When people ask me about the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, I respond that the Church is very supportive of him.

    In the last six months, three books have appeared on the market that I believe form an excellent introduction to recent Venezuelan history.

I don’t remember what year it was and I don’t know where I was at the time. Was I in a church, a park, an outdoor amphitheatre, or standing alongside the Union Pacific railroad tracks in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as a white train passed by carrying nuclear warheads? All I remember is holding the hands of others and swaying together as we sang the words from John Lennon’s song, “All we are saying / is give peace a chance.”

Today, almost forty years after Lennon first wrote those words, I hear a similar refrain echoing in my mind in Venezuela.

As I write this, I am looking at a Venezuelan newspaper, El Diario, from February 10, 1992. The editorial that would have occupied half of page 2 is missing. Page 4 is completely blank. The contents were censored by the government of the then president Carlos Andres Perez.

With only twelve days left before the December 3 Venezuelan presidential elections, the newspaper with the largest national circulation had as its major front page story: overweight women have a hard time finding clothes that fit them. Two days later, the principal headline informed the nation that the “hallaca,” a traditional Venezuelan Christmas meal, would be more expensive this year than last year in the government sponsored markets.

Four years ago a Catholic priest in Venezuela said that if the press were the lifeblood of democracy, then Venezuela needed a transfusion.
Today I saw a segment of the June 7 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN. If this program is representative of news reporting in the U.S., I would have to say the same about the state of democracy in the United States.

When I lived in the Caracas barrio of Nueva Tacagua, I had a neighbor, Mrs. America. Yes, that was her name, Señora América. I think she might have been in her forties or fifties but she appeared to be in her late nineties. She was also crazy.

“Writing is a lonely job.   Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference.  They don’t have to make speeches.  Just believing is usually enough.”  --Stephen King.

I have only read one book by Stephen King.  I may never read another.  It is not that I have anything against Mr. King.  I actually consider him a friend, although we have never met.  It is simply that I don’t like horror stories.

That dislike probably goes back to my childhood.  My older sisters used to listen to a weekly radio program, Inner Sanctum Mysteries.  It was on the air in the early evening and began with the sound of a screechy door.  I would cover my ears and ask them to shut it off.  They laughed and never did.  And I?  I continued to hear that damn door until the next morning when I awoke.

Venezuela has an AGO (anti-governmental organization) known internationally, SUMATE. SUMATE pretends to be an electoral watchdog, overseeing Venezuelan elections. But it has also been the self-designated keystone in the effort to oust President Hugo Chávez from the presidency.

Recently President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela said President George W. Bush of the United States was a donkey.
His comment immediately drew negative reactions. The U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, William Brownfield, said that such words did not contribute to the bettering of relations between the two nations. I heard similar comments from other people.