Venez: Frustrated Mainstream Press Spewing Deception on Referendum

The day before Sundays constitutional reform referendum in Venezuela,
one can just feel the frustrations of the commercial medias big
players that there is really not much they can do, despite all their
supposed power, to affect the outcome. Nevertheless, their clamor about
Ch!vez possible "constitutional coup" (so ironic given their lack of
concern over the very real military coup there six years ago
http://www.narconews.com/threedays.html)
has been on the rise all week.
Here are some of the most notable lies, manipulations and half-truths
from Saturdays editorials and news articles:

"Chances for Venezuelan reforms growing slim" re****ts the Miami
Herald.  "[T]he latest poll, taken Monday through Thursday by
Venezuela's Hinterlaces firm, showed the ~no vote winning by 6
percentage points in the closest scenario, and 21 points in the most
lopsided, depending largely on turnout." While re****ters Casto Ocando
and Casey Woods briefly make the dismissive concession that "some
surveys still predict a Ch!vez victory on Sunday," they completely
ignore the poll by the consistently accurate Consultores 30.11 firm
that came out just before the Hinterlaces survey, predicting a lead of
between seven and sixteen percent (depending on turnout) for the
"SI" (that is, for Ch!vez). They also fail to mention that the director
of Datan!lisis, whose poll earlier this week has been widely cited in
the press, has stated that the Chavistas could still very well win, by
as much as 20 percent, despite his own firms [results predicting] a
"no" victory by 10 points.

* The New York Times Saturday editorial, "Saying No to Ch!vez," speaks
of how "thousands of university students have taken to the streets to
protest, facing down armed Ch!vista thugs." This romantic, heroic image
is shattered by the truth that opposition protesters have been much
more violent than the Chavistas.  In Merida, four policemen and a
bystander were shot during an anti-Ch!vez rally on November 9. On
November 27, 19-year-old Jos(c) Oliveros was shot to death by an
opposition mob. 

* In Caracas, the Wall Street Journal re****ted on a group of pro-Ch!vez
students forced to take refuge in a classroom until they were rescued
by "armed civilians" just before the room was destroyed by fire. To say
that the pro-government side has a monopoly on violence is more than an
exaggeration.

* The New York Times also makes the vague statement, "Earlier polling
suggested his cause would be helped by a high abstention rate, with
many opponents fearful of being tagged as foes and others planning to
boycott the whole thing." This echoed a claim made by Wa****ngton Post
Deputy Editorial Page Editor Jackson Diehl on November 19:  "Many
people will abstain from voting rather than risk the retaliation of a
regime that has systematically persecuted those who turned out against
Ch!vez in the past," he wrote. Now, after the signature collecting
process for the 2004 recall referendum, there were a number of
disturbing re****ts of job discrimination at government agencies towards
people whose names appeared on the petitions, which became public
record. Regardless of whether or not this was actually true (to which I
plead ignorance), how could such a thing happen after a vote in which
the ballot is completely secret?

* Never to be outdone in the anti-Ch!vez department, the Wall Street
Journal's Saturday editorial ****trays Ch!vez as an absolute dictator
with no popular sup****t and the referendum as Venezuelas path to hell.
"For their part," it reads, "Venezuelans have so little faith in an
honest vote that they boycotted the 2005 legislative elections;
chavista candidates won 100% of the seats." In the WSJs view of
things, Ch!vez, who has won numerous elections and enjoys constant
popular sup****t, is not a legitimate leader, but the opposition party
leader****p (...the parties who boycotted those elections; opposition
voters would have voted for them if theyd run) is synonymous with
"Venezuelans."

"The President will gain new powers to suspend due process during
emergencies," the Journal editorial bemoans among its list of
grievances. This "removal of due process" scare has been cited often in
media re****ts, but is far from accurate. The actual article up for
approval reads: "In such a case [of a state of emergency], the
guarantees established in this Constitution may be tem****arily
restricted or suspended, except for the right to life, the prohibition
of torture, being held incommunicado or forced disappearance, the right
to defense, to personal integrity, to be judged by ones natural judges
and not condemned to more than a 30-year sentence." Compared to the
rights afforded to, say, the detainees in Guantanamo Bay, this sounds
like a good deal of protection.

* The Journal also raises the specter of fraud in Sundays election:
"The National Electoral Council (CNE)... presided over a crooked and
non-transparent August 2004 recall referendum] Polls show most
Venezuelans are also opposed, but a genuinely fair vote may be
impossible. The President's electoral council controls the voter rolls,
the voting machines and the ultimate count." But as even opposition
blogger Francisco Toro (who alone among the oppositions prominent
voices ultimately rejected the oppositions debunked claims of fraud)
must concede, Venezuelas uniform, electronic voting system is
extremely transparent and any fraud would be easily detectable.

And of course, none of these papers have devoted an inch of space to a
real, cool-headed evaluation of the referendums 69 proposals and why
Venezuelans might sup****t them (for something like that, one would need
to check Greg Wilperts expert analysis).
[http://www.venezuelanalysis.com]

Stay tuned... the lies and the truth continue tomorrow.

                                 *
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