To honor honors, said the Apostle of our independence. But this maxim doesn’t always fit reality.
Listening to the news on the shortwave, I am stunned to find out that the Venezuelan dictator has been awarded, in an Argentine university, a prize for the freedom of expression. Thanks to him, who has taken the free press of his country hostage, who — under whatever pretext — has closed down radio and television stations, and keeps journalists in jail. What irony! Unless they’re now calling “freedom of expression” of shameless language, insulting, lacking in ethics and decent diction. What’s more, the prize acceptance speech was edited, due to his prohibiting the press from transmitting it live.
Of course, if you know some of the characters that have preceded him in this honor, you will know that the prize is not very prestigious. In this light, it’s conceivable that to honor does not always honor.
March 31 2011
