Belatedly and Wrongly / Regina Coyula

It was not because the death was expected that the news affected me less. Wilman Villlar was a political activist accused of murder, contempt and who knows what other charges. I heard the news via text message last night. Now we can expect our press to report it, belatedly and badly. Belatedly, because the death took place yesterday and nothing has appeared in the media accessible to the people; badly, because either between the lines or explicitly, we will be given a rewritten version of the life of this man, who was a member of a peace movement, in which we disinformed citizens will be told that he was a mercenary in the pay of the Empire, and other insults of the kind which are now becoming a cliche. Yet, while they remain effective in influencing national public opinion, these methods won’t be scorned by the government’s propaganda machine.

In a modern and open society, political suicide does not exist. This is a blemish that will be hard to conceal, with the Pope’s visit in the offing. Many questions will have to be answered and many explanations given, all as a result of the pressure exerted by Benedict’s visit, since even the most credulous are starting to become suspicious at the deaths of various members of opposition groups in the last two years.

If anyone still places any hopes in a move towards transparency, this is a demonstration of how the “guidelines” are being followed.

Translated by P. Knopinski

January 20 2012