Venezuela's Horrific Prison Riot: Why is Hugo Chávez Silent?

[hack89]

Source: Time

Scrambling out of buses, prisoners clad in red charge through crowds of distraught women who are screaming in anger and despair. The wives, mothers and girlfriends are trying to find out if their loved ones are onboard and being evacuated to safety, or if they remain inside what has become of the El Rodeo men's prison in Guatire, outside the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. Troops are trying to regain control of the penitentiary complex, which since June 12 has been the site of brutal prisoner rioting — and which is still in the hands of criminal inmates armed with machine guns, rifles and hand grenades. Prisoners' families, meanwhile, complain soldiers are committing their own atrocities in order to quell the uprising.

The government says 25 people have been killed in the violence so far, but the actual death toll is thought to be much higher. "This is one of the most violent events to have occurred in a Venezuelan jail in the past 10 years," says Carlos Nieto, a lawyer and human rights advocate. Which is why so many Venezuelans are just as troubled by President Hugo Chávez's uncharacteristic silence on the crisis, as he languishes in a Cuba hospital bed recovering from surgery to remove a pelvic abscess. Chávez is usually omnipresent on Venezuelan television and radio. But the socialist leader's absence has prompted public irritation, especially since spiraling violent crime — Venezuela has one of the world's highest murder rates — is one of his Bolivarian Revolution's most glaring failures, on top of the country's high inflation and ongoing power outages.

Chávez, meanwhile, has yet to weigh in from Havana, which hardly enhances voter confidence in his increasingly wobbly governance as he prepares for a re-election battle next year. Pundits note that despite Venezuela's social crises and economic mismanagement, the President remains the country's most popular political figure, which is as much a reflection of how incompetent his opposition is. Still, while the National Guard will inevitably win the battle for El Rodeo, the heartbreaking images of carnage and destruction will certainly make better campaign posters for his opponents.



Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2079611,00.html

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He must be really sick - how hard is it to hook up a remote TV or radio broadcast?

[Pharaoh]

1. he is really ill

in critical condition in Cuba.

[EFerrari]

2. This is from Thursday.

By Girish Gupta / Guatire Thursday, June 23, 2011

[hack89]

6. You are right - sorry. nt

[CJvR]

3. Although...

...I normally have nothing good to say about Chavez the guy is in Cuba fighting a post surgery infection (and those can be nasty). Is it to much to ask for the guys he left in charge to deal with this one?

[hack89]

5. The press should be giving frequent detailed medical reports

that's what usually happens when top leaders are very ill - it is understood that uncertainty and secrecy are destabilizing. Venezuela is not the most stable of countries on a good day - I suspect that the population would like to know what is really going on. After all, he does work for them.

[EFerrari]

10. Venezuela has no problems with instability.

Although, the American government has done its best to change that. And there is no mystery, the government has been giving people updates plus there have been phone calls and messages posted to his twitter account.

I can only imagine what a freakout FDR would have caused, when he was out of commission for months at a time.

[hack89]

12. The government cedes control of the prisons to the gangs,

crime is spiraling out of control, inflation is spiking and there is not enough electricity. Sounds like a perfectly stable country to me.

[EFerrari]

15. Your descrption sounds like a shovel load to me. n/t

[hack89]

17. Read the article about the prisons

the crime rates and inflation are a matter of public record all over internet. Same for the power blackouts.

[EFerrari]

19. I'm not really interested in your cherry picking, sorry. n/t

[hack89]

22. A destroyed economy and rampant crime is "cherry picking"? - Funny. nt

[Judi Lynn]

18. Thankfully, the people who elect their leaders in Venezuela don't look to you for advice. n/t

[hack89]

21. They are facing a real test here

if in fact he is dying, then it will be interesting to see how power is transitioned. I would bet that it will be very ugly - he has ruled by dividing the country. Divided countries that are suddenly leaderless are potential power kegs.

[Judi Lynn]

23. Nice work on your efforts. He's NOT dying. You are wildly overwrought in your "concern"

for Venzuela's future.

Where were you on Venezuela when Carlos Andres Perez sent his police, many of whom walked away, left, quit, then his military to fire directly into crowds of protesting Venezuelans?

1989 was the year which was the time of real powder kegs. That was when the people of Venezuela started charting their path AWAY from the right-wing oligarchs which had been keeping the poor invisible and ignored, suffering in silence while the oligarchs spent the country's resources on themselves.

He divided his country? That's a hot one.

Please take more of your time away from creative writing on message boards, and spend it on research.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MineralMan]

4. Some reports say he's dead.

He's certainly ill.

[EFerrari]

8. There is one guy claimng to be Wikileaks Argentina

(who has been disowned by Wikileaks) who is the sole source of that rumor.

Then, the report that he is in critical condition is from El Nuevo Herald and their source is US Intel.

[MineralMan]

9. OK. I saw that somewhere earlier.

Who knows?

[EFerrari]

11. Whenever there is anything approaching a crisis or an election

or a vote in Venezuela, our government mounts a massive message managing campaign. I guess they think it's useful in some way.

Were he on the brink of death or dead, the genuine outpouring of support would drown out the sock puppetry. And it's not as though Venezuela doesn't have an order of succession. They have one as careful and as elaborate as ours.

We'll know soon enough.

[MineralMan]

13. Yes, well, I suppose so.

I don't really follow Chavez news. I didn't even know he was in Cuba. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

14. Yes, he was in a meeting there when whatever this is hit him.

People have made a big deal of him getting treatment in Cuba but I don't really know anyone who'd get on a plane and fly home with acute abdominal pain. :shrug:

ETA: Except maybe Sarah Palin.

[Judi Lynn]

16. They've all been spinning it as if he flew to Cuba for surgery. Wrong, for sure.

He was in Cuba when he was taken to the hospital, during the third stop on a multi-country tour:

Venezuela dismisses Chavez illness rumours

Vice-president says country's leader is "recuperating to continue the battle" after undergoing surgery in Cuba.
Last Modified: 26 Jun 2011 08:53

Venezuela's vice-president has rejected suggestions that President Hugo Chavez is gravely ill, two weeks after he underwent emergency surgery in Cuba.

Elias Jaua said on Saturday that Chavez was "recuperating to continue the battle" and would soon be ready to counter his political opponents and media speculation.

"The national and international press are rubbing their hands and rejoicing about the state of the president's health", Jaua said.

"They (the opposition) know they cannot win the elections against our commander, Hugo Chavez, so they are always waiting for a situation like this to try to overtake us".

Chavez has been in Cuba since June 8, when he arrived there on the final leg of a trip that also included Brazil and Ecuador. He was rushed into emergency surgery after suffering sharp pain diagnosed as a pelvic abscess that required immediate surgery.

More:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/06/201162672041669911.html

~~~
They've been spinning it this way in the corporate media like crazy. Why is it they try so hard to distort everything? It's completely unbecoming, and shabby. You'd think they'd be ashamed, but nooooooo.

[MADem]

7. Because he's recovering from prostate cancer surgery in Cuba, that's why....

He can tweet--and he has--but he's in rough shape. He's probably on some sort of sedative/painkiller; so he doesn't want any live broadcasts.

The rumor mill says he'll go home next week...to a MILITARY HOSPITAL in VZ.

The question remains--did they get it all, or will the "President for Life" have a truncated term?

[Enrique]

20. he's shy

just kidding. He's sick as others have reported.

[Judi Lynn]

24. Truly! How many people recuperating in hospitals do we see doing radio or tv programs there? n/t

[Judi Lynn]

26. Venezuela tells foes "stop dreaming" of Chavez death

Venezuela tells foes "stop dreaming" of Chavez death
Daniel Wallis, Reuters
June 27, 2011, 3:57 am

CARACAS (Reuters) - Senior allies of Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez have dismissed reports he is sicker than the government has admitted, telling his enemies to "stop dreaming" of his death.

The normally verbose leader has not been seen in public since a June 10 operation in Cuba to remove a pelvic swelling. His long absence has prompted widespread speculation he may be seriously ill, possibly being treated for prostate cancer.

His government insists Chavez is fine but says he won't return to Venezuela until he is ready. And it has accused his opponents of "rubbing their hands together" in glee.

"President Chavez is recovering well from his surgery. His enemies should stop dreaming and his friends should stop worrying," Vice Foreign Minister Temir Porras said on the social networking site Twitter late on Saturday. "The only thing that has metastasized is the cancer of the Miami Herald and the rest of the right-wing press."

More:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/9711936/venezuela-tells-foes-stop-dreaming-of-chavez-death/

[WinkyDink]

27. We have enough in our own trough to worry about, re: the silence of leaders.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

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