Amid Chaos Venezuelans Struggle To Find The Truth, Online (npr.org)

In Venezuela, where media is controlled by the government, figuring out what is truth, rumor or propaganda has always been difficult. NPR reports: In recent days it's gotten even more confusing. President Nicolas Maduro has refused to cede power to the opposition party. There have been widespread protests and looting -- and the rumor mill has been churning on social media. But many Venezuelans have found a way to use social media in their favor.

Javier Rojo owns a pharmacy in the capital city of Caracas. As the chaos started, he gave his workers the day off, went home and turned on the TV -- only to find nothing was being reported. "Independent media has been gradually attacked or shut down over time," says professor Gregory Weeks, who teaches Latin American politics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. "So that in general social media becomes the means by which you learn what's going on, on an ongoing basis."

Back at his house, Rojo says he started getting messages on WhatsApp like this one from from one of his employees: "Tanks are rolling into the park. They are launching tear gas." But then, Rojo started receiving WhatsApp messages with rumors from people he doesn't even know. One man, who says his aunt's husband is a military officer, swore that Maduro has resigned. Professor Raisa Urribarri researches technology and politics at Universidad de Los Andes in Venezuela. She says it's hard to trace the origins of some messages in Venezuelan social media. They can be from panicked citizens, the opposition or the government.

Comments

Stop Lying

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop lying. The refugee invasion from Libya caused the French and Italian military response, not the other way around. The Afghan government harboring Al Quada caused the US invasion, not the other way around. The Iranian puppetry in Baghdad caused the rise of ISIS, not the US. You desperately want to blame the US, because that's what you've been told to believe, but you just keep spreading lies.

Re:Late Stage Socialism

[dryriver]

Maduro and Chavez are/were near the Communist-end of the Socialist political spectrum, where Chomsky also likes to hang out. What you get in Scandinavian countries is not Venezuelan "Commu-Socialism" but rather just mixed economies - some stuff in Scandinavia runs on pure Capitalism with strong regulation (e.g. their flagship corporations and banks), and some on Socialism (e.g. healthcare, welfare state). Compared to the United States, of course, Scandinavia is more left-Socialist. What Venezuela did was to disregard the most basic rules of running an economy in the 21st Century (or any Century), slide into Wishful-Thinking-Commu-Socialism with a good dose of "The Politbureau Knows Best", and wreck their economy in the process. One could call that "VenezuSocialism" I suppose. Or a failed attempt at 21st Century Communism if one wants to be more blunt. Either way, Venezuelan's don't quite live in the "Socialist Paradise" their populist leaders baited them with. Scandinavia works economically, because they know where and when to be Capitalist and where and when to be Socialist.

"media is controlled by the government" BULLSHIT

[aod7br7932]

Have a look at the main newspapers. Here is a list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... Most private newspaper are against Maduro. They even came to the extreme of asking for an intervention. Look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... Plus internet is not blocked in Venezuela. Total bullshit article

Re:Late Stage Socialism

[Alypius]

Danish PM in US: Denmark is not socialist.

Maduro is probably not a nice chap

[rsilvergun]

but he is the democratically elected representative of the nation. The opposition party decided to boycott the election. I haven't heard anyone say it was out of fear of reprisals either (ala Russia). The fact that there _is_ an opposition party indicates that Maduro isn't doing pogroms.

I think this is our CIA gearing up for more "liberation". Here's a series of clips of Donald Trump saying the quiet part out loud. e.g. we're going in to steal their oil. You can argue that Maduro was gonna steal it anyway, and maybe you're right. But that doesn't make us doing it right.

The part I really hate though is that the American war mongers start trouble south of the border and then use the refugees they created to frighten people into voting for them. That's where those "caravans" are coming from. That's just insane that it works...