The Venezuela Solidarity Network urges all supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution and opponents of US intervention in Latin America to write letters to the editor and to the Post ombudsman to let them know we will not let them rewrite reality in a transparent effort to advance “regime change” in Venezuela.

Below are talking points. It is suggested that you choose just one to write a 200 word letter to the editor. Longer letters are unlikely to be considered for publication, although longer letters can be sent to the Post ombudsman. While both are important, the ombudsman’s primary task is to monitor news coverage rather than the Post’s editorial positions.

Letters to the editor should be sent to letters@washpost.com and be sure to include your name, address, and phone numbers. Letters to the ombudsman should be sent to: Deborah Howell at ombudsman@washpost.com. The text of the editorial is pasted below the following Talking Points, or click here to read it online.

Talking Points

The Post fiction: The most significant result of Venezuela’s election is the reappearance of a political opposition.
The Reality: There never has been a time since Chávez first won office in 1998 that there hasn’t been an opposition. In each election, including the 2004 recall, the opposition has won about 40% of the vote, just like Mr. Rosales did this time.

The Post fiction: The would-be “Bolivarian” revolutionary flooded the country with petrodollars in the months before the vote, decreeing a pay bonus for all government workers.
The Reality: Yes, Chávez “flooded the country with petrodollars” to teach literacy, provide neighborhood health care, subsidize basic food for the poor, publish books in indigenous languages, among the 17 “Missions” providing services to the poor. That’s what the Bolivarian revolution means. The pay bonus for government workers is a custom that long predates the Chávez presidency. The Washington Post never objected to it then.

The Post fiction: He dominated the media, receiving by one count 22 times as much airtime as his opponent.
The Reality: There is one pro-government newspaper and one pro-government television station. The national media in Venezuela is the leadership of the opposition and does not even pretend objectivity.

The Post fiction: A poll conducted for the Associated Press showed that 57 percent of Venezuelans believed that voters who did not support the president might suffer from retaliation.
The Reality: We haven’t seen the AP poll details but an Evans/McDonough Company poll the week before the election showed 68% of Venezuelans “content, hopeful, optimistic, or satisfied” with the state of the country. Other polls consistently have shown Venezuelans leading Latin America in the percent who believe their country is a democracy.

The Post fiction: …Mr. Chávez controls the judiciary and every seat in the national legislature…
The Reality: President Chávez does not appoint members of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court. They are elected by the national legislature. The opposition parties withdrew at the last minute from the 2005 National Assembly election after winning every electoral concession they had demanded. The Carter Center, which helped negotiate the conditions, criticized the opposition for the boycott. As a result, only parties that were supportive of the Chávez agenda won seats in the national legislature.

The Post fiction: His wild use of oil revenue — government spending has grown eightfold during his eight years in office — has gone mainly for consumption or foolish foreign adventures.
The Reality: This is the most absurd of the Post’s fictions. Oil revenues have increased manifold due to the spike in world oil prices and Chávez has used that revenue to redress historic inequalities in Venezuela, for the first time giving the poor majority a piece of the economic pie that previously was eaten only by a small group of elites.

The Post fiction: Investment in the economy, and even in the oil industry itself, is paltry, and most experts believe Venezuela’s petroleum production has declined.
The Reality: Venezuela’s economy is the fastest growing in Latin America and Chávez is encouraging development of non-oil sectors in a country whose economy is historically distorted by oil. Venezuela’s production is within OPEC-negotiated volume, which insures stable prices at a rate where Venezuela’s heavy oil is profitable to pump.

The Post fiction: Crime and corruption are soaring: Murders are up 67 percent during the Chávez era.
The Reality: The disparities in wealth remain high in Venezuela despite the fact that since 2004 income distribution has begun to be more equitable. The damage done by generations of greed by those who are now in the opposition can not be repaired overnight and poverty remains the greatest factor in crime rates. The government bureaucracy remains largely in the hands of the opposition and has historically been corrupt. Many Chávez supporters criticize the government for not cracking down on corrupt bureaucrats left over from the “bad old days.”

The Post fiction: Mr. Chávez’s revolution eventually will be revealed for what it is: a populist fraud.
The Reality: Chávez’ investment in human capital and a diversified economy will benefit future generations unless cut short by a Washington-directed “regime change.” If anything is revealed in the Post editorial it is that that Post is the State Department’s newspaper.

Editorial

Mr. Chávez’s Victory
The most significant result of Venezuela’s election is the reappearance of a political opposition.
Friday, December 8, 2006; Page A38

HUGO CHÁVEZ’S victory in Venezuela’s presidential election Sunday was unsurprising, given the campaign that led up to it. The would-be “Bolivarian” revolutionary flooded the country with petrodollars in the months before the vote, decreeing a pay bonus for all government workers. He dominated the media, receiving by one count 22 times as much airtime as his opponent. He also freely employed intimidation, endorsing a declaration by the director of the powerful state oil company that its 40,000 workers would be mobilized for the president and that anyone who opposed this would be guilty of “a crime.” Such tactics, along with the fact that many people who signed petitions in a campaign to recall Mr. Chávez two years ago have been subject to government sanctions, clearly had an effect: A poll conducted for the Associated Press showed that 57 percent of Venezuelans believed that voters who did not support the president might suffer from retaliation.

The real news of the election was the reappearance of a credible Venezuelan opposition. Manuel Rosales, a state governor, managed to unite the anti-Chávez forces and energetically barnstormed the country, drawing hundreds of thousands to rallies in Caracas. In the end he received 38 percent in the official count, preventing Mr. Chávez from getting anywhere close to the 10 million votes he set as his goal. On Sunday night Mr. Rosales formally conceded — an important signal for an opposition that too often has resorted to self-destructive boycotts or other anti-democratic tactics. Though Mr. Chávez controls the judiciary and every seat in the national legislature, Mr. Rosales is now positioned to represent the millions of Venezuelans who oppose the president’s drive to monopolize power.

A strong opposition will be needed. Mr. Chávez has announced plans to follow his reelection by removing the constitutional barrier that would limit his tenure to six more years. He has also threatened to shut down private television stations sympathetic to the opposition, and his congressional followers say they plan to give him far-reaching decree power, so that he can personally order the seizure of private property. For those who trust that political pluralism will remain intact, Mr. Chávez had a message. “There is no room in Venezuela for any project other than the Bolivarian revolution,” he declared last week.

In fact, Mr. Chávez’s rule contains the seeds of its own destruction. His wild use of oil revenue — government spending has grown eightfold during his eight years in office — has gone mainly for consumption or foolish foreign adventures. Investment in the economy, and even in the oil industry itself, is paltry, and most experts believe Venezuela’s petroleum production has declined. Crime and corruption are soaring: Murders are up 67 percent during the Chávez era. If oil prices continue to drop, Mr. Chávez’s revolution eventually will be revealed for what it is: a populist fraud.

This action alert was prepared by Venezuela Solidarity Network. For more information, please contact VSN@afgj.org.