Venezuela is NOT a fictitious place Posted: Sunday, July 13, 2003
Venezuela is NOT a fictitious place, even though some have no idea where it is
The last several days have been intriguing. The endless deluge of computer virus attacks (because some people are continuously trying to stop me from writing) finally sent my computer into a coma. These acts of vandalism also left me with the temporary incapacity of doing quick research on the web, thus limiting my writing.
So, while the computer is out for a full diagnosis and overhaul, I have dedicated myself to doing slow research on an old slow computer and to watching more TV news and documentaries. This TV watching led to some interesting discoveries, including the discovery of "General Hospital," a very famous USA soap opera (broadcast by/managed by ABC - American Broadcasting Corporation) that has apparently been in existence since 1963.
There is a character on "General Hospital," whose name is Alcazar. He's a drug mafia type, looks Latino and is involved in some kidnapping scheme. Someone has kidnapped Sonny's wife. Sonny also seems to be a not-so-straight type of mafia person. All this may not seem too surprising for a soap opera.
However, there are some additional interesting details: Alcazar has a private plane and has operations, partners and "people" in Venezuela. Alcazar also invented some "evidence" to convince Sonny that his wife is in Venezuela, kidnapped by some people who apparently have some drug interests in Venezuela.
Recently, Alcazar has told Sonny that he may know where his wife is and that he can possibly find out if Sonny allows him (Alcazar) to bring in a drug shipment from Venezuela through Sonny's "territory."
Since I have only recently discovered "General Hospital", I do not know when Alcazar became part of the show or where he came from. I did a slow not-very-exhaustive search on the ABC website that contains summaries of past episodes dating back years. It appears to me that Alcazar is a relatively recent character.
What struck me about this show (and about the Alcazar character) is that it subliminally depicts Venezuela as the major Latin American drug cultivator and drug runner into the USA. The astounding realization is that millions upon millions of people (mostly USAPS and Canadians, I suspect) watch this series on a daily basis (5 days/week).
For some twisted reason, Alcazar is not involved in Colombia. For some bizarre reason, the name "Venezuela" is being used to brainwash USAPS (and others) into believing that Venezuela is the country that harbors, cultivates and distributes the drugs that the USAPS consume so diligently.
The "Hollywood" focus on drugs seems to have shifted from Colombia to Venezuela, yet Colombia is ... according to most reports ... still the largest cultivator and supplier of drugs to the USA.
Is ABC affiliated in some way with Washington or the USA government or with PNAC (Project for The New American Century)? Note: This project is signed by Donald Rumsfeld, Jed Bush, Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Steve Forbes and others, and is a project dedicated to promoting the take-over of the world by the USA through economic dominance and military intervention.
Is ABC assisting the USA government is subtly distributing lies and propaganda to slowly increase the USAPS' "awareness" that Venezuela is a terrorist state?
Note: that the USA is apparently attempting to "categorize" the FARC as a terrorist group in order to justify more military intervention in Colombia in the USA's supposed "war on drugs."
Why is "General Hospital" using Venezuela as a reference point for "evil" drug cartels rather than using Colombia as a reference point? Is it perhaps because the present Colombian president is on side with the USA and because Chavez is perhaps not? Because Chavez is a USA (paranoid) communist threat to the USA-led supposed "free-world/free-trade" concept? If Alcazar is a recent character, is it a coincidence that one of the most-watched USA soap operas suddenly creates a character such as Alcazar within the same timeframe of the USA's growing dislike for Chavez and the fact that the USA is becoming more and more weary about Chavez' relationship with Cuba?
One of the reasons that I bring up such questions is because a few days ago I also watched a TV documentary of an interview with Norman Mailer, a well-known and apparently controversial USA writer. One of his comments was about a visit he made to the USSR in the 1980's and how, upon his return to the USA he was so mad at his own country (the USA) for having led the USAPS to believe that the USSR was an evil enemy that had intentions to attack the USA (during the so called Cold War).
Norman Mailer, upon his visit to the USSR, saw a chronically and profoundly depressed people, completely uninterested in engaging in war.
Other reasons that I have brought up the subject about "General Hospital" with respect to Venezuela (which unfortunately, some USAPS have no qualms about dragging down while Chavez is in power) are:
1) I watched an interview with a journalist, Sarah Cox, who was reporting (for Oxfam) about how the typical small-time coffee growers throughout the world (including Venezuela) are suffering tremendously because of the "free-trade" concept introduced by the USA in their refusal (in 1989) to continue to abide by and OPEC-style agreement between coffee-growing interests that guaranteed the growers a minimum price that allowed them to live with some dignity. She reported that the USA media is doing nothing to let the USAPS know about this issue while they keep expanding and exporting their coffee addiction (e.g.-Starbuck's) to the rest of the world (and making good profits since prices have not gone down for the end-user) while some of the growers receive the equivalent to one-quarter of what they received forty years ago. According to Sarah Cox, the USA is pushing the "free-trade" concept with no consideration for "just-trade" ... which reminds me of the "free-trade" concept that the USA used "against" Canada in the softwood lumber business that forced hundreds of small family businesses into bankruptcy, later to be bought out by several large USA multinationals.
2) I watched another documentary about how Joe McCarthy and the USA media propagated complete lies (McCarthy's list) to the degree that most USAPS actually believed (and were scared) that the USA was being infiltrated by "evil" communists at all levels of the US Federal government.
3) While I was in Kuwait (during the first Gulf War in 1991), CNN was the only TV channel that we were able to get and what was being reported by CNN had a strong pro-USA-hero penchant that was not representative of the real situation in Kuwait at the time.
4) The USA is exporting, through the "Hollywood" media, movies upon movies about how the USA is "always" victorious in war, espionage, etc. (Luckily for the rest of the world, well-made "Hollywood" comedies are still profitable to produce!)
Now, what about slander and defamation?
Don't people sometimes sue the media for defamation?
Maybe the Venezuelan government can consider suing ABC for defamation. Why not?
Venezuela is not a fictitious place, even though some USAPS probably have no idea where Venezuela is. (I remember the times when movies and TV programs would use fake names to depict "evil states.")
I am sure that the USA government would find it very offensive if Venezuelan soap operas depicted the USA as a country that is comprised primarily of drug addicts and gun-wielding white yahoos that arbitrarily murder all blacks and Latinos ... and I think that the greatest insult to the USAPS in this scenario would be that whilst the Venezuelan media propagates such information (to make Venezuelans more aware of the "evil" USA) the USA economy would begin to suffer, reducing the USA's capacity to maintain economic power.
So now, one can perhaps wonder why the Venezuelan tourist industry is suffering so severely. If so many USAPS are watching "General Hospital" and spreading the word to others, why would a USAP take his/her vacation in a country full of drug warlords, drug mafia and kidnappers?
... unless the prospective USAP visitor is a drug user. Then, he/she might surely visit Venezuela in order to do drugs (cheaper and better quality). Perhaps he/she would stay in Venezuela for a lengthy period of time. This would be very convenient to the US government ... send all the USAP drug addicts to Venezuela to help destroy Venezuela further. It is also cheaper (more profitable) to let them go to Venezuela than to put them in jail in the USA.
Perhaps the Venezuelan government is not aware of "General Hospital" ... perhaps Shapiro can advise the US government to advise ABC to treat Venezuela with more respect ... Venezuela is not fiction.
Oscar Heck oscar@vheadline.com
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