Freedom of Speech

I was just reading this article by one of my favorite Venezuelan bloggers, titled The Fall of the Last Bastion of Free Speech in Venezuela on Foreign Policy's website.  Its a good article, but you can gather the theme from the title.

I began blogging to record our life in China - a country completely lacking freedom of speech.
Now I blog in Venezuela - a country with free speech in their constitution.

Now, granted, we were not part of an American government mission in China - a large factor, certainly.  Still, I never worried that posting my opinion would get me into trouble until I lived here.

Addendum:  While everything I have said above is true, it also needs to be taken with quite a few grains of salt.  I was reading an article on free speech in The Economist a few days ago, and realized how much I have oversimplified both issues.  Worth remembering that a: The Chinese lack freedom of speech, but not so much their expatriates.  Also that b: our position with the government limits my speech dramatically.