When the Dictatorship Took My Son
For every Venezuelan detained during protests, there is a suffering family facing fear, uncertainty, and dizzying legal requirements before a loved one can be freed. All of this is by design.
For every Venezuelan detained during protests, there is a suffering family facing fear, uncertainty, and dizzying legal requirements before a loved one can be freed. All of this is by design.
Your briefing for Saturday, April 22, 2017. Translated by Javier Liendo.
It's hard to overstate the media blackout Venezuelans are subjected to. Until you see what the government reports instead. Here's a few choice tweets from chavismo's alternate, and coldhearted, reality.
A night of looting and intense violence in Caracas's sprawling El Valle slum, directly opposite Fuerte Tiuna. Shocking images streamed onto Twitter all night, making "El Valle" a worldwide trending topic, amid a complete news blackout from censored local media.
Yesterday, under the onslaught of tear gas, desperate opposition protesters jumped into the toxic Rio Guaire. Twelve years after Hugo Chávez promised to clean up the river, hundreds of millions have been spent for no results at all.
Although marchers from both sides met several times yesterday, there was no hint of violence between them. The violence we saw pitted the opposition not against chavista civilians, but against the security forces, which launched enough tear gas at us to reach even pro-government demonstrators in Plaza Venezuela.
We sent our intrepid reporter Gaby J. Miller to hang out on Avenida Bolívar yesterday. Bizarrely enough, what she found was a party atmosphere.
The day ends with two dead, many tear gassed, news blacked out, and a regime that looks every bit as hopeless but also every bit as strong as it did this morning. Normal.
We’ve been able to hang on for 21 years in one of the craziest media landscapes in the world. We’ve seen different media outlets in Venezuela (and abroad) closing shop, something we’re looking to avoid at all costs. Your collaboration goes a long way in helping us weather the storm.
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