Oh, the irony: Documents released today by Wikileaks reveal that a US defence contractor may have sold millions of dollars worth of telephone tapping and other surveillance equipment to the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez.
Showing all posts tagged Venezuela
Raging against rising internet repression
My following article appears in the US magazine The Nation on the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit and the issue of web repression: During the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008–sponsored by Harvard University and Google in Budapest, Hungary, in late June, and attended by over 200 bloggers, human rights activists, writers, journalists, hackers and…
Battle of the Brainwashed
My latest New Matilda column is about the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Budapest last week: Are Chinese netizens any more thin-skinned than Westerners when attacked online for their opinions? Antony Loewenstein reports from the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit During the Harvard University sponsored Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008 in Budapest last…
Challenging Washington’s rules
Fidel’s Heir: The rising influence of Hugo Chávez. A New Yorker essay by Jon Lee Anderson, recent visitor to the Sydney Writer’s Festival.
Human rights for most
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, speaking to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, is asked about his fears of an American invasion: Yes, this is a genuine concern. We have evidence of plans that exist in this sense. Well, you see what has happened in Iraq and many other countries over these years . . .…
This is what they do
“Violation of US policy”? Pulease: In an apparent violation of U.S. policy, Peace Corps volunteers and a Fulbright scholar were asked by a U.S. Embassy official in Bolivia “to basically spy” on Cubans and Venezuelans in the country, according to Peace Corps personnel and the Fulbright scholar involved. “I was told to provide the names,…
Open letter to President Chavez from Iranian labour and student activists
January 13, 2008 Mr Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Dear Mr President: We hear the news of the release of two of the FARC’s hostages with renewed hope for the future of Colombia. The release of Clara Rojas and Consuela Gonzalez is not only a joyous event for their…
Lying is clearly good for business
The Centre for Media and Democracy has issued its annual Falsies Awards, a worthy collection of the “cynical, manipulative and just plain anti-democratic pollution of our information environment.” There are countless examples of journalists, politicians and businesses using spin as a substitute for reality. The Israel/Palestine conflict (like this) and American/Venezuelan relations (such as this)…
Hugo unpacked
Latin American expert Justin Delacour explains the significance of the electoral defeat of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela: I think Chavez’s defeat yesterday will encourage an introspection in the Chavez movement and a critical debate which is long overdue for them. Obviously errors were committed, otherwise the dramatic decline from 63 percent of the vote just…