Venezuelans 'ban' political chat (BBC)

[pescao]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3379755.stm

Venezuelans 'ban' political chat

In Venezuela, it is politics that dominates the conversation.
Often the debates can get too heated.

So much so that some restaurants and shops in the capital Caracas are discouraging people from talking about politics.

At one Italian cafe in the east of city, there is a sign above the counter which reads in bold letters, "Here it is forbidden to talk about politics."

"We decided to put this sign up because we'd simply had enough of all the heated political discussions between our clients," Johnny Harlouchi, the manager of the bar, told BBC World Service's Outlook programme.

...

[Pale_Rider]

1. Understandable ...

... same reasons why I discourage political chat at work. I need to have my team working together, not getting pissed at each other.

[pescao]

2. lets just save politics for the internet, eh?

after all, we dont want anyone getting pissed at each other in restaurants, or cafes, or at school, or work, or on buses, or in the street... in fact, lets just ban talking about politics altogether!

[Occulus]

3. Oh, my, yes.

God forbid we discuss issues of national importance whenever we feel like it. I mean, we honestly wouldn't want to force people to think for themselves simply because they're captive to the job at the time?

Heavens, no.... /sarcasm

[salin]

4. Hiya Pescao!

It's been a long time. :hi:

How are the sentiments on the streets, these days? We get such scarce (and slanted) news coverage up here. I will never forget you postings during the period of the coup - gave us a much more accurate flavor of what was going on.

[pescao]

7. hi salin!

only been here a coupla weeks, but i get the impression that even the chavez-haters realise the "opposition" are a bunch of opportunistic scumbags who have no strategy for venezuela other than "get rid of chavez and everything else will work itself out" by which they mean all the oil $ will work itself back into their swiss bank accounts...

the big problem is of course that this is an extremely divided country, and no referendum is going to solve that. in fact, i can think of only one way to unite a people split like this - a common enemy. and we all know who that is here!

meanwhile, mr C is looking strong (and i cant wait to see "alo presidente" tomorrow with danny glover on it!)

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040109005463&newsLang=en

January 09, 2004 01:59 PM US Eastern Timezone

Fitch Assigns 'B-' Rating To Venezuela's US$1B Issue

...

Politics will remain highly contentious and uncertain over the coming six to nine months, depressing potential economic activity and raising political risk. The process to recall President Chavez could be completed by early May, but Fitch believes the most likely outcome is that he remains in office through the end of his term in 2006.

[salin]

11. thanks for the update!

and please keep us informed with different developments - news coverage here can be pretty scarce. :hi:

[goforit]

5. OMG!!!............The people can live in peace!!!!

LOL!!!

[joshcryer]

6. wtf? why not just ban disruptive a**holy behavior?

Seems like the more rational solution. Be an asshsole, you're kicked from the resturant. That fucking simple.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

8. Kind of a misleading headline since it is BUSINESSES doing it

not law enforcement. I'd expect better from BBC

[pescao]

9. i think that´s why ´ban´ is in quotes n/t

[IbeaMoran]

10. Isn't a dictatorship wonderful?

Life is so much simpler when you are told how to behave and speak.

[oldcoot]

12. What dictatorship?

The government is not banning political discussions in Venezuela. Instead, it is private businesses that are banning the conversations because they are afraid that they will turn violent. In the United States, private businesses could probably get away with the same thing.

If you read the entire article, you will notice that the media is controlled by the opposition and is frequently critical of President Chavez. Bands also freely criticize the government. If Chavez was an evil dictator, I doubt that either the media or bands would openly criticize the government. I wonder if these bands even have to worry about boycotts or about being banned by radio channels for having controversial views.