Paid propaganda in the name of democracy

The premise is: Hugo Chavez's government in Venezuela, as many other democratically elected governments in Europe, USA and developed world, is far from perfect. But...my question is: do the Americans, the Europeans, and the Canadians know that their governments spend $40 million dollars to fund propagandistic projects in a foreign sovereign country, with the aim to provoke regime change? And, is this the international law?

I suggest you to read, and discuss, this article from Eva Gollinger on Znet, an independent non-corporated network of writers, journalists, and experts.

http://www.zcommunications.org/buying-the-press-by-eva-gollinger

Here some abstracts. I'd like to underline the fact that one ageny involved is "Freedom House", which is supposed to be independent (ah ah), and yearly gives a mark for the freedom of expression all over the world.....

US State Department documents declassified under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) evidence more than $4 million USD in funding to journalists and private media in Venezuela during the last three years. This funding is part of the more than $40 million USD international agencies are investing annually in anti-Chavez groups in Venezuela in an attempt to provoke regime change.

Today, corporate media outlets and their journalists use communications power to publicly promote the overthrow of the Venezuelan government. The owners and executives of these media corporations form part of the Venezuelan elite that, under the reigns of Washington, ran the country for forty years before Chavez won the presidency in 1998.
What these documents demonstrate is that Washington not only is funding Venezuelan media, in clear violation of laws that prohibit this type of “propaganda” and “foreign interference”, but also is influencing the way Venezuelan journalists perceive their profession and their political reality.

I'd like to ask to my American friends if this piece of news, which is quite serious politically, has been presented and discussed in any television news. About Italy, nothing has been said. They are so busy talking about Berlusconi (as always), hot weather, bikinis and beaches. In our case Freedom House is right: we are a partly free country.

Our trip over the norwegian polar artic circle, Lofoten islands - Last day!

6° day(Tuesday 23 february 2010) - Å - Moskenes - Bodø - Trondheim - Oslo

The week off for the norwegians hits again. Our ferry which will bring us from Moskenes to Bodø, leaves at 7am in the morning. The bus should run at that time, but it's off for the skiing week. We leave at 5:30am to walk 5 kilometres with baggages, torches and reflecting stripes; well, to be honest these tools are useless because all the road is light up, but by wearing all these stuffs, we really look like professional trekkers.
Air is fresh and pleasant, and the early morning walk is very nice, in spite of the baggages we have to carry. The ferry is quiet, everyone is sleeping somewhere, and we try to rest too. During the trip, however, we have a quick excrusion on the outside, to leave or peace message to the world.

At 11 o'clock we arrive in Bodø, where the climate difference, compared to the Lofoten islands, is easily noticeable. Indeed, that day has been the coldest of all the year for the city, with -15.1 °C! It has been a proper goodbye to the Nordland region and the polar artic circle.
We make for the train station, but before we buy some food and drinks for the long journey. Yes, because we are going to go back by train! A little train, with only two wagons with a 19° century taste, but clean and comfortable. The diesel fueled motive will bring us through the immense snow-clad expanses toward south, Trondheim, the third biggest city in Norway.

The trip lasts 10 hours, from 12:15 to 22:10, but the time passes quite quickly. The landscape is unreal, and your thoughts almost stops while watching outisde the land covered by snow, with few vegetation, while in the south everything is covered by woods. We also catch a glimpse of elks, the national animal.

In Trondheim we just have the time to have a look around in the train station, buy something in the usual kiosk, and .... insert a coin in the wonderful train plastic model to let the train go. This, of course, attracts a lot of children. It's always nice to donate a smile to a children and an already-growth children! :)

The night train, from Trondheim to Oslo (from 23:05 to 6:43), is a very useful option to travel in Norway. It's cheap, comfortable with reclining seats and it gives you a not-to-be-missed souvenir from the norwegian rail company! A travel kit with a soft grey fleece, an inflating pillow and a pair of earplugs. When you'll see the grey fleece around the world, you'll know that the owner has been in this wonderful country.

After 18 hours of travelling, we arrive in Oslo. This time we have some hours to visit the city, which luckily it's small enough to walk around. If you are planning to stay in Oslo for one or more day, I really advice you to buy the Oslo Card, which will give you free public transports (which are very expensive, one-way ticket is around 30 nok) and free entrance to almost all the museums. If well planned, you'll save a lot of money and see a lot of sights.

Temperature is quite low, the sky is overcast, but we cannot miss the Vigelandsparken (about 3km from the train station), the famous park adorned by 212 bronze and rocky statues created by the norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland. The statues, which represent men, women and children, portray different moments of the life, and are really curious to see. I always found this park a place of reflection, and it's one of my favourite sight in Oslo.

Time, however, is passing fast, and we start to go back to the train station. One of the members of the Lofoten team will leave from Oslo Torp (and now you know where it is, see 1° day diary). To go there, you can choose between a comfortable train (224 nok adults, 168 nok students) or a direct bus (180nok).
Our trip finishes here. I hope that in the diary I succeded in finding a balance between details, practical tips and informations on local customs and traditions, without be boring. If you really dislike this, please comment and give me some advices on how to improve the next travel report. Ha det bra! Ciao!

To watch all the pictures in high quality (about 1000, taken with a Canon reflex EOS 350D 18-55mm, for the photograph enthusiastic) of our trip, click here.