Free Venezuela

Today Andrés Correa interviews Venezuelan priest and professor Luis Ugalde. A highly respected voice among social and political analysts in Venezuela, Luis Ugalde is the former rector of Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, and currently serves as the Director of the Center for Educational Planning and Reflection of the Jesuits, and the Central Conference of Jesuit Provincials in Latin America. He has pursued and graduated with degrees in Philosophy, Literature, Theology and Sociology. Speaking today as a Doctor in History, his viewpoint is that of a specialist in the Social and Economic History of Venezuela.

In this podcast he speaks about the attacks from Venezuelan government to the Catholic Church over the last 15 years, and points out that, even though there are elections, there is no real democracy in Venezuela. Professor Ugalde also denounces the government’s use of the school system to indoctrinate the population ideologically, a population that continuously resists these attempts. He projects a very difficult year for the Venezuelan economy, and argues that the silence of the OAS about the "hegemonic will" in Venezuela is due to the country’s mass imports from Brazil as well as the government’s numerous irresponsible donations. Nevertheless, having studied several crises as a former member of the Social Equity Forum of the Inter-American Development Bank, he remains optimistic.

Today Andrés Correa interviews Ecuadorian reporter Jeannette Hinostroza. She recently received the International Press Freedom Award, given by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). She has more than 21 years of professional experience in Colombia and Ecuador. Her popular interview show "La Mañana de 24 horas" went off the air after a wave of threats. For the past decade she has hosted another news program, "30 Plus". She has been directly attacked by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa who, according to her, is following the recipe of the Venezuelan government to silence the criticism.

She talks about the links between the Venezuelan and the Ecuadorian governments, how they silence a free press by closing media and promoting self censorship.

Today Andrés Correa interviews José Domingo Blanco, a well known Venezuelan journalist with more than 35 years of experience as a producer, reporter and presenter on TV, radio and advertising. He is a political analyst, and currently a columnist for El Universal.

He talks about the possibility that the Maduro regime will seek the suspension of the up coming elections of December 8th. He also discusses risks for the opposition, as there wont be independent TV stations covering the elections. Finally he discusses the 21st anniversary of the November 27th 1992 rebellion, and some of the myths and "half truths" regarding that bloody day of Venezuelan history.

Today Andrés Correa interviews Fernando Ochoa Antich, a former member of the Venezuelan military (retired), lawyer, diplomat and politician. As Minister of Defense he dealt directly with the unrest of February 4th, 1992. Later he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador of Venezuela to Mexico. Currently he is a columnist for El Universal.

In this podcast he talks about how the Maduro administration has tried to weaken the Venezuelan military while creating an unprecedented number of high rank posts in an effort to divide its leadership. He discusses his belief that Carmen Meléndez, current Minister of Defense (first woman in Venezuelan history), is making the same mistakes as her predecessors: she is unable to see the difference between government and State, and to prevent growing corruption in the armed forces. Nevertheless, he is confident that eventually, as happened along the 20th Century, that the Venezuelan military will play a role in resolving the current crisis.

Free Venezuela Podcast with Rosa Maria Paya by Free Venezuela

Today Andrés Correa interviews human rights defender Marco Antonio Ponce, Coordinator of the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict. He researches for the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLASCO) and the Venezuelan Program of Education-Action in Human Rights (PROVEA). He is also a professor at Universidad Central de Venezuela, where he teaches Sociopolitics, Human Rights and International information systems.

He talks about how the Venezuelans keep protesting peaceably in the streets, even though the regime represses them with violence and jail. In average, there are 15 protests per day in Venezuela, with more that 5,000 per year, more than in any other Latin American country, and the figures keep growing. For him, this is another expression of the truly Democratic spirit that underlies in the Venezuelan society. Right now, the shortages of basic goods and runaway inflation are generating a new type of spontaneous protests at supermarkets, that the government want to repress.

Andres Correa interviews Miguel Angel Rodriguez who has been part of the National Assembly since 2010, when the opposition parties returned to the Parliament. Before that, he was a well known anchor at RCTV, a station closed by the Chavez administration in 2007.

In this interview, Rodriguez talks about how:

-The Venezuelan Parliament is paralyzed because the chavista bloc is not interested in debate at all.

-The work of the opposition members of the Venezuelan Congress should be: "resistance".

- The violence inside the house against the opposition is both verbal and physical.

-There is overwhelming evidence that the April 14th vote was marred by electoral fraud.

-The future of the next two generations of Venezuela is "mortgaged".

-The next months look very difficult for Venezuela.

-Venezuela's opposition doesn't seek interventionism, but they resent the lack of international support in our uneven fight for Venezuelan democracy.

Andres Correa interviews Diana Gomez about Jorge Lanata's detainment by the Venezuelan government following the presidential election, the upcoming elections on December 16th, Chavez's declining health, and the importance for everyone to get out and vote!