Somehow, I am always surprised by the lack of scruples of the revolution and its leaders. Maybe I am naive, maybe I would really like in an ideal world, or maybe I was raised by my family and my profession to have high ethical standards. But I can’t help but be surprised by statements from the autocrat like the one last weekend when he said:
“The only way that RCTV’s concession will not end on Sunday the 27th. is for Hugo Chavez not to be President of Venezuela”
There it is, in plain words: I am the law, the king, the autocrat and the Dictator. You disagree with me, either you overthrow me or else. As simple as that.
But then, we also have that apprentice of Dictator, the man who did such a good job as “impartial” Head and Director of the Electoral Board, that he was rewarded now with being Vice-President. No ethical conflict or debate there for the revolution: He was a fanatic serving the revolution in his earlier role, he is now second in command and clearly learning the ropes as mini-Dictator in training, a role that always served VP Jorge Rodriguez well:
“There is nothing to talk about (closing RCTV)…there is nothing more to be said”
Was there ever something to discuss with a Government that barely even talks even among its members? They all play at the rhythm of Chavez says and follow their leader. There are no “legal attributions” that the state is using. The regulator CONATEL initiated one process against RCTV which has not been completed. The Prosecutor initiated another process against RCTV that has barely even been initiated. There is no legality involved. On the day in which the so called “coup” took place, the autocrat actually tried to stop Venezuelans and the world from watching the carnage going on outside. If it were not that the networks decided to split the screen Chavez calmly on one side, bloody carnage on the other, we would have never known how cynical and without scruples Chavez and his cohorts are. That was murder, wholesale murder, but the fanatics that support Chavez could care less about the blood of Venezuelans, as they support and administration that murdered that day and allows without care the daily murders of hundreds of Venezuelans.
This is a Government with no compassion towards its own supporters, least of all the blind daughter of a former President who is denied her passport out of the lowest and cruelest form of spite. Human Rights are secondary in the revolution . RCTV is being closed out of spite, as much as all of the other cruel and negative policies of the autocrat are carried out. Other TV stations complied with Chavez’ desire to silence them, RCTV did not. Unfortunately for the others, one day Chavez will wake up and decide to shut them down too. Then they will remember this week.
Meanwhile, human rights organizations have come out en force to declare the reality of the Chavez administration’s lack of democratic credentials and how they are simply punishing RCTV because it is too critical of its actions. From Amnesty International to Human Rights Watch today, the cry is in unison: Chavez is politically motivated to squash its enemies and is using incorrectly his total control of the state. For once, the left is split unevenly, much like Venezuela’s left has been split over the years. The appearance of democracy has fallen down, only those with pseudo fascist tendencies still support the autocrat who looks more and more like their old nemesis’ Fujimori and Pinochet. They can no longer support the unsupportable.
It is now up to Venezuelans to do something about it.
The Devil's Excrement 
Leave a Reply