Summary: Debating conditions in Venezuela provides a special topic this week on Latin Pulse, as the program provides an extended time for a diplomatic representative of the Bolivarian government to respond to questions. Beyond an official representative of the Venezuelan government a left-wing critic of the government also discusses his view that Venezuela is slipping into autocracy. The news segment of the program covers the call this week for further investigations into illegal domestic spying in Colombia and the sentencing of former government officials to long prison sentences for ordering such illegal activities. The program includes in-depth interviews with: Jesus Rodriguez-Espinoza, Consul General for the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela; and James Bloodworth, editor of Left Foot Forward. Executive Producer: Rick Rockwell; Producer: Jim Singer; and Production Assistant: Sierra Hancock. (To download or stream this podcast, click here.) (The program is 60 minutes in length and the file size is 83 MB.) podcast news Latin America diplomacy politics Venezuela autocracy justice authoritarianism Cuba spying media economics politics military United States Barack Obama energy housing domestic espionage riots Alvaro Uribe human rights Nicolas Maduro economic sanctions coup oil democracy dictatorship inflation national security Summit of the Americas George W. Bush Antonio Ledezma Drug Enforcement Administration political repression Hugo Chavez protest movement electrical grid hydro-electric dams alternative media cocaine smuggling Raul Castro Fidel Castro Drug War Leopoldo Lopez secret police infrastructure imperialism DEA Spain France torture CELAC ALBA colonialism environmentalism Bolivia Diosdado Cabello SEBIN
