viernes, 21 de febrero de 2014

Fellow travelers (Pendejos sin fronteras) become active in defense of the criminal Venezuelan regime




Whoever reads the profile of Professor Steve Ellner (see above) cannot fail to see that he is a dedicated supporter of the criminal regime that has destroyed Venezuela during the last 15 years. Since I have no reason to accuse him of being a mercenary I will assume he is just ideologically blind to the evidence that is right before his eyes (he lives, at last partial time, in Venezuela). His eyes are afflicted by ideological glaucoma and by his adoration of the despotic Venezuelan regime. As you can see in his profile above, Ellner has been a consistent admirer of the manner in which the diseased satrap and, now, his imposed succesor, have run Venezuela into the ground, while allowing the Castro brothers to become the real power behind the throne in Venezuela.
Now Ellner delivers, in a pro-Maduro website www.venezuelanalysis.com  (also pro-bono?)  a new pack of lies that I would like to comment. I will show graphic material at the end of this article that proves how criminally wrong this man is. Ellner teaches at the Venezuelan Universidad de Oriente and in Columbia University. I say: Universities, be not proud about Steve. Academics is the arena of truth and intellectual honesty. 
   
This is what he says:

Unlike What the Media Says or Implies, the Violence in Venezuela Is Being Perpetrated by the Opposition
By Steve Ellner, February 20th 2014

The slant of the Venezuelan private media and the international media on what is happening in Venezuela is clear: The government is responsible for the violence. In the first place government-ordered gunmen are shooting at pacific demonstrators and the violence generated by the opposition is just a response to the brutality of police and military forces. But there is considerable evidence that shows that the violence, including that of unidentified motorcyclists against the demonstrators, is being carried out by the opposition. 

Gustavo Coronel: Says who? Ellner? As Brian Nelson has documented in great detail in his book on the Venezuelan events of 2002 (reference below) , the events of 2002 that forced the military to ask for Chavez ‘s resignation were triggered by Chavez ‘s criminal order to unleash the army against the peaceful protesters. The Puente Llaguno massacre, never investigated by the regime, was led by people later decorated by the government, such as the assasin called Richard Peñalver, the one  shooting in the photo. 





Here is Peñalver, embraced by Chavez. 

Another gangster, Rafael Cabrices, became the leader of one of Chavez’s armed militias.

Says Ellner: 

2.    On April 11, 2002, the day Chávez was overthrown, the Venezuelan and international media and the White House used juxtaposition of images of Chavistas shooting pistols in downtown Caracas, on the one hand, and peaceful anti-government demonstrators, on the other to justify the coup. However the Irish-produced documentary “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” and other documentaries demonstrated by the flow of the camera that the demonstrators were far away from the Chavistas and that they were shooting in response to sniper fire against them.

Gustavo Coronel: The documentary “The Revolution Will not be televised” has been found to be full of intentional errors and manipulation, as shown by journalist Phil Gunson, a writer for The Economist (see page 265 of Brian Nelson’s book; The Silence and the Scorpion”) , who says that there were omissions of key facts, invention of others, twistingof  the sequence of events and the use of archive images in replacement of actual events. All of the murderers of Puente Llaguno were set free by a accomodating justice system. The documentary telling the truth about the events, that of Luis Fernandez and Julio Rodriguez,  won the King of Spain’s Award for journalism.

Says Ellner: 

6. The term “salida,” which has become a main slogan of the protesters, implies regime change.  

Gustavo Coronel: This much is true. This regime has to go. It is illegitimate, inept and corrupt. Originally Maduro could not be candidate according the constitution. The corrupt Supreme Tribunal of Justice allowed him to be. He did not win the elections. But his illegitimacy derives essentially from his inept and corrupt government. Even the poor are fed up with this disaster and this why the civic rebellion in Venezuela includes the poor neighborhoods, see The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/20/venezuelas-poor-protests-chavez-revolution .  

Says Ellner:  

 8. The government has nothing to gain by the violence because the media is largely on the side of the opposition and present a picture of the violence which directly and indirectly blames the government,

Gustavo Coronel: Ellner lies when he says most of the media are in hands of the opposition. Precisely, what exists right now is a total blackout of the news about the Venezuelan events. Maduro blocked twitter, threatened CNN with expelling them from the country, has shut TV stations down,  does not allow opposition newspapers to import paper. To say the opposite is dishonest.  

Says Ellner: 

9. The Venezuelan government has shown great restraint in the context of opposition- promoted violence and disruption.

Gustavo Coronel: In stating this obvious lie Steve Ellner is accompanied by other fellow travelers like Larry Birns, from COHA, who recently produced a piece along the same lines, see http://lasarmasdecoronel.blogspot.com/2014/02/cohas-disgraceful-report-on-venezuela.html .
The fellow travelers of the Maduro-Castro regime  are getting active in their  disinterested (?)  defense. Julia Buxton, Mark Weisbrot and Miguel Tinker Salas are probably next in line.

 Says Ellner: 
10.   Governments, particularly undemocratic ones, which lack active popular support and completely control the media effectively use repression against dissidents. This is not the case in Venezuela. None of the non-state channels and newspapers (that the vast majority of Venezuelans get their news from) supports the government and most of them are ardently anti-government. As Smilde says, the use of violence by the government makes absolutely no sense. 

Gustavo Coronel: Listen Ellner. This is, precisely the case in Venezuela. Or are you blind and deaf? There are no opposition TV channels left in Venezuela! The Colombian TV channel trying to cover events in Venezuela was expelled by the Cuban puppet, Maduro. CNN was threatened by expulsion by the puppet. Globovision was bought by the regime. RCTV was cancelled. VeneVision is owned by a pro-government or, at least, a silent businessman. The press is being left without paper due to the lack of paper. What are you talking about. Who are you trying to deceive? What kind of member of academia are you?
I agree with Smilde that the use of violence by the regime makes no sense. But, the problem is that they 
have no sense!!
You want to see proof of the violence?

Ellner: There are hundreds of photos and videos that will demolish your lack of intellectual honesty. You should be ashamed of yourself.





 You figure!

3 comentarios:

Gringo dijo...

Ellner:
None of the non-state channels and newspapers (that the vast majority of Venezuelans get their news from) supports the government and most of them are ardently anti-government.

Which non-state channels are "ardently anti-government?" [Newspapers, perhaps.]
Inquiring minds want to know.





Anónimo dijo...

Para Ellner, Penn y Co.

Quien y como les retribuyen por esas manifestaciones a favor de la dictadura?

Por la plata baila el mono!

Jacob Sulzbach dijo...

May I add another Fellow Traveler ... oops! ... "Liar" to the list?

Mark Weisbrot, one of the writers Oliver Stone used for his 2009 documentary polemic South of the Border.

Weisbrot has just given the world another outrage to add to his impressive list of previous falsifications.  He has trumpeted the Maduro lie that the protests are a Washington-sponsored coup attempt aimed at regime change in Venezuela.

Mark Weisbrot on U.S. Support for Regime Change in Venezuela

There is no need to address his mishandling of the facts, except to point out that his selection of "proof" for his line of argumentation relies almost exclusively upon "studies" published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, which has supported the programs of leftist governments in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venzuela for years.  But the weaknesses in his presentation--My God!  Even CNN is against him!--will only lead all of us to watch as the inevitable march of history once again forces leftist intellectuals to confront the failures of the Socialist model.

No one can talk to these leftist commentators about the cost in human lives and misery they help to sustain.  The Left has never cared about human misery before, they have always been set upon transforming the way people think.  And right now Venezuelans are showing the world that they think a better life can be had if Socialism for the 21st Century is set aside.  Yet Mark Weisbrot would have us believe that hundreds of thousands of people showed up in the streets of Caracas today because Washington ordered them out.

If there is any good news to be seen in the dissemination of recent information it is that some of the more respectable news organizations in the developed world are now reporting to counteract the indoctrination fostered upon us by dishonest propagandists like Mark Weisbrot and Steve Ellner.

The London Daily Telegraph has an excellent review of the situation which calls down leftist commentators for fostering the lie of Maduro's democratic election, a fact it presents along with other useful information explaining the failures of the regime:

Venezuela:  the Left's Favorite 'socialist paradise' is sliding into poverty and dictatorship

Investor's Business Daily also offers a sound analysis of the Venezuelan protests, though it is quite pessimistic about their prospects for success so long as the resistance remains passive, comparing Venezuela to the Ukraine, where protesters are much more likely to achieve their goals.

Ukraine and Venezuela:  This Ain't No Velvet Revolution

Sadly, the following quote strikes me as frighteningly realistic:

"...It's hard to win against regimes like [Maduro's] with constant surrender.  Sadly, Venezuelans have been doing this for 15 years without result....Outside the country, few understand that Venezuela is in fact ruled by communist Cuba, which has sent 60,000 personnel to infiltrate every branch of the shambling government, and which literally issues orders to its president because it needs him in power and his oil cash to keep Cuba and its failed economy afloat...."

If current events in Venezuela continue apace, Fellow Travelers like Steve Ellner, Roy Chaderton, and Mark Weisbrot will soon find themselves sitting and shaking their heads as history once again passes them by.  The lights are coming on again.