BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Venezuelans rally for TV station:
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have rallied in the streets of Caracas to protest against President Hugo Chavez’s plans to close a private TV station. The head of the RCTV station addressed the marchers, urging them to defend freedom and “free independent media”. President Chavez has said he will not renew a licence for the RCTV network which is due to expire on 27 May. He accuses the opposition-allied TV station of supporting a failed coup against him in 2002. He has referred to opposition television stations in general as “horsemen of the apocalypse” and has blamed RCTV in particular for spreading immorality with its steamy soap operas. Mr Chavez plans to replace RCTV with a government-funded TV station.
Well, this is normal, taking how the country is going.
There is protest going on in Internet: Free RCTV, where I have found this video, that proofs that this is a chronicle of an announced death. You can also see this other video.
More in Reuters.
Venezuela: no criticism from pope | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle:
The top spokesman for Venezuela’s leftist government insisted on Monday that the pope’s condemnation of Marxism wasn’t directed at President Hugo Chavez, who says he’s steering Venezuela toward “21st century socialism.” “We all know that the current pope is characterized as a conservative man, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we must automatically think that any word he utters … is against Venezuela,” Information Minister Willian Lara told state television. Pope Benedict XVI concluded a trip to neighboring Brazil on Sunday by telling a bishop’s conference that Marxism — as well as unchecked capitalism and globalization — were to blame for many of the region’s problems. “The Marxist system, where it found its way into government, not only left a sad heritage of economic and ecological destruction, but also a painful destruction of the human spirit,” the pope said. Chavez has explicitly embraced Marxism and is a close ally of communist Cuba. Left-leaning leaders also govern in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, though most do not claim to be Marxist.
Noticias24 :: Actualidad » Brutal asesinato de 2 militares colombianos en Venezuela:
Last week, in a Bogotá’s funeral parlour, there was a sealed coffin. The ceremony was discrete and quickly. Inside there was the dead body of Colombian Captain Camilo González, Official of Militar Intelligence, who belong to the First Division of the Army, widely known as Rime uno, whose base is in Santa Marta. His body had signals of brutal torture: electric shocks, burned parts with acid substances and several rifle shots. Two weeks before, in Bogotá, they had received another dead body with similar signals. He was corporal Gregorio Martínez.
Both military men had been for several months in Venezuela in a secret and covered mission against important chiefs of the FARC that take refuge there. According to newspaper SEMANA, guerrilla fighters from this organization suspected that they were military men. Some days ago, they were followed to Santa Marta, where they corroborated that they were uniformed men. At the end of April, the guerrilla leaders let them get into Venezuela and they were ambushed. They were carried to the main offices of the National Guard in Santa Bárbara del Zulia, near the Maracaibo lake (Venezuela).
It has been impossible to establish if their deaths happened inside or outside the garrison offices. But members of that force, with a guerrilla man from FARC, where they were badly tortured. They could have confessed that they were military men and so were killed. Other international agencies are convinced that the people who killed the 2 Colombian military men were members of the Intelligence service of Venezuela (also known as DIGIT).
Also blogging Reliapundit.
Related matters: Chavez demands apology from Pope.
Related posts: Colombian situation (I): US Dems, FARC and the paramilitaries.
Lady Vorzheva,
I’d like to add you to my ‘Good Stuff’ blogroll…would like to be listed as Spanish Pundit or Toasted Bread?
Just let me know…thanks
“Spanish Pundit”, thanks. There is no one calling him/herself Spanish -that I know of-. And it’s about time!!!
And thanks, Butch. It is an honour. 8)
My pleasure!