Latin America: As Pakistan’s tightening dictatorship draws global opprobrium, a curious double standard is emerging in Venezuela as democracy gasps its last and celebrities continue to file in. Where’s the decency?
That’s what was seen in the message sent by the latest visitor to Miraflores Palace, supermodel Naomi Campbell, who gushed “amazement” at the “love and encouragement” in the Venezuelan dictatorship as students battled riot police in the streets below.
It wasn’t just an aberration. When the Rev. Jesse Jackson visited Hugo Chavez in August 2005, other street battles occurred beneath the balcony as the reverend praised the dictator.
There is no decency. It’s all about Rev. Jesse’s and Naomi’s and Sean’s and Hugo’s egos.
Glenn Reynolds nails it:
WHY IS THE WORLD MORE CONCERNED with Musharraf’s coup than with Hugo Chavez’s emerging dicatatorship? Because enemies of the United States, like Chavez, get a pass.
Indeed.
