The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Alex]

The exact quote I've been seeing ends without anything about being shot, just "too bad the people of Venezuela don't have free speech."

As for how things are in Venezuela, here is the opening paragraph from an open letter to Hugo Chavez by Human Rights Watch in 2004:

I am writing to express Human Rights Watch’s deep concern about credible reports we have received that National Guard and police officers beat and tortured people who were detained during the recent protests in Caracas and other Venezuelan cities. Such cases were not unusual or exceptional. The abuses allegedly committed were widespread and appeared to enjoy official approval at some level of command in the forces responsible for them.