Eugene V Debs wasn't accused of corruption and was arrested for doing nothing more than speaking. How exactly are you using that as a testament to American freedoms.

He was still allowed to run for president even though the government was totally against everything he stood for. That's the point. He still got to run even though he was in jail and was in total opposition to the people in power. Even with a conviction of actually breaking the law he was able to run, this guy is only accused of something and he's disenfranchised.

For the record, I think that the reason Debs was imprisoned was absurd. I'm certainly no socialist, but freedom of speech is important and applies to what he had to say just as much as it does to anyone else.

Debs was arrested but this corrupt oilman is allowed to campaign and speak freely. How is Chavez violating the 'rule of law' when the court found Lopez guilty? What do you expect from Invictus. Every wealthy corrupt opponent of a left-leaning regime is hailed as some kind of political hero. States like Haiti which had their left-leaning leaders overthrown and politicians disqualified from running get a pass. At any rate this goon is well behind in the polls even if he ran. Much ado about nothing.

The same Inter-American court said what, exactly, when Chavez was overthrown in a coup in 2002? Nothing. It's a puppet of American interests. The comptroller found Lopez had committed numerous infractions. This Lopez was part of that coup attempt. Your democratic hero signed the Carmona decree, abolishing democracy in Venezuela.

He was put in jail because he was in total opposition to the people in power...

It's wrong to prevent your political opponents from running. Period. I don't know anything about this guy. If he was to the left of Chavez and prevented from contesting the election I'd still think it was wrong.

He was "prevented" because he siphoned illegally siphoned off money from the oil company to his NGO, with his mother signing the check. He violated the law. He was also found guilty of corruption in 2004. He can still campaign. He can run his coup-loving mouth. He can hold office again in 2014. The other main opposition candidates, who are more popular than Lopez, aren't disqualified from holding public office. The media, owned by the rich, still attacks Chavez every chance it gets. You don't bother looking up anything about the context, all you see is something bad you can potentially say about Chavez. Apparently if you're a left-leaning regime you have to tolerate rampant corruption unless Invictus wishes death upon you.

*otherwise