The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
In January 2009, filmaker Oliver Stone traveled to Venezuela to interview President Hugo Chavez. Stone says, "Chavez is as much of a threat to the system as Castro was. He's a great example. If he succeeds, it will be the first time in Latin American history, except for Castro, where he's led an entire region away from the United States' economic controls." Stone's film about Chavez, "South of the Border" premiered at the Venice Film festival....
Richard Gizbert of Al Jazeera's Listening Post reports that Venezuela's media is divided along racial and political lines. Venezuela's media war is unrivalled with President Hugo Chavez's state-controlled media in one corner and the privately owned opposition media, in the other. The conflict between Chavez and the opposition media began almost as soon as he was elected as president. That said, Chavez does have some legitimate beefs with the private media. Some of them openly backed a coup...
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is seeking a third term in office. Polls show that a majority support his seeking a constitutional change so he can run for president again in 2012. While some see this as a threat to democracy, others argue that developments in Venezuela highlight the difference between participatory democracy and representative democracy. Practiced in Venezuela, participatory democracy has opened up a new dimension of politics in which communities, communal power and unions...
