I hate to do these "bit by bit" quotes, but I believe this one warrants it:
Participation
75% of registered voters participated in the December 2006 election. More than 15,000 Communal Councils formed in 2006 that give neighborhoods power to make local decisions. Massive community participation in government social missions.
You fail to mention the irregularities in the voting registry. The registry has grown from nearly 12 million voters in 2002 to nearly 16 million in 2006. The opposition has claimed several times that the registry needs to be checked for inconsistencies, yet the government refuses to do so, even when some of these inconsistencies have made the news, because they claim that "there's no time for that nonsense." One of the most noticeable ones was when Farid Feris Domínguez, a colombian drug lord, was captured in Caracas by a colombian squad, and the drug dealer had his legal venezuelan papers, and was enrolled in the voting registry, when he shouldn't have.
Free and Fair Elections
Eleven internationally observed national elections in last eight years. Government promotes voter registration. Independent National Electoral Council oversees elections. Standardized voting machines nationwide produce paper trail. Opposition claims of fraud exhaustively investigated. Constitution provides for recall of any elected official.
Again, the suspect voting registry pops up. If you can't trust the registry, how can you trust the outcome? 4 million suspect votes can swing an election to any side. And let's check the National Assembly (or congress) elections for a moment: Because of the suspect registry, the opposition decided to withdraw themselves from the election, hoping to force Chavez to postpone them until the registry was dealt with. The result? Chavez went ahead with the election anyway, and only 25% of the population voted. Obviously, all votes were pro-Chavez, and he gained total control of the National Assembly. Do you really think that an election where only 25% of the population voted and no opposition is running can be considered fair?
Freedom of Press
Hundreds of new independent community media outlets. 2005 reform increased state control of airwaves. Media highly polarized. Private media strongly critical of Chávez, supported coup in 2002 and oil lockout in 2002-2003. Public media strongly supportive. Non-renewal of RCTV license widely criticized; decision is constitutional.
The independent community media outlets you mention are funded by the government, so they are highly biased. And the public media is most definitely not supportive of Chavez. All I could say is check your sources on that one.
Varied Political Parties
77 parties participated in December 2006 election. Chávez wants to consolidate support in one "United Socialist Party," says parties that don't join "can leave."
77 parties participated, but in reality it was a two party election: Chavez and Rosales (who represented the opposition.) Everyone else was just background noise, and most people hadn't even heard of them.
Freedom of Assembly, Expression, Speech
No extralegal retaliation by Chávez after 2002 coup. Political repression much decreased. Freedom to demonstrate highly respected. PROVEA, Venezuelan NGO, reports 4.5% of 1300 demonstrations in 2006 were "repressed, blocked, or obstructed," a 70% decrease from 1997-98.
Back in 2002, there was a huge amount of anti-Chavez public demostrations. People did what was known as a "cacerolazo", which meant people took pots and pans and banged them, which made a lot of noise. In retaliation, a new law was approved: all public demostrations have to be approved by the government. Failure to comply (read: if you decide to go protest on the street) would result in going to jail. The result? Most of the public demostrations of 2006, other than political rallies, were actually pro-Chavez demostrations.
Slashdot Mirror
Either that, or that moron Cassidy always getting into your line-of-sight. If we don't have that, then it's not a Fallout game.
Participation 75% of registered voters participated in the December 2006 election. More than 15,000 Communal Councils formed in 2006 that give neighborhoods power to make local decisions. Massive community participation in government social missions.
You fail to mention the irregularities in the voting registry. The registry has grown from nearly 12 million voters in 2002 to nearly 16 million in 2006. The opposition has claimed several times that the registry needs to be checked for inconsistencies, yet the government refuses to do so, even when some of these inconsistencies have made the news, because they claim that "there's no time for that nonsense." One of the most noticeable ones was when Farid Feris Domínguez, a colombian drug lord, was captured in Caracas by a colombian squad, and the drug dealer had his legal venezuelan papers, and was enrolled in the voting registry, when he shouldn't have.
Free and Fair Elections Eleven internationally observed national elections in last eight years. Government promotes voter registration. Independent National Electoral Council oversees elections. Standardized voting machines nationwide produce paper trail. Opposition claims of fraud exhaustively investigated. Constitution provides for recall of any elected official.
Again, the suspect voting registry pops up. If you can't trust the registry, how can you trust the outcome? 4 million suspect votes can swing an election to any side. And let's check the National Assembly (or congress) elections for a moment: Because of the suspect registry, the opposition decided to withdraw themselves from the election, hoping to force Chavez to postpone them until the registry was dealt with. The result? Chavez went ahead with the election anyway, and only 25% of the population voted. Obviously, all votes were pro-Chavez, and he gained total control of the National Assembly. Do you really think that an election where only 25% of the population voted and no opposition is running can be considered fair?
Freedom of Press Hundreds of new independent community media outlets. 2005 reform increased state control of airwaves. Media highly polarized. Private media strongly critical of Chávez, supported coup in 2002 and oil lockout in 2002-2003. Public media strongly supportive. Non-renewal of RCTV license widely criticized; decision is constitutional.
The independent community media outlets you mention are funded by the government, so they are highly biased. And the public media is most definitely not supportive of Chavez. All I could say is check your sources on that one.
Varied Political Parties 77 parties participated in December 2006 election. Chávez wants to consolidate support in one "United Socialist Party," says parties that don't join "can leave."
77 parties participated, but in reality it was a two party election: Chavez and Rosales (who represented the opposition.) Everyone else was just background noise, and most people hadn't even heard of them.
Freedom of Assembly, Expression, Speech No extralegal retaliation by Chávez after 2002 coup. Political repression much decreased. Freedom to demonstrate highly respected. PROVEA, Venezuelan NGO, reports 4.5% of 1300 demonstrations in 2006 were "repressed, blocked, or obstructed," a 70% decrease from 1997-98.
Back in 2002, there was a huge amount of anti-Chavez public demostrations. People did what was known as a "cacerolazo", which meant people took pots and pans and banged them, which made a lot of noise. In retaliation, a new law was approved: all public demostrations have to be approved by the government. Failure to comply (read: if you decide to go protest on the street) would result in going to jail. The result? Most of the public demostrations of 2006, other than political rallies, were actually pro-Chavez demostrations.
Private Property Constitu