Portside

The government has everything to lose from violence in the demonstrations, and the opposition has something to gain. Protests are initiated by ultra-right factions of the opposition in the hope of an eventual systemic overhaul. When is it considered legitimate to try and overthrow a democratically-elected government? In Washington, the answer has always been simple: when the U.S. government says it is.

Reader Comments - Keystone XL; Sid Caesar; Venezuela; UAW and Volkswagen; Bernie Sanders Run for President?; Chris Hedges; Nixon, Reagan and Sabotage of Peace; Healthcare; Love and Loneliness; Song for Pete Seeger; Announcements: -Remembering Freedom Summer and the Civil Rights Era - New York - Feb. 22; Teleconference on 'Moving Beyond Capitalism' - Feb. 24

Protests and violence between government and opposition reveal weaknesses and opportunities on both sides.

Reader Comments - Healthcare; Faculty Unions; NATO and the Ukraine; State Surveillance; Venezuela; Nelson Mandela, South Africa and SACP; MSNBC labor dispute; Germany; Voter Fraud in Iowa - 0.00075%; New Books - Rosa Luxemburg; Diners Guide to Ethical Eating; Jobs with Justice; A Letter from Leslie Cagan, Phyllis Bennis, Bill Fletcher & Other UFPJ Founders

President's party thwarts opposition hopes of denting Maduro's power in what it called a referendum on his performance

New York Times is asked to examine its coverage of Venezuela and Honduras by leading journalists, activists and media scholars. "Whatever one thinks of the democratic credentials of Chávez's presidency-and we recognize that reasonable people can disagree about it-there is nothing in the record, when compared with that of his Honduran counterparts, to warrant the discrepancies in the Times's coverage of the two governments."

The behavior of the Obama administration gives every Latin American and Caribbean leader pause.

Readers Comments: Henry Kissinger; Richie Havens; Chechnya, Terrorism; Whither the Socialist Left; Korea; Venezuela; Texas Plant; Nude Protests; Robin Hood Tax; Labor's Organizing Model; Announcements: Angela Y. Davis, Feminism & Abolition: Theories & Practices for 21st Century - Chicago - May 3; Labor Historians - AFL-CIO Needs Your Help: Organizing: New & Forgotten Methods; Maudelle Shirek Memorial - Berkeley - Apr 30; Resource: Workers Memorial Day - April 28

Reader Comments: NY Labor-Religion Coalition - support to people of Boston; Maduro victory - reader writes from Latin America; Capitalism; Grim jobs picture & horrible "grand bargain;" Stumble stones in Germany; Socialism; E. O. Wilson; more Announcements - 'The Bolivarian Revolution After Chávez' 4/17 & Poesîa en Abril 4/18 - Chicago; Wither the Socialist Left? - NYC - Apr 25; Today in History - Apr 15-17, 1960, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founded