Chavez’s Latest Nemesis: The Internet

Can we bring George W. Bush out of retirement so Venezuela’s president has something more appropriate to rant about? A reportedly pissed Hugo Chavez said Saturday, “The Internet cannot be something open where anything is said and done.” Someone tell @shitmydadsays.

Reuters:

“The Internet cannot be something open where anything is said and done. Every country has to apply its own rules and norms,” Chavez said. He cited German Chancellor Angel Merkel as having expressed a similar sentiment recently.

Chavez is angry with Venezuelan political opinion and gossip website Noticierodigital, which he said had falsely written that Diosdado Cabello, a senior minister and close aide, had been assassinated. The president said the story remained on the site for two days.

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AP

translates the Chavez quote as “free” instead of “open,” but the gist of its reporting is the same. Tip of the hat to CNET News.