Venezuela's official media manipulating imagery
By Aleksander Boyd
London 10.09.06 | Hugo Chavez number of supporters seems to be dwindling fast. There was some sort of charade yesterday in Caracas whereby Fidel Castro's errand boy was to make his weekly revolutionary announcements. Since it has become customary for the pseudo revolution to pay disenfranchised people to attend such gatherings, busing them from all around the country, it was meant to be a red tidal wave given the increasing number of poor Venezuelans. Chavez's media quikly published imagery of many thousands participating in the rally. However static cameras located along the way show a complete different picture, which indicates that propaganda organs of the regime have had to resort to their database of old imagery.
As any person learned on Venezuelan issues will know this is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that propagandists of Hugo Chavez manipulate reality by using imagery that does not correspond to actual events. The first instance where this gross manipulation was immortalised was with the fiction docu-drama "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" in which Irish movie makers did all sorts of editing tricks to portray an unrealistic tale about the events that led to the resignation of Hugo Chavez on 11 April 2002.
So I guess the good news is that not even an avalanche of petrodollars will spare Chavez from a sure defeat in the coming elections.
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