Letter to the Guardian on its biased reporting
- 21 October 2009
Sent: 13 October 2009 07:39
To: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Subject: Chávez
So Rory Carroll is hot on the trail of Hugo Chávez again ("Chávez accused of turning tyrant as even former allies languish in jail ", 13 Oct).
As usual, Carroll's coverage is very selective. The opposition politicians he portrays as arbitrarily persecuted have very questionable credentials. César Pérez Vivas, governor of Táchira state (which borders on Colombia) is an extreme right-winger who has displayed separatist tendencies and has allied with brutal Colombian paramilitaries to suppress workers and peasants in his state. Manuel Rosales, former governor of Zulia (another border state) and now a "refugee" in Peru, is subject to very credible charges of corruption and was also involved with Colombian paramilitarism.
Both Pérez Vivas and Rosales, along with several other Venezuelan opposition leaders, have once again shown their true colours with their public enthusiasm for the military coup in Honduras: they clearly haven't abandoned the authoritarian instincts they displayed in 2002.
Raúl Baduel is a different kettle of fish, but it should be emphasised that he was never a fully committed Chávez ally. Although he stood up for Chávez in the 2002 coup, he had indicated political differences well before his 2007 retirement. The corruption charges against him appear to be well documented and President Chávez has publicly spoken of how painful this entire episode is for him.
Diana Raby
Liverpool
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