English
Español
It must be admitted, Human Rights Watch (HRW) ha puesto el dedo en la llaga. In the past months, HRW not only managed to enrage the 'democratic government' of Venezuela, with a report that prompted the unlawful expulsion from that country of its Americas Director, Jose Miguel Vivanco, but only a few days after, Colombia's President made a series of baseless 'allegations' against Vivanco, going as far as suggesting that he's a supporter of the narcoterrorist group FARC.
Vivanco's position reminds that of Romulo Betancourt: i.e. a man equally capable of levying harsh criticism to putschists on both extremes of the political divide, for, unless some may have failed history lessons, attempts on Betancourt's life were tried by right-wing and left-wing dictators alike. We no longer live in a time of towering moral figures, of presidents that get dictators expelled from the community of democratic nations, as Betancourt did with Trujillo once upon a time.
However that report, is making some 'intellectuals' fume, success in civil rights advocacy, after all, is not measured by friends' praise but by vitriol of foes. One of HRW's errs is that it cited this article of mine, as a source in their report. The 'intellectuals,' many of whom have been exposed as nothing more than paid propagandists of Chavez, allege that "minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy, or credibility" were not applied by HRW in the production of the report. While in the subject of strict adherence to academic standards, a concept completely alien to some of them, they venture into saying: "this report ventures even further into the zone of unreliable sources and cites a mentally unstable opposition blogger as a source. (p. 20, footnote 30)." A remarkably 'accurate' statement no doubt, and one which they had surely arrived at after applying rigorous academic principles.
It is not lost that this collectivity of Latin American 'experts' are cheering for a military caudillo that has had no qualms in conducting coups, in ordering massive killings and imprisoning political opponents while it cuddles and protects internationally wanted terrorists and is deeply involved in regional destabilization, corruption and anti democratic practices.
I guess I must be onto something. Perhaps I should feel proud that, the 'world's leading intellectual,' and a group of 'preeminent figures' from the radical left, are lending their time, 'credibility and impartiality' to provide 'accurate' conclusions about my mental state.
