NYT Ramps Up Venezuela Propaganda Ahead of Elections

[Judi Lynn]

JUNE 12, 2024
RICARDO VAZ

Venezuelans will head to the polls on July 28 to choose their president for the 2025–30 term. Incumbent President Nicolás Maduro faces nine challengers as he runs for a third term.

Over the past 25 years of US-sponsored coups and economic sanctions, Western corporate media have always proven a reliable source of regime-change propaganda to back Washington’s policies (FAIR.org, 12/17/18, 1/25/19, 8/15/19, 4/15/20, 5/11/20, 1/11/23). Coverage builds to a frenzy around elections, whether driven by a (misguided) hope that US surrogates will win, or by a desire to delegitimize anticipated Chavista victories.

With two months to go, Western outlets are busy crafting familiar narratives, and leading the charge is the New York Times. Not busy enough with its genocide-endorsing coverage of Gaza, the paper of record was keen to back yet another key US foreign policy interest. In a flurry of recent articles, the Times laid down plenty of bias, distortions and outright lies.

Rigged reporting

• "Meet the Candidate Challenging Venezuela’s Authoritarian President” (5/6/24)
  
• “Reality Show Contestants Compete for an Authoritarian’s Campaign Jingle” (5/9/24)
  
• “Can Elections Force Venezuela’s Authoritarian Leader From Power?” (5/11/24)

The Times’ Julie Turkewitz opened the third piece by claiming that Venezuelans are voting “for the first time in more than a decade…in a presidential election with an opposition candidate who has a fighting—if slim and improbable—chance at winning.”

This framing reinforces the common trope that Maduro’s May 2018 victory was “a sham” (New York Times, 5/11/24; Reuters, 5/17/24), “rigged” (New York Times, 5/6/24), “neither free nor fair” (BBC, 3/6/24) or “widely considered fraudulent” (France24, 3/12/24).

More:
https://fair.org/home/nyt-ramps-up-venezuela-propaganda-ahead-of-elections/

[GreenWave]

1. Venezuela cannot even pump its own oil. So who has the regime?

Comments below video are interestung,

[Judi Lynn]

2. Absolutely love the title of the video CBS posted!

"U.S. Allows Chevron to Pump Oil in Venezuela"

Woohoo!

These financial tricks Washington uses do vast, serious damage to countries and their people, killing thousands, while keeping themselves above reproach, since the destruction happens over time, rather than doing the same damage quickly with physical weapons and military operations. People starve, die, suffer, etc., and they only way they can escape their conditions is to either flee the country or create a revolution, then accept a leader Washington likes.

Thank you.