Thanks for the annotated summary. The site itself is almost unreadable with no leading between the lines.
No mention of a revision of the electoral registry. There were lists of fake ID numbers and dead people you could check online on their own website. The government didn’t give a response to these lists.
No mention of any scrutinizing other than the electronic totals. (my pdf reader is having trouble with the comprehensive report).
I remember doing some serious eye rolling every time I heard the latest whine of fraud from the opposition (my favourite, “yes, he won but not by that big a margin”, please!). Still, my concern remains that Chavez is building a “good faith capital” (in the least literal of meanings for this) that he will cash out when needed. The opposition is doing him a great favour by crying wolf day and night, thus desensitizing public opinion and cheapening their own image.
Very few opposition minded venezuelans depend on broadcast television for their news. Cable TV is fairly accessible to people with some income.
And although home internet access is not very widespread outside the more affluent areas of the biggest cities, internet cafes are three to a corner and dirt cheap all over the country.
The takedown of RCTV is not as much of an issue as it seems. There are no swing votes to fight for in Venezuela. TV stations, on either side, preach mostly to the choir.
RCTV had some value because it was the broadcast with the best area of coverage. This means than in some, very rural, areas RCTV was the only station available. The percentage of people involved is small enough to be considered negligible, though. This in comparison to other “opposition” stations, though. The government didn’t have a good broadcast network, which is, I presume, the real motivation for killing RCTV. It never was about their ideologies or previous crimes. It was just a cheap way to get broadcast coverage.
People who depend on broadcast, still have many other alternatives. Venevision, for example, is technically an opposition station with coverage only marginally lesser than RCTV’s. They are not as aggressive as Globovision or as RCTV was, but you could call them not governmental.
ETA: “accurate” news reporting is not something that I would consider is happening in any form in Venezuela. The situation is polarized enough that you are either for or against.
I know only what I have read in the news about these events, but I sincerely hope Mr. Chavez really is as concerned for his people as he says he is . The amount of havoc this guy could wreak if he went over the edge would be massive. I believe the world is running out of countries willing to make any efforts whatsover to save countries from themselves. Please don’t think I’m refering to the idiocy going on in Iraq. I think, as a great nation the U.S. should be helping countries that really need it like Somalia and the like. I hope Chavez keeps his word.
That has always been my greatest doubt. Is Chavez a cynic playing with the people or does he really believe all the stuff he says?. He is certainly surrounded by a pack of carrion eaters, but as long as his stated goals are a somewhat true reflexion of what’s going on in his mind, he will continue to correct course and get rid of the worse of his followers. If he is just saying it, I can see a river of blood and shit washing out the whole country.
Only time will tell ,my friend, We can only hope it won’t turn into another example of how one mans arrogance can turn into the wasting of countless innocent lives. Hopefully the Big Man will not let this one get out of hand as have so many before have done.