tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784238642874849730.post-30741580821179414542007-12-02T15:05:00.000-04:002007-12-02T15:05:00.000-04:00Further to my last comment; it appears that U.S. companies are behind much of the anti-reform propaganda that was spread prior to the referendum vote.<BR/><BR/>One of the most scandalous was an anonymous two-page spread in the country’s largest circulation newspaper, Últimas Noticias, which claimed about the Constitutional Reform:<BR/><BR/>“If you are a Mother, YOU LOSE! Because you will lose your house, your family and your children (children will belong to the state).”<BR/><BR/>The illegal ad, which was caught and suspended by the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) after a few days in the press, has received relatively high-profile attention in the Venezuelan press, and even Chavez joked about it last Friday on the nightly pro-Chavez talk show, La Hojilla. What appears to have gone completely ignored, however, is the fact that the ad itself was placed by an organization which has at its core, dozens of subsidiaries of the largest US corporations working in Venezuela.<BR/><BR/>The problem appears to be that many thousands of Venezuelans, many of them Chavez supporters, have bought the exaggerations and lies about Venezuela’s Constitutional Reform that have been circulating across the country and the impact that this propaganda has on today’s vote could be key.<BR/><BR/>As I said earlier, my own family in Caracas have been frightened by the exaggerations enough to turn against the reforms and withdraw their support.<BR/><BR/>For more info see http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2904<BR/><BR/>TioJasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15315842315260636015noreply@blogger.com