Spiegel (through Reuters) shows a little bit more of the shameful row Venezuela's "National" Assembly saw last week.
In this video you can see how one of Chávez's parliamentarian thugs pushes the other PSUV deputy down the stairs throwing fists at the opposition politician.
Although Chávez's TV channel VTV claimed this was "an assault from the violent opposition", you can see how the former guerrilla and current head of the National Assembly, Fernando Soto Rojas, seems to be having a great time looking at the whole thing (click on the bottom left image).
Expect much more of this stuff. The extreme left, like the extreme right, has a long tradition enticing violence. Democratic people need to avoid provocations and be ready to document how attacks start.
And they will always say: "oh, we do want debate, it's you who do not want it". But not for nothing has the military regime refused critical TV channels to be there and film everything.
Not one in the 12 years has Hugo Chávez accepted to have an open, live debate with an opposition politician.
Attacks and all kind of provocations will come at every level of society. Almost two years ago I translated from Russian into Spanish this KGB document about how the Soviet Union's Secret Services trained a member of the Partido Comunista de Venezuela for conspiracy operations. That was not the first time they did it and it was not be the last one either. The Soviet Union is gone for good, but now Chávez's regime gets that kind of training from Cubans and Belorussians.
In this video you can see how one of Chávez's parliamentarian thugs pushes the other PSUV deputy down the stairs throwing fists at the opposition politician.
Although Chávez's TV channel VTV claimed this was "an assault from the violent opposition", you can see how the former guerrilla and current head of the National Assembly, Fernando Soto Rojas, seems to be having a great time looking at the whole thing (click on the bottom left image).
Expect much more of this stuff. The extreme left, like the extreme right, has a long tradition enticing violence. Democratic people need to avoid provocations and be ready to document how attacks start.
And they will always say: "oh, we do want debate, it's you who do not want it". But not for nothing has the military regime refused critical TV channels to be there and film everything.
Not one in the 12 years has Hugo Chávez accepted to have an open, live debate with an opposition politician.
Attacks and all kind of provocations will come at every level of society. Almost two years ago I translated from Russian into Spanish this KGB document about how the Soviet Union's Secret Services trained a member of the Partido Comunista de Venezuela for conspiracy operations. That was not the first time they did it and it was not be the last one either. The Soviet Union is gone for good, but now Chávez's regime gets that kind of training from Cubans and Belorussians.
Soto Rojas has never renounced violence. He was member of the Liga Socialista, like the father of Libertador's current mayor, Rodríguez. Today the military - Chávez, Diosdado et alia- and the token communists in power - Soto Rojas, Rodríguez and the like- think they need to use extreme left tactics to remain in power.