(Chavez with one of his more needy clients)
Venezuela’s outgoing parliament has passed laws that will punish ISPs that allow anything that Hugo Chavez does not like.
Under the new rules, providers of online contents and internet portals could be fined if images or messages appearing on their sites “disrespect public authorities, incite or promote hatred or create anxiety in the citizenry or alter public order”.
The measure was passed just days after parliament voted to give President Chavez special powers to pass laws by decree for 18 months.
BTW Chavez’s more green-minded sympathizers might like to read about his plans to build a nuclear power plant with Russian help.
It looks like the opposition is starting to get its act together. It received half the popular vote in the recent parliamentary elections although the Chavistas still have a majority of seats.
Not wishing to defend Chavez’s decision here, but it’s always amusing that the same people getting their panties in a bunch over Chavez turn a blind eye to unionists getting murdered on a regular basis over the border. If you want to see what the anti-Chavez opposition would look like in power, Colombia is a good place to start.
Hi THR. I know next to nothing about Colombia. So I can’t comment on that country.
I understand the murder rate among Venezuelian trade union officials is extremely high as competing unions run by criminal gangs fight each other for the spoils. However, you might know more about the subject than I do.
And why do you have such a grim view of the opposition?