[Peace-discuss] Venezuela and the Washington Post

[Stuart Levy]

On Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 12:21:00PM -0500, Brussel Morton K. wrote:
> Letter to the Washington Post…
>
> Letter from Venezuela’s Communications Minister to the Washington Post
> Andrés Izarra
>
> Jackson Diehl
> Deputy Editor, Editorial Page
> The Washington Post
> 1150 15th Street NW
> Washington, DC 20071
> March 25, 2008
>
>
> Dear Mr. Diehl,
>
> Over the past several years, we have informed you of our concerns regarding 
> the hostile, distorted and inaccurate coverage of Venezuela in your 
> newspaper, and particularly on the Editorial Page. Previously, we 
> communicated our alarm at the unbalanced reporting and writing on Venezuela 
> during the period 2000-2006, which evidenced one-sided analyses and false 
> claims regarding President Chávez’s tendencies and events within the 
> country. Since then, however, the Post coverage has gotten worse. More 
> editorials and OpEds have been written this past year about Venezuela than 
> ever before, 98% of which are negative, critical, and aggressive and 
> contain false or manipulated information. We are therefore led to believe 
> that the Washington Post is promoting an anti-Venezuela, anti-Chávez 
> agenda.
  [...]

What a fine letter.  Though I'll bet this wasn't *published* in the Post,
was it?  How is it getting out?

I could only wish Mr. Izarra had said a bit more about the unfounded
accusations of Chavez extravagantly funding the FARC to build bombs,
since if true that could well become an excuse for action.
Maybe he just didn't want to stir that pot, but Greg Palast's 
look into what was & wasn't found in the e-mail on the captured
laptop is awfully damning.