against the government in 1992? How does this speak to the situation now that we are approaching a decade later?

Seriously ... he taught them to read the constitution?? Swallow propaganda much?

[Citizen4Justice]

01:22 AM on 09/06/2009

Perhaps if you had watched the video you would understand its relevancy. It gives perspective on the situation in Venezuela.

Don't let me kill the hate buzz you've got going on.

[commarcos]

10:17 AM on 09/06/2009

Can I assume a good comparison would be like if tens of thousands of rabid anti-Obama racists were riled up and sent to the street to protest things that were not caused by Obama but instead by the people riling them up?

[Citizen4Justice]

11:45 PM on 09/06/2009

The right wing is most potent when it rallies around common fears, whether they are true, half-true, or utter falsehoods. Its the fear that counts.
"Chavez is turning Venezuela into a Cuba" I remember one protester remarking.
Sound familiar?

[cjt1957]

12:06 AM on 09/06/2009

And of course we are on the wrong side in Honduras as well...

[4inline]

12:05 AM on 09/06/2009

Now, we can't go bashing Hugo. Hugo is our friend. Who was that dem congresswoman last week who was talking about how brilliant he is?

[Ergon]

11:11 PM on 09/05/2009

Another headline: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8240188.stm
"Venezuela rivals march in Caracas"

Chavez supporters wore red, the colour of his party, during rallies
Tens of thousands of people have marched through the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in rival demonstrations FOR and AGAINST President Hugo Chavez.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

11:44 PM on 09/05/2009

Apologists for this socio-potato-head bend over backwards and twist themselves into pretzels to agnegate the very EXISTENCE of significant opposition to Chavez! What is about querulous boor that so impels pseudo-liberals? Racism? He's clearly NON-EUROPEAN..... More likely a recrudescent, stick-it-in-the-eye, quasi-1960s 'romanticism' with a pretender to the throne of the 'native innocent'? Most of these supportive fools would never be trusted---much less hired---by this clownish, Mardi Gras harlequin, BUT they require that his path to the wrecking yard of Robert Mugabe be RESPECTED!

WHY?!?!

[Billy Hell]

12:11 AM on 09/06/2009

What an angry little man! Your rabid diatribe adds nothing at all to the debate.

[NamvetPR]

12:14 AM on 09/06/2009

Down with the oligarchy, Viva Chavez!!!

[kgb999]

12:11 AM on 09/06/2009

Same thing happened last week when people were protesting the education bill... the Chavez supporters were escorted the parliament.

http://static.eluniversal.com/2009/08/13/marchavenancio.jpg.512.512.thumb
(note the red shirts everywhere)

While the people protesting were dispersed with tear gas and water canons (after some were attacked by Chavez supporters).

http://static.eluniversal.com/2009/08/13/marchaefeharoldescalona2.jpg.512.512.thumb
(water canon being used on anti-Chavez protesters)

http://static.eluniversal.com/2009/08/22/g_eduardo_fuentes.jpg.512.512.thumb
(Anti-Chavez protesters coming down the road)

http://static.eluniversal.com/2009/08/22/g_disperso.jpg.512.512.thumb
(Them being driven back)

http://static.eluniversal.com/2009/08/22/g_cordonmilitar.jpg.512.512.thumb
(And had they gotten past the riot police ... these guys were standing by to make protesters never make it to parliament.)

http://static.eluniversal.com/2009/08/22/g_guerra.jpg.512.512.thumb
(And this one is just a cool shot of their riot police searching out protesters)

[Opus007]

11:10 PM on 09/05/2009

We should clean up our own house before running around being as the world's policeman.
The people of Venezuela will have to fight their own battles. People get the government they deserve. We were too complacent and we got 8 years of the train wreck known as the Bush administration. Bush walked into office and things here were good, stable and prosperous. He left behind his economic Katrina - near total economic devastation.

I applaud the citizens of Venezuela for standing up to a bully for their rights.

[Billy Hell]

11:12 PM on 09/05/2009

The bully being the US of A? Then I agree fully with you.

[lavici]

01:52 PM on 09/08/2009

yayayayaayyyy opus thanks for not patronizing us with stupid left wing desk socialism drivel, while having all the conforts of an imperfect democracy. but a democracy with all it's institutions water, electricity and food whenever you want to go to the supermarket ano, you don't have 2,200 political prisoners.

[Danilo-11]

11:09 PM on 09/05/2009

Has any media outlets mention the more than 20 quarters (3 months) starting in 2002, of constant growth that the Venezuelan economy had?

[Billy Hell]

11:14 PM on 09/05/2009

No. That wouldn't suit anybody's agenda now would it :-)

[kgb999]

12:18 AM on 09/06/2009

So if the economy is growing, suppression and elimination of critical media is OK?

And also too ... I heard that they are hurting more than many in this economic downturn because Chavez never invested in diversifying the economy - it's still 90% dependent on oil. Had he spent some of that money invested in weapons on attracting .... oh, let's say LCD manufacturing and automakers ... they might STILL be growing. But they are not ... 90% of their economy now generates 50% less revenue than it did this time last year. Ironic that this socialist regime requires the engine of capitalist nations to be successful in order to sustain their own economic growth.

[Suggie]

11:06 PM on 09/05/2009

Sadly, our government will learn nothing from the failed socialist states.

[Billy Hell]

10:55 PM on 09/05/2009

The terrible deeds of Hugo Chavez

Part 1: Venezuela Invests Surplus Oil Dollars in Education, Housing, and Industry

The increase in Venezuelan government spending on public housing and education, and the re-opening of a General Motors automobile factory are among signs that the Venezuelan economy may be set to recover from its contraction of 1% in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, monthly inflation rose slightly to 2.2% in August.

In recent months, Venezuela's National Assembly approved more than 20 billion bolivars (US $9.3 billion) in credits, increasing the estimated total budget for this year from 167 billion bolivars (US $77.7 billion) to 180 billion bolivars (US $83.7 billion).

A fifth of the credits were granted to public education, for which a new Education Law that promises increased funding was passed last month, one tenth were granted to the Housing and Public Works Ministry, and nearly half of the credits were granted to the state and local governments, while the rest went to health care and agriculture, according to the Venezuelan daily El Universal.

[Billy Hell]

10:58 PM on 09/05/2009

The terrible deeds of Hugo Chavez

Part 2: Moving Beyond Representation: Participatory Democracy and Communal Councils in Venezuela

The first formal step towards participatory democracy was the re-drafting of the Venezuelan constitution in 1999. This progressive document, was both written and ratified by the citizens themselves. The constitution outlines the new system of participatory democracy, giving a number of rights to citizens which had never had before. Reasoning for the move to a participatory democratic system is quoted below:

"This regulation [in favor of participatory democracy] responds to a felt aspiration of organized civil society that strives to change the political culture, which so many decades of state paternalism and the dominance of party heads generated that hindered the development of democratic values. In this sense, participation is not limited to electoral processes, since the need for intervention of the people is recognized in the processes of formation, formulation, and execution of public policy, which would result in the overcoming of the governability deficits that have affected our political system due to the lack of harmony between state and society. To conceive public administration as a process which a fluid communication between governed and the people is established, implies a modification of the orientation of state-society relations, so as to return to the latter its legitimate protagonism."[8]

With the constitution of 1999, Venezuelans now have the right of popular recall of elected officials.

Source of both articles: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/

[skialethia]

10:36 PM on 09/05/2009

Why aren't Americans on the right concerned about the poor and uninsured in this country? Why are they fighting windmills in other countries when this country is facing gigantic problems in this next decade!

I'll tell you why: because this is a country that m00ches off the resources of the earth in order to sustain its world supremacy, but unfortunately that myth is starting to evaporate real fast!

Chavez is saying: Not so fast...you're not going to exploit us and get fat on our resources.

[Wardruna]

10:42 PM on 09/05/2009

Im gonna flag you for insanity!

[skialethia]

10:55 PM on 09/05/2009

I ventured into your comments and they explain perfectly why your judgment is so badly skewed.

[HeimeBach]

10:54 PM on 09/05/2009

I think that Obama and Chavez are very similar leaders. I think they agree on many many issues and probably stay in close contact with each other. The people of Venez. are blocking the efforts of Chavez just like the republicans are blocking Obama here. Obama and Chavez should get together and come up with a plan to suppress their opposition.

[skialethia]

11:03 PM on 09/05/2009

Purely laughable.

[AnnfromCA]

10:36 PM on 09/05/2009

Wow, progressive heartache, eh?

[texhall00]

10:33 PM on 09/05/2009

He who has the Gold, makes the rules. How many times are they going to march the streets? Nothing will ever be accomplishes because this has happen before and when their an election. He win again.