YET another manifestation of oppression by the Duterte administration, another coalition of groups against him freely organized held their first assembly in a state-owned university to denounce the fascist du jour. Bello’s spite for “consolidation of absolute power” is quite perplexing, given his glowing eulogy for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In The Authoritarian Resurgence: Autocratic Legalism in Venezuela, political scientist Javier Corrales pointed out that under Chávez a lot of autocratic laws were passed in Venezuela. The Organic Law of Telecommunications which allowed the government to suspend or cancel licenses of private broadcasters if it is “convenient for the interests of the nation, or if public order and security demand it.”2. Months before he died, Chávez announced that Venezuela would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights.

Source: Manila Times October 30, 2017 16:18 UTC