We're all part of this wonderful world and we do love each other
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:
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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.
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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.
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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