That's from the New York Times and is quite critical of the Venezuelan government led by Hugo Chavez, Sean Penn's close friend. I wonder why none of the Hollywood liberal elite have been hanging out with Chavez lately?
Perhaps it's because:
A court ordered the paper to stop publishing images of violence, as if that would quiet growing questions about why the government — despite proclaiming a revolution that heralds socialist values — has been unable to close the dangerous gap between rich and poor and make the country’s streets safer.
and...
While many Latin American economies are growing fast, Venezuela’s has continued to shrink. The gap between rich and poor remains wide, despite spending on anti-poverty programs, fueling resentment.
Simply shocking. Who would have thought that government directed redistribution of wealth (Socialism) wouldn't work as a good economic policy? If only there had been examples prior to Venezuela so that this mistake could have been avoided...
Well ok, maybe the economic policy isn't working, but these murders aren't Hugo's fault, right?
But scholars here describe the climb in homicides in the past decade as unprecedented in Venezuelan history; the number of homicides last year was more than three times higher than when Mr. Chávez was elected in 1998.
Ok fine, things are worse under Hugo, but it's not all him. It's not like he's doing anything to encourage these murders, right?
Henrique Capriles, the governor of Miranda, a state encompassing parts of Caracas, told reporters last week that Mr. Chávez had worsened the homicide problem by cutting money for state and city governments led by political opponents and then removing thousands of guns from their police forces after losing regional elections.
I wonder if Sean Penn approves of that.
But what is Chavez's government really doing about the murders?
Meanwhile, the debate over the morgue photograph published by El Nacional is intensifying, evolving into a broader discussion over the government’s efforts to clamp down on the news outlets it does not control.
Imagine that, a government trying to eliminate news outlets it doesn't control.
Thankfully, our current government doesn't subscribe to socialism, blackmail, political favors, and attacks upon media outlets.