Four New posts on Venezuela Reader’s YouTube Channel: Hugo Chavez and Claims of Press “Censorship” During his Presidency, Hugo Chavez was criticized by the US State Department and the international media for allegedly “censoring” the private media in Venezuela. Four case studies of incidents cited by the US as “censorship” have been posted on Venezuela Reader ’s YouTube Channel: 2009: Globovision, the TV Network Investigated for Reporting on an Earthquake 2009: Globovision, the TV Network Owner charged with Fraud 2011: Globovision, the TV Network Fined $2 million for reporting on a prison riot 2011: An Issue of the Weekly Newspaper Sixto Poder was Banned for Insulting Women The Venezuela Reader YouTube channel is available here: https://www.youtube.com/@thevenezuelareader These videos are summaries of posts that have appeared on the Venezuela Reader blog: https://thevenezuelareader.blogspot.com/
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New Videos Highlight the Problems Between Hugo Chavez and Presidents Bush and Obama Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had many problems with U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Three of these issues are highlighted in videos on the Venezuela Reader’s YouTube channel: 2001: President Chavez Condemned U.S. Bombing of Afghanistan 2005: President Bush Did Not Condemn Pat Robertson’s Call to Assassinate President Chavez 2010: President Obama Failed to Name an Ambassador Acceptable to President Chavez The Venezuela Reader YouTube channel is available here: https://www.youtube.com/@thevenezuelareader These videos are summaries of posts that have appeared on the Venezuela Reader blog: https://thevenezuelareader.blogspot.com/
Maria Machado and the 2024 Presidential Election in Venezuela Although not appearing on the ballot for President, Maria Machado played a highly contentious role in the 2024 election. She “won” a primary election which was called a “scam.” She was disqualified from holding public office for fifteen years. The Biden Administration tried and failed to pressure the Venezuelan government to allow her to run. Machado picked a stand-in candidate (Edmundo Gonzalez) to run in her place. Following his loss to Nicolas Maduro, Machado led a campaign claiming that massive fraud had occurred and that Gonzalez had actually won. Three short videos describing these events have been posted on The Venezuela Reader’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thevenezuelareader Three one-page summaries of these events have been posted on the Venezuela Reader’s blog: https://thevenezuelareader.blogspot.com/ 2023: Maria Machado Was Disqualified From Public Office for Fifteen Years ...
2023: Maria Machado Was Disqualified from Public Office for Fifteen Years Maria Machado was elected to the National Assembly in 2010 and served until she was expelled in 2014. She announced that she would be running in the 2015 election to reclaim her seat. The Comptroller General (CG) is an independent branch of the Venezuelan government. The CG requires financial disclosure forms from government officials every year. In July 2015, the CG Manuel Galindo disqualified Machado from holding public office for twelve months. Machado was barred for neglecting to disclose the full extent of her earnings during her term as a member of the National Assembly [1]. Machado did not appeal the decision. On January 10, 2019, Nicolas Maduro was sworn in as President of Venezuela by the Supreme Court President. On January 23, 2019, the National Assembly President Juan Guaido swore himself in as President. The Trump Administration recognized Guaido as President. Guaido organized a “gover...
2024: The Electoral Council Declared that Nicolas Maduro was Elected President The Opposition Claimed that Edmundo Gonzalez Had Won The National Electoral Council (CNE) held the Presidential Election on July 28, 2024. There were 15,797 polling stations with 30,026 voting machines. The official vote was made electronically at the voting machine which printed a verification paper ballot that the voter deposited in a ballot box. Each voting station had two official observers: one from the Government and one from the opposition. After the voting stations closed, vote totals by candidate for each voting machine were tabulated. A tally sheet for each voting machine was printed. The observers signed the voting machines’ tally sheets and were given a copy. 54% of the ballot boxes were opened and the paper ballot tallies verified the electronic tallies for each machine. The voting machine tallies were sent electronically to the Electoral Council. National totals were compute...
The Venezuela Reader YouTube Channel is Up and Running The Venezuela Reader YouTube channel is available here: https://www.youtube.com/@thevenezuelareader The channel will consist of short audio presentations of PowerPoint slides that document events in Venezuela’s history with a focus on events since 1998. These slide shows will be summaries of posts that have appeared on the Venezuela Reader blog : https://thevenezuelareader.blogspot.com/ Four videos have been recently posted: 1999: Hugo Chavez Banned Public School Fees 2000: Hugo Chavez Angered the Clinton Administration by Visiting Iraq 2004: Hugo Chavez Funded Mission Milagro for Eyesight Restoration 2017: The Terrorist Oscar Perez Attacked Government Buildings in Caracas
2017: The Supreme Court Took Over the Legislative Power of the National Assembly for Three Days In March of 2017, a subsidiary of the state oil company PDVSA requested a legal interpretation from the Supreme Court regarding whether President Maduro could change the conditions regarding public-private joint ventures. Venezuelan Law states that presidential initiatives involving joint ventures must be authorized first by the National Assembly.[1] Nine months earlier on July 28, 2016, the Supreme Court announced that the National Assembly had violated a Court ruling and ruled that the National Assembly was in contempt of Court. The Court also ruled that all actions by the National Assembly would be null and void until the National Assembly abided by the earlier Court ruling. [1] Since the National Assembly was still in contempt in March 2017, any decision it made regarding joint ventures would be null and void. On March 29, 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that it would temp...
2010: The Terrorist Raul Diaz Fled to the United States and was Granted Asylum On February 25, 2003 at 2AM, bombs exploded in Caracas near the embassy offices of Spain and Columbia. The interior of the Columbian consulate was 80% destroyed, while the building housing the Spanish technical cooperation mission suffered severe damage to its gate and exterior wall [1] The bombings caused considerable fear among the population of Caracas. Four people were injured. President Hugo Chavez argued that the bombings were meant to destabilize the government [4] Three witnesses identified Raul Diaz, a student, as a planner of the bombings.[2] Explosive powder was found in his pickup truck. On February 24, 2004 Diaz was arrested and moved into pretrial detention. Diaz was convicted of damaging public property and conspiracy on April 29, 2008.[2] He was sente...