

Venezuela: Chavez equates Twitter with terrorism - cwan
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/04/venezuela-chavez-equ.html

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zitterbewegung
First it was bush as satan now twitter with terrorism? Everyone wants state
control of the internet but the people who actually run the internet know it
is difficult to have an international network under state control.

~~~
huherto
The funny thing is that many people were sympathetic with Chavez just because
he was critical of George Bush.

~~~
anamax
> The funny thing is that many people were sympathetic with Chavez just
> because he was critical of George Bush.

That's not all of it. Many in the US just seem to like South American
populists. Che, Castro, the Sandinistas, Shining Path (until well after it was
clear that they were murderous thugs) - If you're a South American
collectivist, you're popular with US "internationalists" until well after
you've proven to be a murderous thug, and sometimes not even then.

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pmjoyce
Can anyone fill me in a little political leanings/background of semana.com
(the source of the story)?

It's a Columbian magazine, but that's about all I know.

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forinti
In Latin America, the probability that a publication is left-leaning is slim.
Except in Cuba, of course.

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rglullis
Are you serious?

In Venezuela, Chavez is nationalizing everything that shows a dissent voice.

In Brazil, it's a widely known fact that the government is using public
companies' advertising budget to exert control over media outlets. Newspapers
and TV stations that are pro-government "happen" to get the larger piece of
the pie.

Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua - all populist, "left-leaning"
governments. All of their leaders would like to follow Chavez steps.

The only exceptions would be Chile and Colombia.

~~~
foldr
>In Venezuela, Chavez is nationalizing everything that shows a dissent voice.

Although, one has to wonder how (say) CNN would be treated in the US if it
openly supported a coup against Obama.

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aristus
Politics is tricky, and different countries really are different. No one in
this fight is clean. In 1992 Chavez led a failed coup against the government
and was imprisoned. In the US he'd have been barred from public office, if not
tried and executed for treason.

~~~
foldr
Sure, I'm no fan of Chavez, but I think you have to consider the context of
the censorship. It's difficult to imagine any government failing to censor
media so openly hostile to it. I am not in favor of censorship even in these
cases, but it's a bit naive to lambast Chavez for this, as if the same thing
wouldn't happen in the US or other countries under similar circumstances.

(No doubt there are plenty of other things Chavez can legitimately be
lambasted for.)

~~~
rglullis
Are you familiar with Fox News, here in the US?

~~~
foldr
Yes, I live in the US. I haven't seen Fox support any attempted coups against
Obama yet.

------
Kilimanjaro
An illiterate clown with an oprah-wannabe frustration in charge of distracting
the populace, while a band of thieves ransack and pillage the resources of
that nation.

The perfect definition of "cleptocracy".

Panis et circenses.

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pyman
He's the most corrupt dictator in America, followed by the Kirchner clan. Who
can forget the Maletinazo?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maletinazo>

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pragmatic
I'm shocked, a dictator wants control over information?

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dpapathanasiou
"You know your startup has made it when..."

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anupj
Well, I don't think they'll be able to selectively censor twitter, They'll
either have to completely ban twitter or live with it.

~~~
huherto
May be they cannot censor twitter. But they may be able to identify opposition
in twitter and take action against them. He always speaks in the name of the
people, but he is clearly against the people.

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algorias
This is dire. Threat of censorship itself is bad, but the fact that Chavez
feels a need for it is even worse.

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dylanz
I agree, it is terrorism.

Terrorism of my senses and my brain cells. It's simply a new addictive format,
like TV was when it first became mainstream. I've almost lost my wife to
Facebook, and all my friends ask me for my Twitter name, even though I've told
them twice that I don't have one.

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tjic
Tyrants fear free speech.

...and freedom in general.

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stuntmouse
Where is that South America CIA hit squad when you need it?

I kid.

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xster
zero context? typically western

