<a href=www.zwire.com>La Raza News

      Caracas - El presidente Hugo Chávez denunció que sectores de la oposición venezolana han puesto en marcha una "campaña internacional para nuevamente" intentar derrocarlo.

      Chávez, de 49 años, afirmó que sectores opositores "fascistas y sus aliados internacionales intentan todos los caminos para tratar de convencer al mundo que el Gobierno de Venezuela apoya terroristas y es un Gobierno delincuente". "La oligarquía fascista se decidió a tratar de derrocar el Gobierno revolucionario nuevamente (...) Bueno, también fracasarán" aseguró el jefe del Estado en un acto oficial en Caracas, conmemorativo del Día Internacional de la Mujer.

      Chávez fue derrocado durante 48 horas el 11 de abril del 2002, por un golpe de Estado que estuvo precedido de fuertes disturbios en los alrededores del palacio de Gobierno que dejaron al menos 19 manifestantes muertos, tanto opositores como "chavistas", y decenas de heridos. El gobernante dijo que el supuesto plan opositor "fracasará porque el mundo se ha dando cuenta" de que su Gobierno "es democrático, respeta las libertades y lucha por los derechos humanos". "Fracasarán también, porque la gran mayoría de los venezolanos, los revolucionarios, no vamos a permitir injerencia de ningún tipo en los asuntos internos de Venezuela", reiteró el presidente.

      El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores Roy Chaderton denunció a su vez que una "conspiración masiva" nacional e internacional, intenta falsear la imagen del Gobierno de Chávez. El canciller dijo que la reciente petición de varios legisladores de EE.UU. de aplicar a Venezuela la Carta Interamericana Democrática de la OEA y las versiones sobre la supuesta presencia de la guerrilla colombiana en el país son expresiones de esa "campaña". EFE

Venezuela Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 By: Cliff Tew

Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 18:29:37 EST From: Cliff Tew  CHAVEGAN@aol.com To: editor@vheadline.com Subject: Chavez Frias

Dear Editor: I have read articles from your site a few times. It is a good site, here in America it is refreshing to read good foreign journalism.

I have been following President Chavez since the coup attempt over a year ago.

I was very sorry to read of my government's involvement in the affair ... most of our people here can't find Venezuela on a map, yet we are a huge part of the problems that are facing your country.

I work with a woman who is Venezuelan, she thinks Chavez is Castro junior ... I have tried to convince her that he is simply an elected President who is trying to use his country's resources for the good of his people.

I am convinced that, for Venezuela to experience true democracy, the people of my country have to wake up to the fact that we have by use of force reduced resource-rich Latin America to a role of servitude.

I don't know how much I can do to educate my fellow citizens about the world around them ... we are too concerned with Britney Spears' hips and Pepsi Cola to even think about Venezuela.

But I know that I have been enriched by learning about the truly democratic reforms that President Chavez has helped bring to the people, and I'll do what I can to let other people know that there is a continent to the south of us.

Peace and Blessings, Cliff Tew CHAVEGAN@aol.com Winston-Salem N.C., USA

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 23, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Quinto Dia columnist Miguel Salazar has attacked oil expert, Jose Toro Hardy and the "caravan of 'experts' and 'analysts' that have passed through TV talk shows" for their glee over the war on Iraq.

"I understand that you (Hardy Toro) were one of those people who jumped for joy when you heard that thanks to the Venezuelan justice system those responsible for provoking the oil stoppage are just as harmless as Franciscan friars."

Salazar says he cannot understand how anybody could show enthusiasm for such a war as though it were a game of basketball, especially knowing the fate of people awaiting the onslaught of the most powerful war machine the world as seen ... and how some people are now shouting for the transfer of Desert Storm to the sand dunes of the Coro Medanos (Falcon).

"You, who look as if you would jump with fright when a firework goes off, would no doubt cheer an armed invasion against Venezuela ... from the other side of the river."

Posted: Friday, March 21, 2003 By: Kira Marquez Perez

Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 13:45:07 +0100 From: Kira Marquez Perez marquez@uni-duesseldorf.de To: editor@vheadline.com Subject: Gobbels Media

Dear Editor: In the last months the subject: “Democracy and freedom in Venezuela” has completely invaded our lives. The Venezuelan “opposition” cries for help to the international community, claiming that “our human rights and our freedom are being violated by a terrible dictator named Chavez.”

This “dictator” has alleged relations to terrorist groups all over the world (Al Qaeda, ETA, IRA, etc) and he even supposedly finances them all … well … at least that’s what they say on Venevision, RCTV, Televen and Globovision (which are all supposed to be serious channels in spite of all the falsifications and montages they’ve shown us).

However, I believe we've probably been too severe in judging the owners of these channels. Why should we? They haven’t done anything new!  These methods have been used (and are even being currently used) in several other countries in the world. During World War II Joseph Gobbels (Hitler's propaganda minister) adopted this style. The information was distorted, edited, censored and twisted in order to adapt it to the Nazi's needs. Even history books were changed to favor the Nazi!  Lies were repeated thousands times. During the Stalin era, the Russians lived similar experiences because the press was completely under the leader’s control. Even Saddam Hussein (Iraq), Slobodan Milosevic (Yugoslavia), Kim Jong Il (North Korea) and many other dictators have used similar methods throughout history..

In Venezuela, the situation is quite different.  In our case, it is certainly not the President who is using dictator-styled methods ... but the opposition itself, which also owns the press.

Now, even the North American media makes assertions concerning the Venezuelan “dictator” and “terrorist” Hugo Chavez. I wonder what’s behind all this?  Bin Laden is a terrorist and they attacked Afghanistan ... Saddam Hussein is a dictator and they attacked Iraq (without UN support).

Now, they accuse Chavez of being a “terrorist” and a “dictator”…

Additionally, the press in the USA has minimized a number of events that I consider to be quite important in the context of democracy and freedom:

1. Why have so many people been arrested in the USA for protesting peacefully against the war in Iraq? This is something that should not happen in any democratic government. You could expect that from a country like North Korea but never from the USA.

2. How is it possible that lawyers are now being followed in the USA and accused of being terrorists themselves just because their defendants are suspected terrorists? The lawyers are only doing their jobs and that doesn’t make them terrorists. Besides, in a democratic country everybody should have the right to defense.

3. How is it possible that a nun, who has been leading anti-war activities, was not allowed to fly within the USA because she now appears in a secret list of “terrorists”? She has done nothing. She isn’t a terrorist. She just doesn’t support (as many Americans don’t do it) the martial intentions of her president and she has the right to say it, since she lives in a democratic country, or not?

At this point, I would like to reaffirm my esteem and admiration to the American nation. The Americans are actually very nice and friendly people. Most of them don’t like war and don’t agree with it at all. However, I do believe that many Americans are being misled by the US media (CNN, Fox, etc), because ... believe it or not ... this Gobbels-type propaganda is even present in the USA (the country that should actually serve as an example of freedom and democracy to the rest of the world). Already before beginning of the war, the US-government threatened independent journalists and anti-war advertisements were censored.

It is no wonder that the Venezuelan press has tried to use its power to withdraw President Chavez from office. They certainly know how important press and propaganda can be and they have done their best to “invent, repeat and exaggerate all news that affect Chavez and hide all other news that might support him.”

For instance, why did Venevision never mention the 11 people that died in Valencia during the show: “La V de Oro”?  These deaths were completely silenced by the “opposition” and they weren’t even mentioned in the news. However, in spite of their efforts, Mr Chavez' “opponents” have still not been able to succeed. Not with their coups ... or with their strikes.

Mr. Bush, Mr. Blair and Mr. Aznar were also not able to convince the international community of the need of a war, and that although they also used all types of methods, including even a pile of fake documents presented by Mr. Blair ... in which alleged connections between Al-Qaeda and Saddam were mentioned. Later, the BBC published evidence of the fakery of these documents ... but the subject was never mentioned again.

Now I ask myself: Why have they all failed with their propaganda?

Can it be that we are finally learning to be a little more critical about what we hear and see?

Can it be that we are tired of the way in which our politicians have driven us like puppets?

Can it be that we’ve become too intelligent for them? I certainly hope so.

Many of our leaders have created hatred between countries . French fries (which, by the way are not French but Belgian) are now called “freedom fries” as a protest against France; French wines and other products are being thrown away, attacks against French people (normal citizens) living in the USA have been reported and a congressman has even suggested that the bodies of those American that died in the Normandy and are still buried in France be transported immediately to the USA.

Isn’t this unbelievable?

As if we had returned to the beginnings of civilization, where no laws or rights existed?

Please … let’s not play this game ... we're all part of this wonderful world and we do love each other.

Kira Marquez Perez marquez@uni-duesseldorf.de

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, November 10, 2002 By: Oscar Heck

Date: Thu, 07 Nov 2002 15:06:08 -0500 To: editor@vheadline.com From: Oscar Heck oscarheck111@hotmail.com Subject: Congratulations

Dear Editor: Have been following your site for a few months now. Wonderful site and well thought out and interesting commentaries, particularly your own recent "Reality is out there for all to see!"

I hope, as you, that readers will have enough discernment to weed out facts from fantasy and/or subtle subliminal use of language to argue points such as in Gustavo Coronel's comment "by passing dozens of laws, many of which are clearly confiscatory in nature," used in the context of anti-Chavez rhetoric.

Gustavo Coronel gives the impression that such laws do not exist in countries that he may consider more "democratic." If he believes this, he is very wrong, since it is not true.

I am in Canada at the moment and "confiscatory laws" have long existed here and still do ... there are reasons for such laws to exist, unfortunately to the dismay of some few.

Gustavo Coronel purports to being factual. However, I would suggest that VHeadline.com readers verify and double-check some of the "facts" he writes about. Example: "This happens only in Zimbabwe and here" found in his commentary "Carson's Reality."

I do not think that such a statement can be construed as an opinion.

Oscar Heck oscarheck111@hotmail.com

P.S. Really enjoyed Charles Hardy's realistic analysis of the 2,000,000 signatures.