Dear Editor,

I use this medium to seek for a correction of a ‘false flag’ which was raised in Sunday’s February 3, 2019 edition of the Jamaica Observer on Page 29, under an article captioned ‘Protestors amass in Venezuela for and against Maduro’ , with an accompanying captioned photograph of a mass gathering, from an AFP source, that is purported to be of Opposition supporters.

This is farthest from the truth and, as any discerning reader can see, the crowd is predominantly decked out in the colour red, which represents Chavismo, interspersed with khaki-related colours of the army personnel who were also present in the mass gathering.

A closer look would also reveal the number 20 in colours of yellow and blue boldly visible against solid red background behind a mounted stage, which identifies the occasion to be one of commemorating the 20th anniversary of the inauguration of Hugo Chavez Frias as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which last Saturday, February 2, 2019 represents.

As a newspaper that has built a reputation for accuracy and fairness, you have to zealously guard against actions such as this because as, you and your readers are painfully aware, there is a diabolic campaign aimed at regime change of the democratically and constitutionally elected Government of our sister country led by President Nicolas Maduro, with the main protagonist being the USA and a motley cohort of seemingly bribed and bullied nations, which includes the so-called Lima group of Latin and Central America countries; two Caribbean countries, namely Guyana and St Lucia; Canada; and some European nations.

One of their main strategies is the use of the media in Goebbels-like fashion to foist a ‘puppet’ interim president who lacks the credibility and support among the Venezuela people, and the world at large, in a dangerous and unprecedented violation of international laws and practices.

Finally, in this age in which communication technology is at our fingertips, I know it’s not beyond the reach and resources of the Jamaica Observer to fact-check their sources for accuracy and to also seek out alternative avenues for information such as teleSur, Al Jazeera, RT, Haaretz to name a few, and not to rely solely on the traditional corporate foreign media which has proven time and time again to be enemies of the struggle of the people for a better life, for dignity, sovereignty and control of their God-given natural resources.

Trevor G Brown

scribe.brown@gmail.com