TFA members are concerned about the biased and misleading reporting about events in Venezuela. On occasion, even our own KPFA free speech radio has been repeating the propaganda. We have sent the following letter to KFPA management and producers with specific suggestions to improve the coverage.

Dear KPFA Management, Programmers and Producers,

We are long time listeners and supporters of KPFA and would like to offer some suggestions regarding KPFA’s coverage of Venezuela.

As you know, public misinformation and deception play an important role in enabling the US government to destabilize and overthrow governments they do not like. Falsehoods such as the incubators in Kuwait (1991) and viagra fuelled rape in Libya (2011) were broadcast sensationally to demonize the target and facilitate the aggression. The lies were eventually revealed, but the damage was already done.

It’s important that KPFA not be part of the echo chamber which uncritically broadcasts false accusations and misinformation which effectively supports US intervention and aggression.

It’s clear the US establishment is trying to overthrow the Venezuelan government. This has been going on for many years but has dramatically escalated with Trump, Bolton and Abrams. There are going to be sensational and false claims in the future, just as there recently was regarding the ‘humanitarian aid” truck which caught fire at the Colombia-Venezuela border. It’s likely there will also be violence. As happened in the past (Caracas 2002, Kiev 2014), mercenary snipers may shoot people on both sides to ignite the situation. Truth matters and we should be be very skeptical and inquiring about sensational western accusations against the Venezuelan government.

KPFA has played a positive role broadcasting sharp analysts such as Miguel Tinker Salas, Lucas Koerner, John Pilger, George Cicciarello-Maher and others. At the same time, some poor analyses have been broadcast and sometimes the news has been indistinguishable from corporate funded NPR.

We suggest KPFA guard against broadcasting misinformation and falsehoods by following alternative sources such as Telesur, VenezuelAnalysis, RT, Resumen LatinoAmericano, The Real News and The Grayzone.  The information and analyses at these sites is usually more accurate than at Reuters, AP, BBC, PBS, etc.

Resumen LatinoAmericano is a good weekly summary of Latin American stories and analyses. VenezuelAnalysis is reporting directly from Venezuela.

During the news,  it would help inform listeners to identify where the news report comes from. Please tell listeners when you are reading or distilling script from AP or Reuters or Telesur or RT.

If you are going to have speakers from neo-liberal think-tanks such as Washington Office on Latin America, please include another guest who can counter the misinformation. Better yet, host a debate.

Finally, please be aware there are people from the Bay Area recently returned from Venezuela. They can offer first hand observations that often are dramatically different from those being portrayed in mainstream media.  Please invite more people like this. We can provide contact information.

It’s a critical time.  We look forward to your response to our suggestions.

In solidarity,

TFA Board Members:  Diana Bohn,  Carissa Brands,   Theresa Cameranesi,  Bill Hackwell,  Roger Harris,  Faye Hinze,  Cynthia Johnson, Alicia Jrapko,   Marilyn Langlois,  Alice Loaiza,  Carol Moeller,  Antonio Pinto,  Maria Robinson,  Dr. Bruce Scotton,  Rick Sterling