Fair and...keep your balance!
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This afternoon I went to the headquarters for Globovision, one of the privately owned opposition TV news network down here, to interview their legal counsel on press freedom.
Of what I can tell, these guys are the Fox News of Venezuela. ...Could have something to do with the Fox News cap in the lawyer's office.
But as shady and suspicious as I find anything Fox News-related...I gotta say, the measures the government is taking to harness the press are even shadier.
You know it's bad when you find yourself sympathizing with someone who has a Fox News cap sitting behind her desk. Seriously, what planet am I on?
The government has good reason to hate these guys - Globovision and other private stations are far from innocent. They've taken their shots, indirectly (directly)supporting the attempted coup as well as the subsequent strike aimed at ousting Chavez. But that doesn't justify what the Gobierno Bolivariano's doing. It's pretty chilling stuff...but more on this at a later date.
Anyways, to the good stuff: I hail a cab for the TV station and tell the driver the address. When he scratches his head, I specify Globovision headquarters. "You know they threw grenades at the entrance last year, right?" he asks, making polite conversation. It's times like these I wish my Spanish weren't getting better.
Sure enough, the lawyer brings this up in our interview, too. Sort of like the people who shot at the El Universal headquarters, where the AP bureau's located, for publishing anti-Chavez sentiment.
Anyways, I finished my interview with legal at Fox News Venezue- er, "Globovision." Then I go to the front entrance to catch a cab back, which took ten minutes. 'Longest ten minutes of my life. You could see how this place makes an easy target, it's on this blind turn that offers an ideal hit-and-run. Every time some beat-up jalopy would clunker around the corner, I'd hold my breath, bracing to jump away from the grenade.
Just another day in the C-A-R.
Good thing it's almost 2am and the 13th inning of Game 3. With any luck I'll get four hours of sleep.
Of what I can tell, these guys are the Fox News of Venezuela. ...Could have something to do with the Fox News cap in the lawyer's office.
But as shady and suspicious as I find anything Fox News-related...I gotta say, the measures the government is taking to harness the press are even shadier.
You know it's bad when you find yourself sympathizing with someone who has a Fox News cap sitting behind her desk. Seriously, what planet am I on?
The government has good reason to hate these guys - Globovision and other private stations are far from innocent. They've taken their shots, indirectly (directly)supporting the attempted coup as well as the subsequent strike aimed at ousting Chavez. But that doesn't justify what the Gobierno Bolivariano's doing. It's pretty chilling stuff...but more on this at a later date.
Anyways, to the good stuff: I hail a cab for the TV station and tell the driver the address. When he scratches his head, I specify Globovision headquarters. "You know they threw grenades at the entrance last year, right?" he asks, making polite conversation. It's times like these I wish my Spanish weren't getting better.
Sure enough, the lawyer brings this up in our interview, too. Sort of like the people who shot at the El Universal headquarters, where the AP bureau's located, for publishing anti-Chavez sentiment.
Anyways, I finished my interview with legal at Fox News Venezue- er, "Globovision." Then I go to the front entrance to catch a cab back, which took ten minutes. 'Longest ten minutes of my life. You could see how this place makes an easy target, it's on this blind turn that offers an ideal hit-and-run. Every time some beat-up jalopy would clunker around the corner, I'd hold my breath, bracing to jump away from the grenade.
Just another day in the C-A-R.
Good thing it's almost 2am and the 13th inning of Game 3. With any luck I'll get four hours of sleep.
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