mr president press freedom and free democratic government are the foundations of the eu
for hugo chávez the pseudo-dictator of venezuela they are simply obstacles on his path to absolute power
he is a demagogue not a democrat and has ruined the venezuelan economy
yet still this house has its fair share of chávez apologists like mr higgins perhaps because chávez reflects their virulent anti-americanism and their resentment of the success of president uribe in neighbouring columbia
it is lamentable that other political groups on the left refuse to join with us in the political mainstream of the house in condemning the increasingly arbitrary and serious affronts to basic freedoms perpetrated by the chávez regime
his response to a tv station critical of his rule was simply to take it off the air
it reminds me of a similar situation in the prc china where the communist regime tried to stop a european company from broadcasting anti-communist tv programmes
chávez has therefore unashamedly identified himself alongside china's authoritarian and hard-line rulers
his closest friends internationally are dictators castro lukashenko and ahmadinejad which speaks volumes
my group the ecr supports the venezuelan people in their efforts to bring genuine democracy to that country
