In 2007, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez government effectively shut down RCTV, the nation's most influential private cable channel. The decision sparked protests across the country. Atlanta's Venezuelan community demonstrated locally, too. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento , who was 10 at the time, attended with her parents and learned from them to value freedom of expression and an unfettered press. The recent Georgia State University graduate now exercises those rights as a columnist for Teen Vogue . This