Mainstream press often leaves out key background information about Venezuela situation

The mainstream press reports some false or misleading information about Venezuela. Sometimes this is just because the mainstream reports officials without comment even though what they say is false.

The Moon of Alabama deals with some of these false claims. However the mainstream media also leaves out key background information necessary to understand what is going on in Venezuela. I will give just a few examples.

The Venezuelan Supreme Court dissolved the General Assembly

The General Assembly had been in contempt of the court for some time after the Assembly seated three members which the Supreme Court claimed had been involved in invalid elections. The Assembly ignored the ruling. In response the Supreme Court dissolved the Assembly and ruled that all its powers would be transferred to it. The CNN report at the time not surprisingly slants towards the opposition views of what happened.

Of course the Assembly and its supporters were up in arms calling the move a coup. The ruling did result in Maduro's party ruling all three branches of the government. There are grounds to question the move no doubt, but the mainstream press does not even bring the matter up. This makes it impossible to understand the Maduro government position. Is that the idea?

Negotiations to solve the conflict

There have been at least three sets of negotiations designed to solve the conflict. One in the Dominican Republic last February supposedly reached an agreement as reported in this article: "The Venezuelan government claimed on Wednesday that it had reached a preliminary agreement with the country's main opposition coalition during ongoing talks in the Dominican Republic, lauding the milestone as a triumph over US efforts to bring about regime change in the South American country.

"Today Donald Trump has been defeated… Today the opposition and government of Venezuela signed a pre-agreement,” stated Communications Minister and delegate to the talks, Jorge Rodriguez." However the agreement was never ratified by the opposition and the talks broke down. Yet there is no talk of negotiations now as indicated in Pompeo's address to the UN a portion of which is on the appended video. In most reports there are no mention of prior negotiations nor of negotiations being a solution even though they avoid violence and involve Venezuelans themselves solving the issues.

Maduro himself has continually requested negotiations. Last January the National Assembly controlled by the opposition also had called for the negotiations held in the Dominican Republic but the Assembly was divided on the issue.

The Constituent Assembly

Probably most people have never heard of the Constituent Assembly but without some knowledge of it and its role it is impossible to understand how the Maduro government functions. Of course many reject the Assembly as shown in this Wikipedia article on the Assembly. However, it has assumed the powers that originally resided in the National Assembly.

There is some criticism of the Constituent National Assembly from within as noted in this article by Julio Escalona a member of the constituent national assembly (ANC): "The problem, from my point of view, is that even though the ANC has approved open debates in the street, in the barrios, in rural areas, etc., that hasn’t happened. A void exists, and it has to be filled soon! The debate internally within the ANC cannot remain inside the four walls of the Assembly chambers. The leadership, the heads of commissions, the delegates… everybody must go out to debate in public squares, in the barrios."

There are numerous other omissions that could be talked about some about the presidential election but perhaps what I have noted is enough to at least show how the mainstream press is guilty of sins of omission. While there is much to be legitimately debated with respect to all three issues, my point is that the mainstream media no longer bothers even to admit basic information necessary to understand the Maduro government position.

Tesla fined over $29,000 for violating California labor laws

The EV maker Tesla has had a fine of $29,365 imposed on it for violating California labor laws in its parking lot tent, GA4, where the company has been assembling the popular Model 3.

The fines were imposed by California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA)

The six violations

According to Business Week the six violations were:

Obtain a permit prior to building GA4

Inspect GA4 for potential safety hazards

Cover or guard an opening in the floor of GA4 that was 22 inches wide, 14 inches long, and 8-inches deep

Train enough employees to help evacuate workers from the facility in the event of an emergency

Properly train employees to prevent and respond to heat illness

Protect workers from exposed metal rods and rebar that posed a "hazard of impalement"

Laurie Shelby, Tesla's vice-president of environmental, health, and safety said that the company would challenge the findings and fine: “Nothing is more important to me or to Tesla than the health and well-being of our employees. My EHS team and operational leaders have been intently focused on [the tent assembly line] over the past six months, implementing safety protocols throughout the new line that not only keep Tesla in compliance with existing standards but also reduce risks to associates.”

Shelby also claims that the inspections were not a result of any incident or injury, and that Cal-OSHA performed them while the tent was still under construction. The report claims that the incidents cover the period between June and December last year so surely there must have been more than an inspection before the tent was fully built.

The Tesla tent at Fremont California

The assembly tent was set up in a parking lot outside the Tesla factory in Fremont California in the summer of 2018. It was intended to boost production of Model 3s to thousands per week. The idea was a huge departure from by-the-books automotive manufacturing. However, it increased production of the Model 3s by 50 percent helping to meet CEO Elon Musk's production targets. According to Musk it not only helped the company avoid death but to reach its first profitable quarter in two years. It still has not had a yearly profit.

Tesla has had safety problems in the past

Tesla has been accused of workplace safety issues repeatedly before. Cal-OSHA is reported to be running multiple investigations of the company. Recently, the on-site health clinic has been accused of underreporting injuries. Tesla said that in 2017 its injury rate dropped by 25 percent. In 2018 it claimed that the rate had dropped further, but without specifying how much.

Thomas Armstrong, a professor at the University of Michigan said that the violations were not surprising as Tesla built the facility, GA4, very quickly, but said the violations do not necessarily mean that the facility is unsafe,

Tesla is no stranger to fines nor is Elon Musk, as each paid fines of $20 million in the past.

Previously published in Digital Journal