Editor's Comment: We re-introduce the 2010 BBC Debate with President Chávez by quoting Mark Weisbrot who was present when the BBC's Stephen Sackur tried to box Chávez into a corner but found himself somewhat cornered himself. We also include some excerpts from among President Chávez' comments. According to Weisbrot, some of the president's comments were censored by the BBC and omitted from the video. Knowing BBC's record as we do, this is not at all surprising. - Les Blough in Venezuela Mark Weisbrot: Stephen Sackur’s article is quite prejudiced and could use some journalistic objectivity, even if the author is against President Chávez and everything he stands for. I was there for the interview, and saw Chávez respond with concrete answers, some that would be quite convincing to a neutral observer, but I do not see any of these points included. It seems that the author included only rhetorical points that Chávez made about capitalism, etc., rather than trying to allow the reader to hear the other side of the story. We can only hope that the televised interview does not selectively edit for the same effect. It is possible to write an article that is highly critical of Chávez – if that is the author’s intention – without so much exaggeration, and misleading or inaccurate statements. [I saw this interview, and it was much more of a debate than an interview. The author was engaging Chávez in a debate, sometimes Chávez had to fight to get in a response. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this format, but it’s not surprising that Chávez might get agitated – I have never seen an interview of this nature, not from the late Tim Russert or any journalist known for challenging questions and follow-ups – it was a debate format, not an interview format, without a moderator.] Weisbrot responds to Stephen Sackur's written report of the interview: Sackur focuses almost exclusively on the negative. He brushes over the vast social transformation that has taken place in just one sentence: "Chávez quoted a stream of economic statistics … unemployment halved, extreme poverty down from 25% to 5%." The average reader might miss this entirely, as it is so tiny and reported as a mere allegation from a source that the media has demonised for the past decade. By contrast, Sackur reports the negative data and even some unsubstantiated allegations as fact. Interesting excerpts from President Chávez' answers in the videos below: "Eleven years ago I was quite gullible, I even believed in a 'third way'. I thought it was possible to put a human face on capitalism. But I was wrong." "The only way to save the world is through socialism, but a socialism that exists within a democracy. There's no dictatorship here."  "You don't know what you're saying, Stephen. Wow, does the BBC in London defend corruption. You are being used. You really don't know what you're saying." "I am not Obama's enemy but it's difficult not to see imperialism in Washington. Those who don't see it, don't want to see it, like the ostrich." "Venezuela is a free country and we will not be blackmailed by anyone," "We will not accept being told what to do over Iran, we will not accept being anyone's colony". "Whatever life I have left I will dedicate to this peaceful democratic revolution in Venezuela." PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE