By Andrew L. Jaffee

Note that when I refer to Hugo Chavez as “number 2,” I am in fact making the bathroom humor analogy. I was not surprised, but saddened, to find an article posted on the BBC entitled, “Venezuela press freedoms ‘worsen.’” Yes El Jefe II (#1 being reserved for Castro) has struck against his nation’s press. Could things get any worse in Venezuela? Remember that the rise of democracy in South America started in Venezuela. From the BBC:

A US-based media watchdog says press freedom has deteriorated markedly in Venezuela amid restrictive laws and harassment of journalists.

The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) said it was worried curbs would increase ahead of the presidential election due in December.

The IAPA urged the authorities to respect freedom of expression.

The Venezuelan government denied the claim and said the IAPA represented the interests of media tycoons.

A delegation from the Miami-based IAPA concluded a three-day visit to Venezuela, saying it had evidence of media workers being threatened or attacked by supporters of President Hugo Chavez.

The IAPA said the Venezuelan government was using the courts and legal reforms against journalists who were critical of it.

Chavez has solidified his power using a combination of thuggery, populism, and his country’s oil “bonanza.” But his populist words will not translate into food for the poor, nor anything else positive, as absolute power corrupts absolutely, and Venezuela will most surely follow the course that Castro has set for Cuba: a path of dismal failure.

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Related: Dictator Watch, Media/Blogsphere, Latin America

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