Venezuela: Regime Change in Real Time

By Rodrigo Acuña

20 July 2017

Images of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) firing tear gas at protestors in Venezuela cannot be provided to us in large enough quantities by the mainstream media. Look through the pages of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times or even the UK’s liberal Guardian and the government of president Nicolas Maduro is a dictatorship in all but name. As of the time of writing this article, with 103 people dead, television and print images of opposition protestors being tear gassed by police are what count and not any actual context of the violence taking place, or who, for that matter, is predominantly perpetrating it.

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under American Herald Tribune and tagged Venezuela Maduro Coup d'état.

Venezuela: same old, same old...

By Rodrigo Acuña

25 February 2014

Latin America Bureau

The recent violence in Venezuela, which has left some 13 people dead, once again highlights how some sections of the political right in that country are unwilling to change their stripes. They have used force in the past and, as long as they continue to gain a sympathetic hearing in the mainstream media, violent protests can and will be used in order to project the image of an ungovernable country.

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under Latin America Bureau and tagged Venezuela Hugo Chávez Coup d'état.

Contrasting Perspectives on Latin America

By Rodrigo Acuña

September-October 2013

Canadian Dimension

With the recent protests in Brazil over a number of social grievances leading up to 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden possibly making his way to Ecuador or Venezuela so as to seek asylum, Latin America has recently captured global media attention. In Brazil, as protestors originally took to the streets over a 20-cent hike in public transport fares, reporting by some of the major corporate media has often been surprisingly sympathetic to protestors.

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under Canadian Dimension and tagged Brazil Venezuela Ecuador.

Chávez's death: a Latin American perspective

By Rodrigo Acuña

ON LINE Opinion - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

8 March 2013

I always expected to see video images of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Havana Cuba delivering a passionate speech at the ex-Cuban leader Fidel Castro's funeral amid other leftist heads of state from Latin America and the Caribbean. The news of Chavez's declining health due to cancer over the last two years was well known, as were his repeated statements that cancerous cells no longer inhabited his body.

At times these announcements on the surface appeared accurate. In public the former-lieutenant colonel always tried to project an image of being strong, confident and joyful. Chavez loved to be seen on television, often inaugurating a new school or clinic in a shanty town surrounded by his supporters. But after winning a convincing fourth presidential election in October 2012 by 55% to 45%, and then in November declaring that he needed to return to Cuba for more surgery, it seemed clear Chavez was not well.

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under ON LINE Opinion and tagged Venezuela Hugo Chávez.