Is there any depth to which Marty Baron’s Washington Post won’t stoop?
Americans have come to expect the Washington Post to recycle Qatari propaganda, like Jamal Khashoggi, but then the social justice tabloid decided to go to Venezuela and engage in some ‘bothsideisms’.
Most of the story consists of the usual tour of misery in which Venezuleans are struggling to find water. The story does note the government’s role in the failure. But then it introduces a strange note of blaming the opposition.
The theme appears early on.
The sides have been locked in a political stalemate since January, when Maduro claimed a second term as president after elections widely viewed as fraudulent and opposition leader Juan Guaidó responded by declaring himself interim president. Guaidó, recognized by the United States and more than 50 other countries as Venezuela’s rightful leader, has been leading mass rallies throughout the country calling for Maduro to step down.
Caught in the middle have been ordinary Venezuelans, across all classes.
“Ordinary” can be found on both sides. I’m sure.
Also the miserable conditions, particularly the blackouts and the water shortages, have nothing to do with the opposition and the protests. They’re the result of a socialist government and its failed policies. Whatever you think of the opposition, they have nothing to do with the water.
Blanco doesn’t blame the opposition for the collapse of Venezuela’s infrastructure. But she doesn’t blame the government, either.
“We don’t blame anyone,” she said. “Getting desperate doesn’t help anyone.”
Again, the Washington Post keeps introducing the idea that the opposition has something to do with the lack of water.
The article closes, not only with the same theme, but with heightened moral equivalence.
The 62-year-old homemaker’s brow furrowed. The black Chihuahua in her lap trembled as she lamented how briefly the water haul would last in her household — two days.
“There’s no money. There’s no power. There’s no water. I feel powerless,” Salazar said. “Everyone is guilty — the opposition and the government. It’s all the same. Everyone wants power, and the people are worse off for it.”
The Post is quoting, but it’s quoting selectively.
The water situation has nothing to do with the opposition. But the Washington Post keeps introducing the idea that both sides are to blame. But the opposition does not control power or water. It has nothing to do with it. But it looks like the Post doesn’t want to admit that socialism is the real problem.
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