tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post3818098882503071627..comments2024-03-24T20:40:46.666-04:00Comments on Pan-African News Wire: President Fidel Castro of Cuba on the Legacy of Che and the Recent
Ibero-American Summit in ChilePan-African News Wirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-45839123327168188762007-11-12T14:42:00.000-05:002007-11-12T14:42:00.000-05:00Saturday, November 10, 2007Associated Press omits ...Saturday, November 10, 2007<BR/><BR/>Associated Press omits relevant history in report of Chavez's harsh words for Spain's former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar<BR/><BR/>By Justin Delacour<BR/>Latin American News Review<BR/>November 10, 2007<BR/><BR/>A common problem in English-language reporting about Latin America is the failure of reporters to put issues into historical context. <BR/><BR/>For example, a recent Associated Press report quotes Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as referring to Spain's former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist" at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile. <BR/><BR/>By leaving out the relevant background information, the report makes Chavez's statements appear so bizarre and undiplomatic as to be inexplicable. <BR/><BR/>In reality, the Venezuelan President's strong antipathy toward Spain's former Prime Minister has recent historical roots in Aznar's support for a failed coup d'etat against the Chavez government in April 2002. <BR/><BR/>Jorge CastaƱeda, Mexico's former foreign minister, has divulged that, during the short-lived Venezuelan coup, Aznar's government worked to cobble together diplomatic support for coup leader Pedro Carmona.<BR/><BR/>The AP report is so lacking in historical context that its other quotes of Chavez also appear inexplicable. For example, Chavez is quoted as stating the following: "The Venezuelan government reserves the right to respond to any aggression, anywhere, in any space and in any manner." <BR/><BR/>Since the reader is never informed of the primary "aggression" of which the Venezuelan president speaks, the lay reader is likely to come away with the false impression that Chavez is uttering jibberish.<BR/><BR/>No doubt the Venezuelan president could choose his words more wisely so as to avoid counter-productive tiffs with the current Spanish government, but that's no excuse for AP's omission of the relevant historical background.Pan-African News Wirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.com