International
Brazil’s Bolsonaro blocking critics on social media: HRW
AFP
Human Rights Watch accused Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Thursday of violating the right to free speech by blocking critics on social media, where the far-right leader maintains a heavy presence.
At least 176 journalists, lawmakers, influencers, ordinary citizens and others deemed critical of the president have had their access to his accounts blocked, mostly on Twitter, the New York-based rights group said in a report.
Bolsonaro “is trying to rid his social media accounts of people and institutions that disagree with him and turn them into spaces where only applause is allowed, part of a broader effort to silence or marginalize critics,” HRW’s Brazil director, Maria Laura Canineu, said in a statement.
The group noted that in the United States, an appeals court ruled in 2019 that Bolsonaro’s political role model, then-president Donald Trump, could not block critics from his Twitter account because that violated their constitutional right to free speech.
Bolsonaro, who has built his political brand largely around his fiery social media screeds, has around seven million followers on Twitter, 14 million on Facebook — where he hosts a weekly live address — and 18.6 million on Instagram.
Human Rights Watch said Bolsonaro was also violating the right of access to information of those concerned.
It said it is itself among the organizations blocked by Bolsonaro, along with leading online news site UOL, investigative site The Intercept Brasil and fellow rights group Amnesty International.
Brazilian Communications Minister Fabio Faria said it was the president’s right to block people.
“Official government accounts are one thing, but Jair Bolsonaro’s personal, individual accounts are another,” he said.
Bolsonaro claims his own right to free speech is regularly violated on social media, where he has had posts deleted on grounds of spreading fake news.
International
María Corina Machado kidnapped and forced to record videos before being released, says opposition
The Venezuela Command, the campaign team of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, denounced the “kidnapping” and subsequent release of political leader María Corina Machado after she led a protest in Caracas on the eve of the Venezuelan presidential inauguration.
In a post on X, the opposition team stated that the former lawmaker was “intercepted and knocked off the motorcycle she was traveling on” after leading a rally in the Chacao area of the Venezuelan capital.
“Gunshots were fired during the incident. She was forcibly detained. During her kidnapping, she was forced to record several videos, and then she was released,” the statement added, which was made public nearly two hours after Machado’s party, Vente Venezuela, reported that she had been “violently intercepted.”
International
Governor Jenniffer González expresses solidarity with Venezuela’s struggling opposition
Puerto Rico’s Governor Jenniffer González expressed her sorrow over Venezuela’s political crisis on Thursday and voiced her support for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, just one day before President Nicolás Maduro is set to take office following the controversial July elections.
“I think it is sad that the Venezuelan people have to suffer the consequences of a dictator who came to power by deceiving the people. I recognize Edmundo González for his leadership,” the governor stated during a press conference, coinciding with a day of protests by Venezuela’s opposition.
“The Venezuelan community has my full support, and, as we have done in the past, we will maintain that line of communication with whatever we can collaborate on,” assured the Puerto Rican head of government.
González Urrutia is currently in the Dominican Republic, the last announced stop on his American tour, where he was accompanied by Dominican President Luis Abinader and former Latin American presidents from the Spain and Americas Democratic Initiative (Grupo Idea).
International
Hundreds of venezuelan protesters demand ‘democratic change’ in Rome
Dozens of Venezuelans demonstrated in central Rome on Thursday to show their support for opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia and demand a “democratic change,” on the eve of the presidential inauguration that has deeply divided the country.
The protest took place in the Roman square of Largo Argentina and gathered several members of the Venezuelan diaspora and refugees, who sang their national anthem and displayed signs with the slogan “Glory to the brave people.”
Around 150 participants were present, according to one of the coordinators of the protest, Celeste Puerta from the ‘Aiuto Venezuela’ Civic Movement, who spoke to EFE.
Similar actions have been organized in other Italian cities, including Bologna, Florence, and Milan in the north.
María Corina Machado kidnapped and forced to record videos before being released, says opposition
Governor Jenniffer González expresses solidarity with Venezuela’s struggling opposition
Hundreds of venezuelan protesters demand ‘democratic change’ in Rome
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