Red Pepper's Venezuela Blog

U.S. Blogger Calls for Chavez's Assassination

[Justin Delacour, editor of the Latin America News Review blog, reports on the fact that a U.S. blogger has called for the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. In the past members of the U.S. media, a former U.S. goverment employee and a high profile right-wing Christian leader have all publicly made the same call. --Ed] 

Venezuela: Eat The Press

[Writing in On Line Opinion, Australia's e-journal of social and political debate,  Rodrigo Acuña argues that the Venezuelan's government was wrong not to renew the broadcast license of the private TV channel RCTV. Acuña argues that instead the Venezuelan government should have started new judicial proceedings against all the television and print editors, journalists, managers, and owners, which closely collaborated with the April 2002 coup plotters. --Ed] 

The Copa America Begins, With Demonstrations in Venezuela

[Venezuelanalysis.com's Chris Carlson reports on the opening ceremony of the South American football tournament known as Copa America which began on Tuesday in Venezuela with a colorful opening ceremony in the city of San Cristobal. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez arrived at the Pueblo Nuevo stadium in San Cristobal on Tuesday accompanied by his friends and supporters ex-football star Diego Maradona and Bolivian President Evo Morales to inaugurate the first Copa America held in Venezuela in the 90-year history of the tournament. To see a video of the Copa America inauguration in Spanish click here.  --Ed]

Be Ready For Guerrilla War Against The US, Chávez Tells Army

[The Guardian's Latin America correspondent, Rory Carroll, reports on a speech given by President Hugo Chávez to members of Venezuela's armed forces in which he told them to prepare for a guerrilla war against the United States, saying there must be a strategy to defeat the superpower if it invades. --Ed]

United Socialist Party of Venezuela Enters New Phase

[Venezuelanalysis.com's Chris Carlson reports on the formation of the new United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which entered its second phase this past weekend as officials and party militants met for the National Meeting of Candidates for PSUV Militants in Caracas. Record numbers of Venezuelans have registered to be members of the new party and the grassroots process continues with wide participation in the formation of what will soon be the unified party of the Bolivarian Revolution. --Ed]

Venezuela's Chavez Calls for Greater Role for Communal Councils

[Bloomberg report on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's plans to organise his nation's 18,000 communal councils, diagramming the way state, local, workers', farmers' and student groups should interact to "propel revolution.'' --Ed]

Venezuela Launches Sale of "Bolivarian" Computers

[Venezuelanalysis.com's Chris Carlson reports on the Venezuelan government's launch of their "Bolivarian Computers" earlier this month. The computers are produced in Venezuela with Chinese technology and will run the open-source Linux operating system. They will first be used inside the government "missions" and state companies and institutions but eventually are expected to be sold across Venezuela and Latin America. --Ed]

The Bolivarian computer, model VIT C2660

A New Assertiveness for Latin American Governments

[Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) in Washington, D.C. argues that the relationships between governments and investors - especially transnational corporations -are changing rapidly, and this is especially true in Latin America today. --Ed]

Chile: The Good Democracy?

[Writing for Red Pepper's website, Rodrigo Acuña argues that outsiders who are looking for democracy in Latin America, and in particular, interesting experiments in its expansion, may choose to visit Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina. In Chile, thus far, you will find a President who calls herself a socialist, twinkles at the edges of the system with some reforms, but not much else. --Ed]

Chavez and RCTV - Tilting the Balance Against the Bad Guy (Media Lens Media Alert)

[Media Lens critically examine mainstream UK and U.S. media coverage of the Venezuelan government's decision not to renew the public broadcast licence of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV). --Ed]