[NYTr] Venezuelan Ambassador Asks Chicago Tribune to Drop the Double Talk

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Venezuela Information Office (VIO)
http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com

excerpted from VIO Venezuela Daily News Roundup - Dec 17, 2007

[Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez writes in a letter to the
Chicago Tribune that an editorial in the paper was wrong to belittle
Venezuela's electoral system before celebrating the results of the
referendum on December 2nd.  This "double standard" in democracy is
akin to that held by the U.S. government.  Changes taking place not
just in Venezuela, but in the Latin American region as a whole, the
Ambassador argues, will be misunderstood if bias and misinformation
persist.  To watch a recent news special on Venezuela's treatment in
the Western media, click here:
http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com/multi/multimedia.html  -VIO]


The Chicago Tribune - December 16, 2007
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-1216ledeletterdec16,0,3957755.story

Letters to the Editor:

A better understanding of Venezuela

Washington - On Dec. 4 your newspaper published an editorial on
Venezuela's recent national referendum.

I am particularly concerned because your editorial, like many in other
newspapers, strongly echoed the opinions of the administration of
President George W. Bush and failed to provide needed balance and
displayed a misunderstanding of dramatic changes taking place in
Venezuela.

In the wake of the Dec. 2 referendum, most newspapers' editorials have
been critical of President Hugo Chavez; they celebrated the result of
the referendum as a victory for democracy without mentioning that
democratic participation and consultation have expanded dramatically in
Venezuela in recent years.

There seemed to be little interest in balance, much less in challenging
the Bush administration's double standard in how it approaches
Venezuela's democratic institutions.

On Nov. 30, the White House claimed that free and fair elections could
not be held in Venezuela, while on Dec. 3, it celebrated the results.

Your editorial did the same thing.

Are Venezuelans to think that our democratic institutions can only be
considered acceptable if the results they produce agree with U.S.
policy?

I do not expect everyone to agree with the changes taking place in
Venezuela. What we do expect and what is necessary for a better
understanding of the region as a whole is that inaccuracies be
minimized and opinions be better balanced. In the wake of the
referendum, this absolute lack of balance has become all too clear.
While international election observers, the international media, a
number of governments and international institutions (including the
Organization of American States, the European Union, Spain, Peru,
Mexico and others) and various members of Congress recognize the
transparency of our electoral system, U.S. editorial pages have been
filled with single-sourced condemnations of Chavez and
mischaracterizations of Venezuela's political, economic and social
process.

In recent years, Latin America has become a very different region.
Unfortunately many in the U.S. have failed to understand these changes,
choosing instead to look at Latin American in the same frame used
during the Cold War. The editorial pages of this country's newspapers
have both an incredible chance and a difficult responsibility to
promote dialogue and debate, both for the improvement of U.S. policy
and the general understanding of the region.

With this recent spate of editorials and commentaries, it does not seem
like that is happening.

Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, Ambassador, 
Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela