Fwd: RE: ATC does it again

[telebob x]

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Richard Ryan" <himself@richardryan.com>
Reply-To: <himself@richardryan.com>
To: "Chris Walters" <zembla@texas.net>,<telebob@hotmail.com>
CC: <jswatz@well.com>
Subject: RE: ATC does it again
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 05:18:10 -0800

ATC does it againVery good.  Should read Counterpunch more often.


Louis Menand's deflationary Orwell piece in the current New Yorker is
excellent -- as one would expect-- and worth a look...

http://www.newyorker.com/critics/atlarge/?030127crat_atlarge
   -----Original Message-----
   From: Chris Walters [mailto:zembla@texas.net]
   Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 11:35 PM
   To: telebob@hotmail.com
   Cc: jswatz@well.com
   Subject: ATC does it again



   January 11, 2003

   Spinners of Venezuelan Fairy Tales
   An Open Letter to All Things Considered

   By BRAD CARLTON

   I was disappointed to learn, upon hearing Gerry Hadden's most recent
dispatch from Venezuela, that NPR is not immune to the widespread
journalistic trend of selectively parrotting spin and innuendo, so that news
reports become repositories of suggestion rather than facts.

   Venezuela in particular has suffered mightily from such irresponsible
reporting, as I learned firsthand in Caracas last summer while interviewing
high-level U.S. embassy personnel, Venezuelan government ministers,
opposition leaders, Bolivarian Circle members, proud escualidos, and legions
of civilians from all walks of life.

   Hadden provides almost no context, few facts, and little rebuttal to
offset the charges his sources level against the Venezuelan government. He
presents the opposition's argument that "Chavez's attempt to wrest control
of the police force [Policia Metropolitana, or PM] from an opposition mayor
this month goes to the heart of why they distrust the president... [and]
shows that Chavez is a dictator-in-the-making." Yet Hadden is silent about
the PM's use of force against civilian protests in recent weeks, killing
four and wounding dozens, that prompted the takeover. Nor does he find the
more than 40 people killed by the PM during civil disturbances following
Chavez's brief ouster worth mentioning.

   As for the characterization of Chavez as a dictator, Hadden should have
called on one of Chavez's ministers or supporters to respond to such serious
libel, or he might have pointed out that there are no political prisoners in
Venezuela, but instead he lets the "dictator" comment stand unchallenged.
This is insulting to the billions of people who have lived, died, and
"disappeared" under true dictatorships, where people are stripped of due
process, freedom of association, and electoral power, and where
dissent--which flourishes in Venezuela--is illegal.

   Hadden even underscores the opposition's allegations with his own
pejorative interjections that "left-leaning" Chavez "forged close ties with
Cuba's Fidel Castro." Listeners are left with the impression that Chavez is
a Castro-styled communist, which is flat wrong. His government's relations
with Cuba do not make him a communist any more than France's relations with
Iraq make it a totalitarian regime.

   Particularly deceptive is Hadden's allusion to a Chavez law "that allows
for the expropriation of private property in some circumstances," without
mentioning what those circumstances are. The Land Reform law provides for
expropriation with compensation of idle farmlands, as well as arable lands
exceeding 12,350 acres in areas of poor soil (350 acres in areas of rich
soil), to be redistributed to landless workers. It is also important to note
(though Hadden doesn't) that in the 1960's big landowners and ranchers
expanded their fences to expropriate most of the state-owned marshlands the
government intended for redistribution. Current stats on land concentration
are appalling: One percent of farms account for 46% of farmland, one percent
of the population owns 60% of arable lands, and 40% of all Venezuelan
farmlands lie fallow. As a result, Venezuela is agronomically undiversified
and chronically dependent on oil and imports, while the urban population has
exploded, causing crime, unemployment, and pollution rates to soar. Even the
middle-class Chavez foes I spoke to said the need for land reform is a
no-brainer. Does this make them Castro-communists? The mere suggestion is
ludicrous.

   Hadden would likely respond that he didn't have enough airtime to discuss
the law's particulars. Fine, but why not couple the word "expropriation"
with "idle farmland"--both concise and precise--instead of the buzzwords
"private property," unless he specifically intends to associate Chavez with
communistic distribution of wealth?

   To reinforce that insinuation, Hadden must have looked long and hard to
find a pro-government supporter spewing classical Marxist rhetoric and
referring to allies as "comrades." This is not at all representative; I
spoke to dozens of Chavez supporters, and none of them defined their
politics in these terms (references to the oligarquia notwithstanding). In
fact, the real story is that el proceso, the movement that swept Chavez to
power, is the embryonic manifestation of a new political philosophy in which
economic and institutional power is dominated by neither the state nor big
business interests, but instead is decentralized and directly influenced
through public, participatory processes. Like it or not, el proceso is
gaining strength and captivating the imaginations of people all across Latin
America, especially in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
To define the terms of the Venezuelan debate in traditional free market vs.
leftist-Marxist terms, as Hadden does, is as reductive as it is
disingenuous.

   Hadden is correct to point out that Chavez "led an unsuccessful coup ten
years ago," but, again, the lack of context is outrageous. That particular
coup was in direct response to the Perez administration's bloody crackdown
on a civic uprising. At least a thousand civilians were killed. Like the
killings mentioned above, we do not have to guess who the parties
responsible are (as in the still maddeningly unsolved case of April 11); it
is a matter of historical record. So, given that Hadden goes out of his way
to vaguely characterize Chavez's supporters' street protests as "violent,"
why does he consistently fail to mention the civilian deaths suffered at the
hands of Chavez's political foes? This is the journalistic equivalent of a
"disappearance."

   I hope for the sake of Mr. Hadden's conscience that he is as ashamed of
his report as I am of NPR for broadcasting it.

   Brad Carlton wrote the "Letter from Venezuela" series for The Baltimore
Chronicle, where this letter originally appeared. He can bereached at:
bradcarlton@mail.com

--


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