The commander of Colombia's Armed Forces, Gen. Fredy Padilla, left, listens to Colombia's Army commander, Gen. Mario Montoya, right, after being decorated by Cundinamarca State Gov. Andres Gonzalez, unseen, during a ceremony in Bogota, Wednesday, July 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) By Steve Rendall, Daniel Ward and Tess Hall
Extra!
February 2009
Click here to download pdf.
Any evenhanded comparison of the Colombian and Venezuelan governments’ human rights records would have to note that, though Venezuela’s record is far from perfect, that country is by every measure a safer place than Colombia to live, vote, organize unions and political groups, speak out against the government or practice journalism.
But a new survey by FAIR shows that, over the past 10 years, editors at four leading U.S. newspapers have focused more on purported human rights abuses in Venezuela than in Colombia, and their commentary would suggest that Venezuela’s government has a worse human rights record than Colombia’s. These papers, FAIR found, seem more interested in reinforcing official U.S. policy toward the region than in genuinely supporting the rights of Colombians and Venezuelans...
(click here to view entire report)
7 comments:
Shocking - I never would have thought this possible. ;-)
Shocking - I never would have thought this possible. ;-)
Indeed, a total shocker.
I've posted a bit of this on my own blog, but I really have to wonder at the quality of those doing analysis for the US. I met two at the AHA in Atlanta (at least applying for jobs at think tanks) and both said they were looking at that line as a last resort.
I would really like to know who the analysts are that are getting hired (I saw a job ad for the military earlier this fall) and what experience and training they really bring with them.
As for press coverage...I always assume the worst. I worked in the press for 10 years before going back to school, and hard working reporters that really dug into a story were few and far between. It never surprises me when they take the "party line" half the time on these issues.
I've posted a bit of this on my own blog, but I really have to wonder at the quality of those doing analysis for the US.
Well, it depends on how you look at it. If you're looking at it from the perspective that analysis involves looking at an issue from various angles, the "analysis" about Latin America that comes out of the U.S. is almost invariably terrible. But, of course, the job of a think tank "analyst" is not to look at things from various angles. His or her job is to look at things from one angle, which is the angle of the U.S. foreign policy establishment. In the world of think tanks, "analysis" is mostly just a euphemism for propaganda. So I would say that the "analysts" do not perform so badly at the actual job that has been assigned to them.
Nope, not maddening at all.
Their report kind of invalidates itself in the first line:
". . . though Venezuela’s record is far from perfect, that country is by every measure a safer place than Colombia to live . . ."
Every measure? The murder rate in Caracas is 130 per 100,000 residents (according to the government's most recent numbers). Bogotá? 20 per 100,000.
Every measure? The murder rate in Caracas is 130 per 100,000 residents (according to the government's most recent numbers). Bogotá? 20 per 100,000.
FAIR's comparison is between two countries, not their respective capitals.
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