Caracas Chronicles had this headline,”How Chavismo Uses Social Media To Justify The Detention Of  Human Rights Activists”. For over 20 years Chavistas have spread hate speech (even though there’s a law against it…hate speech is in the eye of the beholder, as we told you) against opposition leaders, journalists, and Human Rights defenders. But now, the case of Javier Tarazona shows how they use Twitter and classic propaganda channels.

 The work of activists and NGOs is increasingly asphyxiated by Maduro’s regime. The Center for Advocates and Justice documented 743 attacks against defenders in 2021, a 145% increase. Javier Tarazona, Director of Fundaredes, a Human Rights organization, was arrested July 2, 2021 and is still in prison. (Remember, we had a story last week that his hearing was delayed…again) He went to the prosecutors office along with two other members of Fundaredes to report that he was being harassed and persecuted by Polifalcon officers, SEBIN (part of Maduro’s three-headed monster of security services), and other unidentified individuals. The three activists were detained and charged with “treason against the homeland, terrorism, and inciting hatred. Twelve days later Javier’s mother was detained for 24 hours by SEBIN (a common regime tactic…you know, throw a scare into ’em).

 Before the arrests, Fundaredes had been reporting on the situation at the Venezuela/Colombia border and clashes between FARC dissidents, ELN, and officers of the Venezuela state, specifically in the state of Apure, where there is little communication from the government. The attacks against Tarazona began well before the arrest.

 Diosdado Cabello (2nd most powerful man in Venezuela, maybe number 1, as we always say), known for using his talk show to direct Chavismo’s social media horde against journalists, Human Rights activists, and others, urged his followers to attack Fundaredes and Tarazona under the banner “Bolivarian Fury”. The “Protector of the People” (Remember them? The offices created, unconstitutionally, by Maduro to usurp power anywhere there was an opposition Governor) in Tachira state, Freddy Bernal, said the courts should summon Tarazona regarding his connections to the US government (hint,hint…the CIA) and soon it was everywhere on social media trends and Whats App threads.

 At the same time over 8 million messages by Chavista-related accounts blanketed the social media landscape in support of the Maduro regime and the Armed Forces. The underlying message was clear, support for the regime is always welcome and criticism of the regime is never tolerated.

 This may be the most recent example but it’s far from a “one – off”. Remember journalist Roberto Deniz and Armando.info? I can also tell you, based on personal experience, that what happened to Javier Tarazona, reporting something to the police and having them turn it completely around and making whoever reported whatever it may be the target. Check this out…

 When my wife, daughter, and I were leaving Venezuela we got stuck in Caracas for about a week (long story). As we were bemoaning our situation, my wife got a text from the hotel reception desk offering to help us out with our cash situation. It turned out to be a fraud and when the hotel management showed little interest in finding out what happened my wife went to the police. They opened an investigation …wait for it…into my wife! It turns out the hotel was operated by well-connected government mafia guys (who knew?) so they were not about to investigate them. Knowing how ugly this could get we returned to the hotel, packed up, and changed hotels immediately.

 My conclusion, based on my personal experience, this Javier Tarazona story, and others, for Chavismo, the best defense in a good offense.

 Moving on…Cronkite News had a piece on the ancient city of Tapachula, Mexico, 20 miles from the border with Guatemala and 2,000 miles from the US southern border. It has become a launch point for migrants heading north to the US, most of them from Venezuela and Haiti. The community of 350,000 received more than 130,000 asylum seekers in 2021, a third of them children. Needless to say, local services are overwhelmed.

 Then we have an asylum story that’s a bit off the beaten path. Reykjavik Grapevine reports that a gay Venezuelan migrant woman (Shouldn’t that be lesbian?) has been denied asylum in Iceland. The IIC (Icelandic Immigration Service) says the situation in Venezuela is improving and the couple’s sexuality is not unlawful in Venezuela so they will not grant the asylum request. I guess the IIC is buying into Maduro’s current pro- LGBTQ+ propaganda despite his earlier homophobic comments. The case is on appeal.

 Then we have a blatant misrepresentation by someone that obviously has their own agenda. As the saying goes, “You’re entitled to your own opinion, not your own facts.” The Raw Story headline read, “Lauren Boebert : Venezuela dog eating started because they do dot have firearms”. The actual statement was “In Venezuela they eat the dogs and it started because they do not have firearms to defend themselves against a tyrannical government” which means, to those logically challenged, if the people had firearms to resist the disastrous Chavista government they wouldn’t be starving.

 The question is, was the guy that put the article out there trying to deliberately  be misleading (most likely) or was he simply unable to follow a rational train of thought? There is no doubt that had Hugo Chavez not disarmed the population the misery of 21st Century Bolivarian Socialism would have ended years ago and the people would be free of Chavismo. That should be remembered in any discussion of 2nd Amendment rights. Why did 6.4 million (and counting) Venezuelans flee their homeland? It’s because they couldn’t stay and fight without firearms…and those that stayed are digging through garbage trucks for food and eating dogs.

 Now might be a good time to tell you that Rio Times reports the Venezuela Minister of Communities and Social Movements announced Hugo Chavez’s family home will become a museum…I can’t wait.

 Then we have Mehr News telling us that the Iran Vice President of Science and Technology and the Venezuela Minister of Science and Technology agree to cooperate in all technological fields. They mentioned, among other things, vaccine production…frightening!

 Then we have Counter Vortex telling us about an Orinoco Tribune piece on the murder of indigenous leader, Virgilio Trujillo. It was mostly just a pro-government propaganda piece without any information on the investigation, which at this point seems to be at a standstill.

 More tomorrow….