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So because there is a "threat" from a foreign nation, the government is allowed to spy on its citizens critical of the government and expose them and ridicule t

by rafaelm 13y ago

So because there is a "threat" from a foreign nation, the government is allowed to spy on its citizens critical of the government and expose them and ridicule them live on national TV? Sounds very similar to the "terrorist threat" excuse another surveillance state is using.

scarmig 13y ago
I'm torn. Venezuela's government has had more than its fair share of real coup attempts in the recent past, so there is an actual non-imaginary threat there, instead of terrorist bogeymen. The fact that Chavez and his boys did launch one of those coups originally, though, makes me less inclined to give benefit of the doubt. Why should I have to take sides between two groups of bad guys? There's an honor in condemning everyone who violates human rights.
- gasull 13y ago
  The US has also had very real terrorist attacks, like the 9/11. That isn't a excuse for a surveillance state. Security is NEVER a valid excuse for a surveillance state.
stfu 13y ago
I am not saying that it is right. But I just don't know how a non-US compliant government can stay in power without questionable tactics. If you create enough internal fraction by pumping up a pro-US opposition and external through embargos and sanctions, even the most anti-US electorate will soon or later question their positions.
- rafaelm 13y ago
  Venezuela has not received any embargoes or sanctions from the US. If anything, the biggest financing source this government has had to prop up the disastrous economy are oil prices and the income they get from the US as the first buyer of venezuelan oil. I would say that having one of the highest criminal rates in the world, highest inflation in the world, constant blackouts, constant basic products scarcity should be enough to make the electorate question their positions.
  - greenyoda 13y ago
    For that matter, the U.S. even allows the Venezuelan-owned oil company Citgo to operate gas stations in the U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citgo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citgo Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo) is a United States–incorporated, Venezuela-owned refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of Venezuela.

by rafaelm 13y ago

scarmig 13y ago

I'm torn. Venezuela's government has had more than its fair share of real coup attempts in the recent past, so there is an actual non-imaginary threat there, instead of terrorist bogeymen. The fact that Chavez and his boys did launch one of those coups originally, though, makes me less inclined to give benefit of the doubt. Why should I have to take sides between two groups of bad guys? There's an honor in condemning everyone who violates human rights.

gasull 13y ago
The US has also had very real terrorist attacks, like the 9/11. That isn't a excuse for a surveillance state. Security is NEVER a valid excuse for a surveillance state.

stfu 13y ago

I am not saying that it is right. But I just don't know how a non-US compliant government can stay in power without questionable tactics. If you create enough internal fraction by pumping up a pro-US opposition and external through embargos and sanctions, even the most anti-US electorate will soon or later question their positions.

rafaelm 13y ago
Venezuela has not received any embargoes or sanctions from the US. If anything, the biggest financing source this government has had to prop up the disastrous economy are oil prices and the income they get from the US as the first buyer of venezuelan oil. I would say that having one of the highest criminal rates in the world, highest inflation in the world, constant blackouts, constant basic products scarcity should be enough to make the electorate question their positions.
- greenyoda 13y ago
  For that matter, the U.S. even allows the Venezuelan-owned oil company Citgo to operate gas stations in the U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citgo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citgo Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo) is a United States–incorporated, Venezuela-owned refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of Venezuela.