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In reply to the discussion: The wild card in Venezuela: armed Chavistas [View all]Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)50. HRW came out of Helsinki Watch
It's easy - because I've heard of them for a very long time - to find examples of their longtime involvement in calling attention to Latin dictatorships and their brutality. Impartially.
For instance, on Guatemala during Reagan:
A different picture -- far closer to the secret information held by the U.S. government -- was coming from independent human rights investigators. On March 17, ] 983, Americas Watch representatives condemned the Guatemalan army for human rights atrocities against the Indian population.
New York attorney Stephen L. Kass said these findings included proof that the government carried out "virtually indiscriminate murder of men, women and children of any farm regarded by the army as possibly supportive of guerrilla insurgents."
Rural women suspected of guerrilla sympathies were raped before execution, Kass said. Children were "thrown into burning homes. They are thrown in the air and speared with bayonets. We heard many, many stories of children being picked up by the ankles and swung against poles so their heads are destroyed." [AP, March 17, 1983]
New York attorney Stephen L. Kass said these findings included proof that the government carried out "virtually indiscriminate murder of men, women and children of any farm regarded by the army as possibly supportive of guerrilla insurgents."
Rural women suspected of guerrilla sympathies were raped before execution, Kass said. Children were "thrown into burning homes. They are thrown in the air and speared with bayonets. We heard many, many stories of children being picked up by the ankles and swung against poles so their heads are destroyed." [AP, March 17, 1983]
Deciding whether to trust them is and should be based on their entire past record. It is, as far as I'm concerned, an excellent one. I am serenely unsurprised that his government attacked them for their report.
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From the first, the oligarchy's organized opposition has committed to their own violence
Judi Lynn
Mar 2013
#42
Remember the massacre of over 3,000 people which preceded that coup from the same President
Judi Lynn
Mar 2013
#56
Funny how no one thought these guys had 2nd Amendment rights. No NRA to support them. nt
kelliekat44
Mar 2013
#103
It's a good thing that so many people are standing up for their god-given rights and bucking...
harmonicon
Mar 2013
#12
They've prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol for the next week, until the funeral/mourning
MADem
Mar 2013
#20
right, because chavez either painted that himself or commissioned someone to paint it..
frylock
Mar 2013
#7
I don't know what to say if you don't find that image deeply disturbing.
Benton D Struckcheon
Mar 2013
#34
i'm still trying to understand chavez's culpability in the creation of this image..
frylock
Mar 2013
#36
Please go ahead and post some information on these people Hugo Chavez has murdered.
Judi Lynn
Mar 2013
#45
Well acquainted with their origin. I've posted articles on them for well over 10 years,
Judi Lynn
Mar 2013
#52
Like I said, you either choose to trust them or take the word of the Venezuelan government.
Benton D Struckcheon
Mar 2013
#53
His record is what we ALL, including the distinguished people who sent the HRW censure, regard
Judi Lynn
Mar 2013
#57
Hard to avoid acknowledging Guatemala and torture, after all the history, isn't it?
Judi Lynn
Mar 2013
#60
It also very well sums up the Tea Party and the reactionary right here at home.
bemildred
Mar 2013
#26
They're called self defense militias and EVERY left wing revolution........
socialist_n_TN
Mar 2013
#10
It depends on who they support and who provides funding for them..........
socialist_n_TN
Mar 2013
#85
What the mother-loving EFF!? How are we going to topple their govt. with assholes like these?
Poll_Blind
Mar 2013
#17
My immediate impression, too, when I saw this headline long before it was posted here.
Judi Lynn
Mar 2013
#55
My god, I just got back and looked at my post and saw I wrote "wrong" meaning "right".
Judi Lynn
Mar 2013
#67
do you really think Obama is that stupid? He did not go to Harvard & become president on his rich
wordpix
Mar 2013
#69
Based on that mural, these people are wackos and have no idea what Jesus is all about.
Pterodactyl
Mar 2013
#70
Poor people who are armed are less easy to destroy. The oligarchy wants power back.
Selatius
Mar 2013
#76
If this was about some armed Tea Party militia, I have a feeling the comments would be different
ButterflyBlood
Mar 2013
#78
The Venezuelan shantytown dwellers in the hills above Caracas were slaughtered
Judi Lynn
Mar 2013
#79
If any people needed a militia to protect themselves from their would be conquerors
Exultant Democracy
Mar 2013
#86