Democracy and Freedom of Expression Are Alive and Well in Venezuela

As a former military insurrectionist and officer, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez Frias is a very easy target for political attacks. It is very easy for people to believe that a leader with such a history is "authoritarian," that he "gags" the press, that he forces everybody to listen to his long monologues, and that he doesn't allow competing voices. While it may be easy to construct such an image of Venezuela's president, it is also quite dishonest and inaccurate.

After recently spending seven weeks in Caracas, I witnessed a political environment that struck me as markedly different from how it is often portrayed in the U.S. press. I found political democracy and freedom of expression to be alive and well in Venezuela.

From my perspective, the political opposition is simply so unpopular and desperate that it cynically screams "censorship" and "authoritarianism" in hopes that foreign media and the international community will take the bait and start screaming along with them.

Make no mistake; assertions of "authoritarianism" and "censorship" in Venezuela tend to be highly disingenuous.