Surely Bertolt Brecht could not have done better...

A few years ago, Teodoro Petkoff made audiences guffaw with  his bon mot about how, more and more, the Chávez government treats the Constitution as though it were...

You, sir, have been topped.
You, sir, have been topped.

A few years ago, Teodoro Petkoff made audiences guffaw with  his bon mot about how, more and more, the Chávez government treats the Constitution as though it were a subversive pamphlet.

Today, as we greet news that the government is actually moving to stop an opposition newschannel from broadcasting any discussion of one of the constitution’s articles, Teodoro’s words look less like playful hyperbole and more like a dadaist kind of prescience.

Globovisión stands accused of “inciting hatred, uncertainty and an alteration of public order” for…quoting words from Article 231 of the 1999 constitution (you know the one, the one that Chávez used to describe as “the best in the world”.) Conatel’s action includes language banning the publication not just of the offending clips but of any material that may be considered similar to them – effectively censoring any discussion of article 231.

You would say it reads like satire, except El Chigüire would never go for something so ham-fisted, so obvious.

A final thought: if Globovision puts together some clips about Article 58 and those get censored too, does it create a rip in the space-time continuum?!