Stephen Lendman

National Public Radio (NPR) operates like other media scoundrels - reporting disinformation, Big Lies and fake news on major issues, suppressing or sanitizing what listeners most need to know.

Corporate funders demand no less. So do dark forces in Washington.

NPR long ago betrayed the public trust. Established in 1971, it promised to be an alternative to commercial media, “promoting personal growth rather than corporate gain…speak(ing) with many voices, many dialects.”

Instead it’s a voice for wealth, power and privilege, polar opposite its public pledge.

On August 24, it expressed support for Venezuela’s fascist opposition - instead of forthrightly backing Bolivarian social democracy.

NPR: “Disillusionment is running deep among young Venezuelans who spent the last four months battling government forces on the streets. They say the fight must continue.”

“The U.S. considers Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, a dictator. And it has already imposed three rounds of targeted sanctions against him and those close to him. Now Vice President Mike Pence says more will be coming.”

Fact: NPR has things backwards. Government forces are doing their job, battling US-orchestrated street violence, ongoing for months.

Fact: Maduro is a social democrat. He’s no “dictator,” a label Washington applies to independent leaders it opposes - praising real despots instead of condemning them.

Fact: Unilaterally imposed US sanctions on Venezuela and other countries are flagrantly illegal. No other nations should recognize them.

NPR: “(I)n in Venezuela, Maduro is rapidly consolidating his authoritarian rule.”

Fact: No “authoritarian rule” exists. Just the opposite!

NPR: “…Maduro creat(ed) a new legislature that he and the ruling Socialist Party entirely control. That body, the Constituent Assembly, has declared itself more powerful than all other government branches, nullifying Venezuela's Congress, which the opposition won by a landslide in 2015.”

Fact: By national referendum opposition fascists boycotted, Venezuelans democratically elected 545 Constituent Assembly members.

Fact: They’re tasked with revising or writing Venezuela’s constitution. They aim to restore order after months of street violence, along with preserving Bolivarian social democracy.

Fact: Voters will have final say on their work when completed - democracy in action.

Fact: No government branches were “nullif(ied).” Fascist opposition leaders declined to participate in the Constituent Assembly’s work when invited.

Undemocratic fascist politicians and street thugs comprise anti-Bolivarian “resistance,” cold hard facts NPR suppresses.

It’s called National Pentagon Radio or National Petroleum Radio for good reason.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."