Opposition

The Inter- American Press Association (IAPA) holds it's biyearly meeting in Caracas this week - the first to be held in Venezuela in many years. But that doesn't mean that the organization hasn't been deeply involved in Venezuela.

The anti-Chavez political discourse which has had some resonance in Venezuela and overseas, especially among liberals, politicians, progressive activists and social democratic academics, has been articulated by Venezuelan academics linked to NGO’s, financed by overseas foundations and posing as ‘center-left’.

According to eyewitness reports from Hands Off Venezuela members, violence broke out yesterday in Caracas when opposition students arrived back from a peaceful demonstration against the proposed constitutional reforms.

Two opposition bloggers provide some fascinating insight into the psyche and failures of the movement opposed to the Chavez government. Toro argues that the opposition bought its own propaganda and thus failed to see reality as it actually is, while Katy says the opposition must learn from its mistakes, which when it does, will be all the stronger.

The president of Venezuela's RCTV, Eladio Larez, is no stranger to the CIA. His contact with the agency goes back nearly twenty years when he helped the CIA funnel money through Venezuela to the Nicaraguan opposition as they worked to topple the Sandinista government.

Who are "the students," and what do they represent? In recent days, it has become clear that these student mobilizations have been, in fact, largely directed and supported by sectors of the opposition, all in an effort to provoke, in Chávez's own words, a "soft coup" against the revolutionary government.

First used in Serbia in 2000, Washington has now perfected a new imperial strategy to maintain its supremacy around the globe. Whereas military invasions and installing dictatorships have traditionally been the way to control foreign populations and keep them out of the way of business, the U.S. government has now developed a new strategy that is not so messy or brutal, and much sleeker; so sleek, in fact, that it’s almost invisible.

When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recently took his oath of office for a second term, he swore it in the name of Jesus Christ, who he called “the greatest socialist of history.” It’s hardly an accident that Chavez would hark on Christianity in addressing his people. For years, Venezuela has been a religious battleground, with Chavez pursuing a combative relationship with the Catholic Church.

Entreaties to “build the middle-class” and “extend a hand to whoever works for you” are of course meaningless, feel-good platitudes offered as alternatives to empowering the impoverished. A critical look at Venezuela’s number-one anti-Chávez action flick, Secuestro Express.

A guided tour of the political, economic, and racial geography of Caracas, Venezuela in four vignettes, courtesy of a friendly and unwitting member of the anti-Chavista opposition.