Movimiento 2D
The Movimiento 2D (2D Movement, M2D or simply 2D) is a Venezuelan opposition movement led by El Nacional editor and proprietor Miguel Henrique Otero. 2D, founded by Otero in late 2007 in the run-up to the 2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum,[1] includes a number of prominent Venezuelans besides Otero, including former foreign minister Simón Alberto Consalvi, who served under both Jaime Lusinchi and Carlos Andrés Pérez.[2] The name of the movement refers to 2 December,[3] being the date of the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election.[4] In February 2010 M2D announced it would support the opposition electoral coalition Mesa de la Unidad Democrática in the September 2010 parliamentary election.[5]
In a 2D press conference opposing the 2009 Venezuelan constitutional referendum, President Hugo Chávez was compared to Juan Vicente Gómez, the Venezuelan dictator of the 1920s and 1930s,[6] and 2D's Pablo Medina said Venezuela would become a dictatorship if it was approved.[7] The referendum to remove term limits from all public offices was approved.
In June 2010 2D criticised the government takeover of Banco Federal.[8] In mid-August 2010, in the run-up to the parliamentary election, after El Nacional published in its frontpage publication a graphic archival photo of bodies in a morgue, to illustrate a story about rising crime rates, the government banned the publications, sparking international outcry.[9] Otero said that "The editorial reasoning behind the photo was to create a shock so that people could in some way react to a situation that the government has done absolutely nothing about."[10]
References
- (in Spanish) El Nuevo Herald, 10 January 2008, Denuncian gobierno de facto en Venezuela Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine
- Movimiento 2D, Nosotros Archived 2010-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
- (in Spanish) YVKE, 22 September 2008, Movimiento 2D continúa conspirando contra Constitución venezolana Archived 2011-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
- The presidential election is held on the first Sunday in December of the year the election falls due.
- (in Spanish) El Nacional, 26 February 2010, Movimiento 2D apoyará a Mesa de la Unidad para comicios del 26-S Archived 2012-07-09 at Archive.today. Movimiento 2D apoyará a Mesa de la Unidad para comicios del 26-S, archived from the original on 2012-07-17, retrieved 2014-09-27
- Vheadline.com, 20 February 2009, Patrick J. O'Donoghue's news and views from Venezuela -- February 10, 2009 Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- Vheadline.com, 8 February 2009, Movimiento 2D's Pablo Medina: Venezuela is about to run one of its last electoral processes Archived 2016-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
- El Universal, 18 June 2010, Venezuelan government takes over Banco Federal Archived 2010-06-21 at the Wayback Machine
- BBC, 18 August 2010, Venezuela bans 'violent' photos in newspapers
- CNN, 18 August 2010, Venezuelan newspaper owner defends photo that spurred investigation