Wednesday
Feb032010
Venezuela: Twitter Revolution's Next Stop?
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:35 
EA correspondent Josh Shahryar writes:First, it was watching retweets of news from Iran in Spanish. Then I slowly started seeing "hashtags" for both Iran and Venezuela in the same tweet. Finally, I saw the Twitter account of a collective. Reading the profile helped me grasp the enormity of what I was witnessing: a student movement like Iran’s is relying on the Internet to inform people of what is happening inside Venezuela.
A few months ago, as I was tweeting about a protest in Iran and live-blogging, I noticed former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations Diego Arria, a Venezuelan, tweeting information about the protest in Iran. While it surprised me to see such a revered diplomat taking key interest in Iran’s Green Movement, I soon also began to witness mass support from Venezuelan students for the Iranian cause. But most interesting and heartening to me was that they have been on Twitter and other social media outlets for more than a year fighting for their own rights as well.
For those who oppose the rule of President Hugo Chavez, theirs is a story much similar to Iran's: a population subjugated to ill-planned economics, a strongman unwilling to leave power, and a government ever more keen to restrict its citizen's right to freedom of speech. As protests rocked Venezuela two weeks ago, news of the protests made its way out not only on the backs of the traditional mainstream media outlets but also on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Photobucket, and other websites once used for entertainment, killing time, or just plain ol' finding a date.
This week, after coming back from a short vacation, the first thing I noticed on my Twitter account was the varying articles, pictures, and videos of Venezuela’s students protesting against the banning of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) and five other stations for not broadcasting a speech by Chavez. No need even to log onto my usual news websites: the story was right there in front of me. If anyone has doubts about the success of this movement, they do not need to look too far for evidence. Already Twitter users who have come out in support of Iran have started tweeting alongside their friends in Venezuela.
Furthermore, the movement is not disorganized. They have clear outlets on Twitter especially under the account "studentsvzla" and the eponymous website Venezuela Students Movement. They have a Facebook account "Chavez Tas PonCHAO" with more than 180,000 followers. Already on-line contacts are being established between supporters of the Green Movement online and Venezuelan students. When I asked for information on the recent protests in Venezuela, supporters of the Green Movement were the first to link me with up-to-date news.
The movement has been so successful that even Chavez himself has acknowledged its importance. An article in Business Insider reports:
Chavez has fought back by declaring that "using Twitter, the internet (and) text messaging" to criticize or oppose his increasingly authoritarian regime "is terrorism", a comment that recalls the looming threats of his allies in Iran, whose bloody crackdown on physical and electronic dissent may be blazing a trail for the Latin strongman.
Venezuelan journalist Nelson Bocaranda told El Nuevo Herald that the government has launched an army of Twitter users to bring down online networks and try to infiltrate student groups.
As in the case of Iran, the Venezuelan cause is slowly becoming more confrontational. But perhaps the most important lesson the Venezuelan movement online teaches us is the Twitter Revolution is not one that is going to remain confined to Iran or China. It is here, it is growing in scope, and it will soon be used by other groups fighting for their right to freedom of speech.
Reader Comments (18)
Josh, "http://twitter.com/studentsvzla" is the correct Twitter page, not the "http://twitter.com/studentsvnzla" that you used.
Beto,
Thanks --- the mistake is mine, not Josh's, as I edited the article.
S.
Not a problem! Thanks guys for posting this information.
Dear Josh, here is the FCI's point of view on this issue:
http://theflyingcarpetinstitute.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/why-venezuela-isnt-iran/
Wait, which one's the strong man, the hand-picked stooge with almost no constitutional power in Iran or the democratically elected president in Venezuela?
And which one's the ill-planned economy, the one under crippling western sanctions or the one with the mass social welfare programs which support the poor with oil wealth?
I'd also point out that if Chavez attacking Twitter makes it important, you might as well write this about the coming Playstation Revolution or Simpsons Revolution. Chavez hates them too and has connected both to Terrorism.
Iran =/= Venezuela. Remember when President Bush lumped a whole bunch of different places together into the Axis of Evil? Remember how bad that idea was? Twitter doesn't improve it any.
--Josh Mull
Democracy wise, Chavez is unquestionably far from perfect. But the Venezuelians have still the possibility to oust him fron power on next elections, which is obviously not the case with Khamenei. And as far as I know, the venezuelian government doesn't torture, rape or hang its opponents. To liken Chavez's regime to IRI is a gross misrepresentation.
To try to defend Chavez by harping on the fact that they're not EXACTLY the same as Iran is deplorable and irresponsible.
The Venezuelan government doesn't torture, rape, or hang its opponents, they simply issue arrest warrants, have them tried in kangaroo courts, and they're never heard from again.
They're not evil at all. Chavez just professes the death of the West in jest. I guess that's why Chavez IS NOT buying arms en masse from Russia, or allying himself with Islamist extremist groups, and lending resources for them to train, and use Venezuela as a base of operations.
Nope, it's clearly borderline libel to compare Chavez to Iran. Yup, how thoughtless are we...
UJ,
Hey, guess what? Ahmadinejad was elected without about 63% of the vote so you can totally lump him together with Chavez as democratically elected.
Ill-planned economics was a clear reference to the rate of inflation in Venezuela which stands at about 25%. What will the poor do with the money if it continues to lose value like it is?
But the point of my article is freedom of speech and human rights. The people of Venezuela have the right to have media outlets that can criticize the government in every way possible. And the people of Venezuela have the right to come out to streets if they are dissatisfied with the government's policies.
If Chavez is indeed doing great work, they why is he afraid of criticism?
Gloumdalclitch,
David has said pretty much what I wanted to say, so I'm not going to comment.
Josh,
OK, so you believe Ahmadinejad was fairly elected? On the one hand, OAS and the Carter Center have certified the votes in Venezuela since the late 90's, so Chavez has that going for him. On the other hand, Ahmadinejad has the IRGC and...you I guess who stand by his 63%.
And again, the President of Iran doesn't have the same powers as the President of Venezuela; Hugo Chavez sits atop Venezuela's government, subject to the constitution and the vote of the people, whereas Ahmadinejad is an overgrown bureaucrat subject to the whim of a slobbering, palsied Godking. We can debate whether Chavez is adequately following the constitution, but we could also have that debate over Obama. (And that dude commits mad human rights violations, where's his Twitter revolution?)
My point here is not to defend Chavez. Like any "second world" leader (even the one's we like!) he's not a good guy, he's a crook and a gangster. So is Dimitry Medvedev and Stephen Harper, to varying degrees. It's noble to criticize, oppose, and engage them, but some responsibility is required.
Look at the way you have to stretch the data to draw a line between Iran and Venezuela. Both have leaders you don't like who are meanies, both have crap economies, and both have the internet (and therefore Twitter).That's nothing, I could make the same connection between Poland and Nigeria, it doesn't make them the same. You were likely as outraged as anyone at the Bush administration's lumping together of the Axis of Evil, or the idea that the Sunni insurgents in Iraq are all Saddamists, or that al-Qa'eda, Hamas, and Hizb'allah are all "Terrorists." Only you don't see it in the connection of Venezuela and Iran.
Iran is clearly in the midst of a real Revolution, or at the very least an acute Thermadorian event, and if the former, it would be its second in three decades. Venezuela, on the other hand, is an all too typical post-colonial Latin American government, fluctuating widely but predictably between moderate empowerment and autocracy. The opposition movement in Iran is mostly neo-liberalism colliding with a religious monarchy, while the opposition movement in Venezuela is largely right wing, wealthy elite backed by foreign corporations (and governments) colliding with a populist, "strong man."
Those distinctions alone should be enough to see that the solutions to their problems are vastly different, and are likely far more difficult and nuanced than simply booting up your browser and RT'ing. I've been tweeting since March 07, and I was considered late at the time. We liveblogged all the primary debates, and it was called a revolution. We tweeted about hurricanes in Texas, and it was called a revolution. I tweeted while getting tear gassed at the RNC, and I was called a revolutionary. The same happened with voting in November, the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the invasion of Gaza, the riots in Greece, the coup in Honduras, the...get the point?
You and the rest of the EA staff have brilliantly made the point that Twitter, and Facebook and Tor and what have you, is an effective and notable tool used by the opposition movement in Iran. But now you went too far and started believing your own hype, and you're as abusive with the phrase "Twitter Revolution" as those you're against. It ruins what you're trying to do, which is to make a damn good point about the use of social media to benefit humans rights, by forcing the people who would agree with you (me) to waste our time explaining why Iran is not the same as Venezuela.
So just drop all the BS about revolutions, and let's do some f**king work together, huh? ;)
--UJ
UJ,
Gettin to you soon as I kick some more ass here on Twitter.
Ok, Chevez has been elected many times... but free elections is way different from what has happen here in Venezuela! He controls the Electoral Power, he contols the Congress and the Suprem Court of Justice, they will do anything he wants.
I know for a fact, because I've seen it that all those elections are everything but free and clean! You have to register to vote and you have to give your adress to do so... I remember one case of a house in Maracaibo (a city in Venezuela) where 1.800 José González lived, it's very easy the department of identification issue 1.800 id's on the name of José González and they all live in one house, they just register this person and they give him the right to vote, and like that so many other, dead people voting, all kinds of traps and of course they don't check it, they promote it. Othe example that happened to me was in the referendum you had to choose 1 if you wanted him to stay in power and 2 if you wanted to revocate him from power, I voted 2 but the number that came in the paper was 1, I protested, I asked them to let me vote again because it was not my choice, and they took me out of the place and almost got arrested! So votes, yes he got the votes... but fair and square, definitely no!
UJ,
This is where you lost me [emphasis mine]:
"Iran is clearly in the midst of a real Revolution, or at the very least an acute Thermadorian event, and if the former, it would be its second in three decades. Venezuela, on the other hand, is an all too typical post-colonial Latin American government, fluctuating widely but predictably between moderate empowerment and autocracy. The opposition movement in Iran is mostly neo-liberalism colliding with a religious monarchy, while the opposition movement in Venezuela is largely right wing, wealthy elite backed by foreign corporations (and governments) colliding with a populist, “strong man.”"
Pardon my colloquialism, bu that's bullshit.
Chavez is far from populist. FAR, far from it. He has set a straw government since he came back into power after his coup, and has not relinquished a single bit of his power. There is a reason why after his last election, and after having the constitutional amendment that would allow him to run indefinitely fail, he started a massive campaign where he threatened the Venezuelan people.
To assume that Venezuela
A) Doesn't have a populist revolution against Chavez, and against his policies;
B) That this is the Socialist/Marxist romantic revolution of "the poor working masses" against the "evil bourgeois" corporations;
is truly myopic at best, and grossly misinformed at worst.
The only reason Chavez hasn't been chased out of the country like Zelaya is because
A) He has backed every single facet of government with his supporters, and has bullied the remaining private companies into aligning with him
B) He, through his continued social policies, has made himself the champion of the poor by offering them baubles and beads while they STILL have to resort to crime and the black market to survive
C) He has made it appealing to have the military side with him at all times. It's like a dog: do you take the beatings but guarantee at food and shelter, or do you bite the hand that feeds and go off into the streets to fend for yourself?
There's a reason why dictatorships like an unarmed populace: it's easier to keep them in line while you adjust the strings on your fiddle...
Addendum to the second "B)"
And the truly poor, not the working class poor, or the petit or haute bourgeoisie are those that he needs, and will need, to align himself with if and when a true uprising starts.
If, for whatever reason, he can not get the military to march against the people, the poor will, much like Iran's Basij.
And you could make the argument about the United States doing something similar, but that's another argument for another day.
David,
Not sure what you're saying here. The elections in Venezuela, since the late 90's, have all been audited and certified by the Organization of American States and the Carter Center, so beyond Chavez, you'll have to provide some evidence on why those two entities are in league with the "dictatorship."
And I'm not sure who the unarmed populace is, considering Caracas has some of the worst gun violence on the planet. I mean really, one of the biggest events of the constitutional referendum was right wing opposition members firing on Chavez supporters! Not to mention the drug cartels, FARC, etc....who's unarmed in Venezuela? Almost nobody.
The rest of your points are straw men referring to things that I never said or implied, so we'll skip them. I think my opinion of Chavez was quite clear.
Viva La Revolucion!
--UJ
If you were in Venezuela by the time the referendum happened you would know the amount of denounces on those irregularities. The electoral power does not allow to audit the Electoral Register, wich is a totally diferent thing of auditing the elections, that is a know fact here in Venezuela, and that's the only way you can get an electoral register clean and reliable.
And please, the cogress has a 92% majority of the PSUV party, wich is Chávez, and you can check that easily, the suprem court judges are elected by the congress exclusively and who would they elect if they are the majority on congress? The electoral power authorities are elected as well by the congress.
You may not understand why they do it... wich only proof that you either are not venezuelan or haven't been here in a while, but that is the truth, that's the way things are here right now. It's the most corrupted government ever in this country, and that's a lot to say because this country has had his fair share of corrupted government!
You can rant all you want... but you can hide the truth.
I'm sorry for the typos!
To Gloumdalclitch: You're wrong, that is not the case, Chavez trick the elections, buy votes, bring people from cuba and give them the venezuelan nationality to vote, so we CAN'T make him leave by an election and about rape, torture, etc ask a lot of my friends that now are refugees in other countries what happen to them, so before talking about another country get inform about the real situation. Venezuela in under a dictatorship.