Venezuela Votes to End Term Limits

Cross posted at Scoop44 and Daily Kos.

On February 15, voters in Venezuela passed a referendum overturning the law that placed term limits on the country's president. Hugo Chavez, the current President of Venezuela, had lobbied aggressively on behalf of the referendum, and its passage was a major victory for him.

The New York Times emphasizes that many non-governmental agencies, particularly those that focus on election reform, have been critical of Chavez's reign. However, one might be skeptical of the United States mainstream media's coverage of Venezuela. Many news publications have painted Chavez as a indisputable dictator (despite the fact that he was democratically elected and remains extremely popular among the vast majority of Venezuelans, particularly in impoverished rural regions).

In 2002, when Chavez's government was overthrown in a military coup, many news accounts, including stories in The New York Times, implied that the interim government had support among Venezuela's population. Later news accounts disputed these claims and accused the Bush administration of being involved in the coup.

What many people do not know is that the coup was documented in a film called "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." Americans might be unaware of the film because it was never released in theaters in the U.S. British filmmakers (who were in Venezuela to film Chavez prior to the coup) directed the film, and emphasize the media bias against Chavez's regime, particularly on mainstream news networks like CNN. The film can be seen on Google Video - watching it might make one rethink the recent coverage of the election referendum in Venezuela.