The opposition need four things: to depict themselves as victims of a dictatorship which is punishing and pursuing them, to make people believe that they are the “people” and not a classist minority, to consolidate these ideas internationally to construct a matrix of opinion, and to circulate the image of a capital city in total disarray outside of Caracas.
By Lucas Koerner- venezuelanalysis.com, Aug 5th 2015
VA.com's Lucas Koerner looks at the Venezuelan opposition's attempt to self-style themselves as an oppressed minority by likening their movement to the struggles faced by black people defying the Jim Crow. Koerner goes on to compare this "brown-washing" to PR tactics employed by the state of Israel.
Venezuelan free software activist Luigino Bracci addresses accusations that state channel Avila TV “censored” the beginning of a song by an anti-government group which was critical of corruption during the music festival Suena Caracas.
By Gonzalo Gomez / Vaness Davies - Union Radio, Oct 27th 2014
In this interview, Gonzalo Gómez, founder of leftist Venezuelan website Aporrea.org and militant of Marea Socialista (Socialist Tide) criticizes the PSUV for stifling political debates. He also expresses regret for participating in a debating panel with members of the right-wing opposition, and defends Aporrea from claims that it is financed by the CIA.
By Arlene Eisen - Venezuelanalysis.com, Jun 12th 2014
It’s the rainy season in tropical Caracas. The weather service frequently predicts thunderstorms and the air is thick with humidity, yet the menacing clouds rarely produce more than a few drops. Venezuela’s The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources expects half the usual rainfall for the season and is planning accordingly.
In this interview, Venezuelan journalist and writer, Luis Britto Garcia, observes a growing division within the Venezuelan opposition, and he analyses the work of Gene Sharp, a US political scientist, and his theory of “soft coups”.
By Donald Kingsbury - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Apr 10th 2014
After over a month of violence explicitly aimed at ousting the Maduro government, major media outlets and governments in the North Atlantic are blind to the bad faith of the opposition.
By Z.C. Dutka - Venezuelanalysis.com, Apr 4th 2014
Over the weekend, a panel of psychologists convened to discuss the societal tension that has built up since violent protest broke out in Venezuela, in February. They determined that dialogue-friendly spaces and a feeling of general safety have been compromised dramatically. The fatal shooting of a woman waiting on line to buy food Saturday highlighted fiercely clashing responses through social media as each political sector interpreted the tragedy as proof of their own worst fears.
By Tamara Pearson - Venezuelanalysis.com, Apr 2nd 2014
As it's prone to do, the private media has invented a new thing. In both English and Spanish they are calling it colectivos, and these collectives are meant to be irrational, cruel, grotesque armed motorbike riders who “enforce” the revolution and are responsible for most of the current violence.
If most people in English speaking countries believe that the media is far less free in Venezuela than in their own countries, it actually highlights the deplorable state of press freedom in their own.
By Mark Weisbrot - Centre for Economic and Policy Research, Feb 24th 2014
Leopoldo López is a politician, and so he can be forgiven for hyperbole (like right-wing critics of President Obama in the United States, who call him a “socialist dictator”). But the New York Times and CPJ should be more careful not to present false claims as fact.
