Venezuela, president Chavez criticized in OAS report

The human rights branch of the Organization of American States issued a blistering 300-page report Wednesday morning against one of its members, Venezuela, saying that the oil-rich country run by President Hugo Chavez constrains free expression, the rights of Venezuelans to protest and the ability of opposition politicians to function.

The report is expected to draw a sharp response from the firebrand leader, a former army colonel who in 2008 expelled two Human Rights Watch investigators after they released a critical report in Caracas. Chavez has in the past railed against the OAS as beholden to the interests of the United States, a country he calls an empire with diabolical designs on Venezuela.

The OAS report, compiled and written by the body's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, reflects growing concern in the region over how Venezuela is governed. It has added weight because the OAS, which is made up of 34 countries and based in Washington, has at times been viewed by critics as weak-willed when it comes to making tough pronouncements about the internal machinations in member states.

But six members of the Commission on Human Rights -- jurists and rights activists from Antigua, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador and the United States -- put together a detailed report that asserts that democracy is in danger in Venezuela. Point by point, the report asserts that state has punished and silenced critics, among them anti-government television stations, demonstrators and opposition politicians who advocate a form of government different from Chavez's, which is allied with Cuba and favors state intervention in the economy.

more...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/24/AR2010022401884.html?wprss=rss_world/southamerica

With no imperfections which is being shepherded by dear leader Chavez? You don't need to protest or express yourself. And no one has a need to be a political opponent of Saint Hugo!

need to get their act together,their lies are so conflicting,most of the free thinkers are aware why the americanos hate Chavez,deny as much as you like,but the thought of a person of color ruling his country just don't sit well with you people,does it?

A summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, decided to create a new regional bloc excluding the United States and Canada, in what most international media described as an act of defiance against Washington.

But there are three big reasons to believe that, despite claims by Venezuela and a few other countries that the new group will replace the U.S.-based Organization of American States (OAS) and challenge U.S. foreign policies, it will be something very different.

First, many of the 32 countries that participated in the Feb. 22-23 summit are behind in their annual payments to the United Nations, the OAS and other international institutions, and don't want to create a new bureaucracy.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who chaired the summit, said the newly formed group -- provisionally called the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States -- will be a ``mechanism'' to bring the region's leaders together on political and economic issues. He denied any intentions to replace the OAS.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/25/1498892/new-latin-american-group-unlikely.html

Today, they report that protests aren't allowed!

Somebody get their story straight OK?

The Washington Post is rapidly approaching the day, when it will run two directly contradicting headlines on the same day.