Fact-checking Rory Carroll on Venezuela
Carroll depicts an ailing 'autocrat' leaving behind a 'disparate ruling coalition' and a 'warping economy'. In this analysis of Carroll's contribution we have considered the premises behind a selection of his arguments and conducted some basic fact-checking, highlighting many inaccuracies in his analysis.
In the New Statesman on 25 January 2013, a special feature entitled ‘After Chavez’ included contributions from two of The Guardian’s former Latin America correspondents, Richard Gott and Rory Carroll, presenting opposing viewpoints on the current situation in Venezuela, and the political legacy of the Chavez government.
The New Statesman leader comments that, ‘To some, [Chavez] is the last, best hope for socialism in an age of global capital; to others, he is an elected autocrat and demagogue’. Rory Carroll, it is noted, ‘deems [Chavez] guilty as charged’.
Carroll depicts an ailing ‘autocrat’ leaving behind a ‘disparate ruling coalition’ and a ‘warping economy’. Below is an analysis of Carroll’s contribution, ‘An Elected Autocrat’, in which we have considered the premises behind a selection of his arguments and conducted some basic fact-checking, highlighting many inaccuracies in Carroll’s analysis.
*News Unspun’s comments are in blue. Venezuelanalysis has added some additional comments in red. Other issues have received much debate elsewhere, the details of which have not been reiterated in this analysis.
Scroll down to see the full article with added comments.
