Posted on 03/14/2002 1:02:58 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
In comments Sunday, the Venezuelan leader slammed what he called ``perverse, immoral, lying and ill-intentioned'' coverage of Venezuela by national and international media.
CARACAS, Venezuela, March 14 (Reuters) - International credit ratings agencies have got it all wrong about Venezuela, according to President Hugo Chavez and his ministers.
The problem in Venezuela is not unrelenting political turbulence, hemorrhaging capital flight, bleeding foreign reserves, or even worries about low oil prices.
The problem is the press.
Chavez's government insisted Thursday it was negative media coverage, and not its policies or statements, which was hurting the country's credit risk rating among foreign investors.
``Irresponsibly, the media are inventing lies ... people read this overseas, and they don't have the means or the form to verify if it's true or not and this affects the image and country (credit) risk that we have as a nation,'' Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez told reporters.
The overseas image of the world's No. 4 oil exporter has taken a heavy beating in recent months as opponents of the maverick left-wing president have stepped up protests against his 3-year-old rule, raising fears that political confrontation may worsen and even turn to violence.
This unflagging political turmoil, coupled with heavy capital flight, falling international reserves and fears of reduced oil revenues, has led some international credit ratings agencies to downgrade their outlooks for Venezuela.
Moody's Investors Service recently changed its outlook on Venezuela to negative from stable, saying the government's Feb. 13 flotation of the bolivar currency had so far failed to stem loss of reserves, capital flight and high local interest rates. Moody's also cited the political climate.
``MEDIA TERRORISM''
Chavez, a tough-talking ex-paratrooper, has brushed aside calls to resign, ridiculed opposition moves against him and accused the media and political foes of waging a campaign of ``media terrorism'' against his self-proclaimed ``revolution''.
In comments Sunday, the Venezuelan leader slammed what he called ``perverse, immoral, lying and ill-intentioned'' coverage of Venezuela by national and international media.
Apparently forgetting his oil-rich nation's chronic problems of poverty, unemployment and crime, Chavez said the hostile media was ``the biggest problem Venezuela has today''.
Since then, senior government ministers have been repeating this argument like a mantra.
Foreign Minister Luis Alfonso Davila, like Chavez a former military officer, said this week negative media coverage had cost the nation millions of dollars in lost foreign investments by ratcheting up the perception of risk held by analysts.
``It's a fact ... this country risk can be manipulated from here in Venezuela,'' Interior Minister Rodriguez, a former navy captain, said, repeating the government's allegation that it was the target of a hostile conspiracy.
``It's bizarre and ridiculous ... sometimes you get the impression that they really do believe that this conspiracy exists,'' Robert Bottome of the VenEconomy weekly told Reuters.
According to recent opinion polls, Chavez's popularity has fallen to below 30 percent from the high levels that swept him into the presidency in 1998, six years after he failed to seize power in a botched military coup.
He has faced -- and defiantly rejected -- a rising crescendo of criticism from many sectors of society, including business and labor chiefs, the Catholic Church, dissident military officers and the opposition-dominated media.
Many critics say Chavez's own abrasive leadership style and his stubborn refusal to heed opposition calls to revoke populist left-leaning reforms covering everything from oil and land to finance and fisheries are the main cause of political instability in the country.
The president insists he is still supported by the majority of poor Venezuelans and he accuses a rich, resentful minority of ``oligarchs'' of plotting to topple and even kill him.
While Chavez says his reforms are aimed at closing the wide gap between the rich and the poor, his critics accuse him of trying to install a Cuban-style leftist authoritarian regime.
Rodriguez hotly denied suggestions that the government was trying to blame the media for its own failings.
``I'm not saying the government is excusing itself. The government is responsible for what it does, for example, for taking the right economic measures and having a buoyant economy while the world is in recession,'' Rodriguez said.
Domestic critics have accused Chavez's government of doing ``too little, too late'' to halt capital flight by floating the bolivar. They also predict the move will lead to high inflation and recession and describe earlier government predictions of economic growth this year as wildly unrealistic.
Yes! what did I win?
A. Cricket
Ta-da! Two more Chavez-is-a nut LINKS plus a bonus one!!!
Venezuelan Party Seeks to Remove Chavez for Madness
Protests, coup rumors in Venezuela (Mayor of Caracas Asks Catholic Church to Exorcise Chavez)
ROTFL
Thanks for the links. My friends in Venezuela have sounded more exasperated then alarmed in the past week so Chavez maybe on the way out.
*Hope*
a. cricket
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