Today Gregory Wilpert interviews Ignacio Ramonet, the former editor of Le Monde Diplomatique and also the author of numerous books, including book-length interviews with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and who has also written a lot on the mass media and the changing media landscape. The conversation begins with a discussion of methods being used in new kinds of coup attempts fostered by conservative forces that have not been able to achieve electoral victories against progressive governments with popular support, most recently those headed by Nicolas Maduro, Dilma Rousseff and Cristina Fernandez. It then turns to the role of the mass media in efforts to overthrow these governments and the ways in which the media is also attacking new movements in Europe that are taking Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador as examples in dealing with austerity policies.
