Tag Archives: anti-semitism

Apr
5
2013
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 4/05/13

12630596 copia1.jpg.520.360.thumb 1 e1365195898833 In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 4/05/13

Courtesy of: El Universal

This week: A month after his death, Hugo Chávez continues to cast a shadow on the Venezuelan presidential election; amid personal attacks against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, the official presidential campaign begins in Venezuela; Capriles leads a march with supporters in Caracas to kick off his presidential campaign; and Maduro steps up insults and slurs, this time calling the country’s opposition “heirs of Hitler.” Maduro bizarrely claims Chávez appeared to him in the form of a “little bird” and blessed him; Venezuela’s opposition warns that the military should not take sides in the upcoming election; Capriles points out the Venezuelan state media’s overwhelming bias toward Maduro; and Venezuela tries to weaken the influence of the respected Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Cuba throws its support behind Maduro in the Venezuelan elections, hoping his victory will allow them more control over the country and its resources; dollar scarcity and an inflation rate of 22 percent continue to take their toll on the Venezuelan people, as businesses in Venezuela foresee only tough times ahead;  a decade of currency controls leave Venezuelans desperate for money and vulnerable to fraudsters; and crop numbers in Venezuela show that 2012 production fell behind the already-low 2010 levels.

Chávez casts shadow on Venezuela poll, Financial Times

Last year, Henrique Capriles proved no match for the electoral juggernaut of Hugo Chávez, who won over a dozen nationwide polls in as many years.

Venezuela presidential race begins amid personal attacks and tension, The Miami Herald

Drugs, lies and murder plots. Venezuela’s compressed presidential campaign officially begins Tuesday in a race that will determine the future of the Andean nation after the death of President Hugo Chávez, who led the country for 14 years.

Venezuela Opposition Marches as Presidential Campaign Kicks Off, Bloomberg

Venezuela opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski led a march of supporters last night in Caracas to mark today’s formal start to the presidential campaign against Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor.

Maduro calls Venezuela opposition “heirs of Hitler”, Reuters

Venezuela’s acting President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday called the country’s opposition “heirs of Hitler,” accusing them of persecuting Cuban doctors working in the South American country the way Jews were persecuted in Nazi Germany.

Venezuela: Ruling Party Candidate Said ‘Little Bird’ Told Him He’ll Become President, Fox News Latino

A little birdie whistled in his ear that he’s ready to become the next president of Venezuela.

Venezuela Opposition: Military Can’t Take Sides, TIME

Venezuela’s presidential campaign on Wednesday veered between warnings of military meddling in the April 14 vote and opposition mirth at the acting president’s suggestion that the spirit of Hugo Chavez visited him as “a little bird” while he prayed.

Henrique Capriles accuses Venezuelan state media of bias in favouring political rival, The Independent

Henrique Capriles has hit out at the overwhelming bias of the Venezuelan state media, claiming that the VTV channel alone has given 46 hours and 43 minutes of coverage to Nicolas Maduro since the former bus driver became acting President after the death of Hugo Chavez on 8 March.

Venezuela Tries to Weaken Human Rights Watchdog, The Heritage Foundation

A group of populist Latin American states—led by Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela—hopes to reduce the role of an international human rights commission and watchdog.

Cuba’s Venezuelan Pawn, The Wall Street Journal

Venezuela’s military government will hold what it refers to as a presidential “election” on April 14, and one of the candidates on the ballot will be Hugo Chávez’s handpicked successor, Nicólas Maduro.

Tough times ahead in post-Chavez Venezuela as dollar scarcity takes its toll, The Washington Post

Doing business in post-Hugo Chavez Venezuela is not for the faint of heart. Thousands of companies suffer under currency controls that all but deny them the U.S. dollars they need to import vital items into this oil-rich country, from food to cars to spare parts — even gasoline.

Dollar-Desperate Venezuelans Get Defrauded on Internet, Bloomberg

The retired Venezuelan teacher says he was so desperate for dollars that he wired his life savings to a front company posing as a Margarita Island inn.

Crop area in 2012 lags behind 2010 levels in Venezuela, El Universal

The results provided by the Venezuelan Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MAT) reveal that in 2012, the agricultural activity recovered, featuring an important upturn in several highly demanded agricultural items.

 
Mar
21
2012
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ICYMI: ADL rebukes Chavez’s dirty campaign against Capriles

Anti-Semitism A ‘Convenient Tool And Ultimate Scapegoat’ As Chavez Regime Attacks Presidential Rival In Venezuela (PRESS RELEASE)
The Anti-Defamation League
March 21, 2012

New York, NY, March 21, 2012 … The government of President Hugo Chavez once again is stirring anti-Semitism in Venezuela as “a convenient tool and ultimate scapegoat,” this time to attack an opposition candidate and presidential rival whose Jewish ancestry has become the focus of numerous attack articles, commentaries and editorial cartoons in the state-run media.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in a new report issued today details the extent to which the government media apparatus of President Chavez is promoting classical anti-Semitic myths and canards in an effort to portray opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski as being tainted by his Jewish lineage. The report is available on the League’s Web site in English and Spanish (.pdf).

Since announcing his candidacy, Mr. Capriles, a devout Catholic and the descendant of a family of Sephardic and Polish-Russian Jews, has repeatedly been assailed in articles appearing in Venezuelan state-run radio and newspapers and in broadcast commentaries as being “disloyal” to his country, as belonging to an international Zionist cabal that controls the media and global finance, as being an “Israeli agent,” and as someone with “Jewish blood” who exploits the misery of others using “oppressive” tactics such as those allegedly used by Israelis against the Palestinians.

“This is a new and bizarre twist on the anti-Semitism long championed by the government of Hugo Chavez and routinely disseminated through the government-controlled media of Venezuela,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “One would have thought that anti-Jewish attacks wouldn’t stick when thrown at a Catholic presidential candidate, but when you are dealing with a bully pulpit that will stop at nothing to undermine the opposition, Jews become a convenient tool and ultimate scapegoat.

The League’s report, “Classical Anti-Semitism in the Venezuelan Presidential Elections” is the fourth of its kind from ADL focusing on the anti-Semitic environment promoted by the Chavez regime in Venezuela that has flourished as Chavez tries to retain power while continuing to promote his distinctly anti-American and anti-Israel worldview.

The report shows how Chavistas have been writing, commenting and tweeting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories linking Mr. Capriles to a global Zionist cabal that aims to “take over Venezuela.” Many of the originators of such commentaries seem to use as a backdrop the infamous 19th Century anti-Semitic forgery, “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.” They claim Mr. Capriles is a representative of the purported global Jewish conspiracy and hold up to his “Jewish ancestry” as evidence. Some editorial cartoons appearing in Venezuelan newspapers have likewise compared Mr. Capriles to a Nazi or shown him dressed in Nazi regalia or depicted him as a Hitler-like figure.

In the last decade, the Jewish community in Venezuela has faced an increase in anti-Semitic incidents. “We fear,” said Mr. Foxman, “this new wave of anti-Semitism in the media is once again isolating Venezuelan Jews and making them feel increasingly vulnerable. It is our hope through exposure of their tactics and pressure from other governments and watchdog groups that President Chavez and his supporters will tamp down the anti-Semitic rhetoric that has become a handy tool of their political power.”

A March 3 editorial in the government-aligned Kikiriki newspaper stated:

“…the Zionist Jews seized the money of the world and its large corporations, banks and companies; its radio, TV and print media, and now they have an eye on Venezuela. Capriles Radonski, billionaire, is the son of a Jewish father and Jewish mother, thus one needs to study his international connections and look deep into its history. We will be screwed if Jews come to power; and whomever doubts it ask the Palestinians and the Arabs.”

The League’s report documents similar accusations on the Web site of Radio Nacional de Venezuela, on Aporrea.org, in the state-run newspaper Diario Vea and state-run television station Venezolana de Television, and elsewhere.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

To read this article on The Anti-Defamation League’s website, please click here.

 
Feb
24
2012
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 2/24/12

In this week’s roundup…  The Chávez administration hurled insults at opposition candidate Henrique Capriles following his landslide victory in the primaries; several Jewish groups publicly condemned Chávez’s anti-Semitic remarks against Capriles. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez heads to Cuba to undergo a third operation after doctors found another lesion where his last tumor was removed, stoking speculations about who will succeed Chávez if he is forced to step down.  A new report found that private construction in Venezuela is down 70 percent in the last two years, contributing to the critical housing shortage; Chinese loans drive PDVSA toward bankruptcy; Gold Reserve Inc. concludes oral hearings in ICSID arbitration against Venezuela; and Chávez continues to foster relationships with controversial governments, including Iran and Syria.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez faces an uprising at the ballot box, The Washington Post

Henrique Capriles Radonski, a 39-year-old Venezuelan state governor, won a primary election to become the opposition’s candidate against Hugo Chavez in October’s presidential election.

Chavez Media Say Rival Capriles Backs Plots Ranging From Nazis to Zionists, Bloomberg

Venezuela’s state media has accused opposition presidential nominee Henrique Capriles Radonski of offenses ranging from participating in a Zionist conspiracy to joining a Nazi-inspired effort to wipe out blacks and the poor.

El loco’s new foe, The New York Post

The reign of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez faces its worst trouble in years. The normally fractured opposition has suddenly united behind one man, Henrique Capriles Radonski, in the Oct. 7 presidential election.      

Jewish groups decry ‘anti-Semitic’ Venezuelan state media article, CNN

A Venezuelan state media article about Chavez’s chief political challenger drew criticism from the New York-based Anti-Defamation League and the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center last week. 

AJC Decries Anti-Semitic Assaults in Venezuela Presidential Campaign, Market Watch

“If President Chavez wants to convince the world that Venezuela is a democracy, he needs to act now to show that there is no room for willful hate,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris.

Chávez Health Struggle Stokes Political Uncertainties, The Wall Street Journal

New uncertainties about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s health are threatening to spur a power struggle to succeed him among the factions that make up his political movement, and boosting the hopes of a rejuvenated opposition planning for the presidential election this fall.

What Happens Next in Venezuela?, Foreign Policy

What happens if an incapacitated Chávez wins? Or, will a dying Chávez’s anointing of a successor succeed in overcoming a unified and energized opposition for the first time in a decade? Or, will voters, burdened by declining economic conditions and rising crime, opt for a new direction in the face of the uncertainty surrounding Chávez and the lack of a legitimate standard-bearer for his movement?

The republic vs. Chávez, The Miami Herald

You multiply it by 2.5 or 3 — depending on whom you ask. That’s how you usually translate the votes from the primaries into the final election results. Electoral experts insist that the three million votes obtained by Henrique Capriles in the Venezuelan primaries could bring him between 7.5 and nine million votes in the balloting against Hugo Chávez. Enough to remove him from power.

Private construction drops 70% in the past two years, El Universal

The president of the Venezuelan Construction Chamber, Juan Francisco Jiménez, stated that private construction has dropped 70% in the last two years. The situation was described as serious by the businessman leader, who said that the construction industry is necessary for the country’s development.

Thousands Of Homeless An Election Issue For Chavez, NPR

Oil-rich Venezuela is awash in hundreds of thousands of homeless. Many find places to live where they can — in half-finished shopping malls or under the grandstand at a race track. The huge number of homeless has become an election issue for President Hugo Chavez, who is seeking his fourth, six-year term.

Chinese loans put Venezuela over barrel, The Washington Times

Opposition groups in Venezuela are warning that billions of dollars in Chinese loans are driving the state oil company toward bankruptcy.

Gold Reserve Announces Conclusion of Oral Hearings in ICSID Arbitration Against Venezuela, Business Wire

Gold Reserve Inc. announces that the oral hearings held at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and presided over by a three-member tribunal in the arbitration conducted under the auspices of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes concluded, as scheduled, on February 17, 2012.

As Others Isolate Syria, Chávez Ships Fuel to It, The New York Times

A day before the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn President Bashar al-Assad of Syria this month for his bloody crackdown on the uprising in his country, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela was conducting a very different kind of diplomacy on his own.

Iran and Venezuela, BFF, The NY Daily News

At a time when the world is rightly focused on the Iranian nuclear threat and its intentions against Israel, it is also important to not lose sight of that country’s clandestine dealings in Latin America. Its activities there serve multiple purposes. None of them is benign.