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Venezuela: Demonization of Government, Glamorization of Opposition

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Venezuelan Chavista constituent assembly candidate José Félix Pineda was shot to death in his home last night, on the eve of the vote

Venezuelan Chavista constituent assembly candidate José Félix Pineda was shot to death in his home Saturday night, on the eve of the vote

CBS News reports: “U.S. blasts Venezuela vote as ‘step toward dictatorship.'” The Independent recently reported: “CIA chief hints agency is working to change Venezuelan government.”

KATRINA KOZAREK, kozarek.katrina at gmail.com, @venanalysis
LUCAS KOERNER, lmkoerner11 at gmail.com
Kozarek is a vídeo reporter with venezuelanalysis.com located in Barquisimeto in the state of Lara. Recent pieces from the group include “U.S. Vice President Pence Telephones Venezuela’s Leopoldo Lopez,” which states: “Right-wing leader Lopez is a controversial figure in Venezuela. In 2015 he was given a 13-year nine month jail sentence for his role in leading violent anti-government protests the previous year which led to the deaths of 43 people.”

Koerner’s pieces include “Venezuela: 7 Dead in 48-Hour Opposition Strike as UN Calls to Respect ANC Vote,” “Freedom House Brands Venezuela ‘Not Free,’ Whitewashes Brazilian Coup,” and “Authoritarianism in Venezuela?

JOE EMERSBERGER, jemersberger at aol.com, @rosendo_joe
Emersberger is a Canada-based writer with Ecuadorian roots who has written primarily for Telesur English and Znet. He said today: “The critical thing to understand is that Venezuela is a democracy — has as much right to be called that as any other country on earth, certainly as much as the U.S. and its allies in the region like Colombia and Mexico. Saying otherwise is part of a strategy deployed for the last 15 years to whitewash violent and undemocratic opposition leaders.” His recent pieces include: “The Toronto Globe and Mail says Venezuelan opposition trying to starve the poor into rebellion” and “Trump Is Not the Venezuelan Supreme Court.” See his recent interview on The Real News about skewed media coverage of Venezuela.

BEN NORTON, email at bennorton.com
A reporter for AlterNet and contributor at the media watch group FAIR, Norton recently noted on his Twitter feed: “Venezuelan Chavista constituent assembly candidate José Félix Pineda was shot to death in his home last night, on the eve of the vote.” Norton notes that some media outlets claimed the candidate was a member of the opposition. Norton also writes: “After bombing the Bolivarian National Police (and applauding), rightwing Venezuelan opposition protesters dragged a burned police motorcycle.” He links to a video: “Here are Venezuelan opposition extremists on July 28, openly calling for an armed uprising against the elected gov.” See series of tweets with photos and videos here.