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These two articles constitute the third part of a three-part series of e-mails. The first is an eyewitness account of the coup that transpired Friday in Venezuela. It is from Common Dreams: http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0412-08.htm
The second, from the Los Angeles Times, provides an example of how the U.S. press has handled the story: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-041302venez.story
Coup in Venezuela: An Eyewitness Account
by Gregory Wilpert
Published on Friday, April 12, 2002 by CommonDreams.orgThe orchestration of the coup was impeccable and, in all likelihood, planned a long time ago. Hugo Chavez, the fascist communist dictator of Venezuela could not stand the truth and thus censored the media relentlessly. For his own personal gain and that of his henchmen (and henchwomen, since his cabinet had more women than any previous Venezuelan government�s), he drove the country to the brink of economic ruin. In the end he proceeded to murder those who opposed him. So as to reestablish democracy, liberty, justice, and prosperity in Venezuela and so as to avoid more bloodshed, the chamber of commerce, the union federation, the church, the media, and the management of Venezuela�s oil company, in short: civil society and the military decided that enough is enough�that Chavez had his chance and that his experiment of a �peaceful democratic Bolivarian revolution� had to come to an immediate end.
This is, of course, the version of events that the officials now in charge and thus also of the media, would like everyone to believe. So what really happened? Of course I don�t know, but I�ll try to represent the facts as I witnessed them.
First of all, the military is saying that the main reason for the coup is what happened today, April 11. �Civil society,� as the opposition here refers to itself, organized a massive demonstration of perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 people to march to the headquarters of Venezuela�s oil company, PDVSA, in defense of its fired management. The day leading up to the march all private television stations broadcast advertisements for the demonstration, approximately once every ten minutes. It was a successful march, peaceful, and without government interference of any kind, even though the march illegally blocked the entire freeway, which is Caracas� main artery of transportation, for several hours.
Supposedly at the spur of the moment, the organizers decided to re-route the march to Miraflores, the president�s office building, so as to confront the pro-government demonstration, which was called in the last minute. About 5,000 Chavez-supporters had gathered there by the time the anti-government demonstrators got there. In-between the two demonstrations were the city police, under the control of the oppositional mayor of Caracas, and the National Guard, under control of the president. All sides claim that they were there peacefully and did not want to provoke anyone. I got there just when the opposition demonstration and the National Guard began fighting each other. Who started the fight, which involved mostly stones and tear gas, is, as is so often the case in such situations, nearly impossible to tell. A little later, shots were fired into the crowds and I clearly saw that there were three parties involved in the shooting, the city police, Chavez supporters, and snipers from buildings above. Again, who shot first has become a moot and probably impossible to resolve question. At least ten people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in this gun battle�almost all of them demonstrators.
One of the Television stations managed to film one of the three sides in this battle and broadcast the footage over and over again, making it look like the only ones shooting were Chavez supporters from within the demonstration at people beyond the view of the camera. The media over and over again showed the footage of the Chavez supporters and implied that they were shooting at an unarmed crowd. As it turns out, and as will probably never be reported by the media, most of the dead are Chavez supporters. Also, as will probably never be told, the snipers were members of an extreme opposition party, known as Bandera Roja.
These last two facts, crucial as they are, will not be known because they do not fit with the new mythology, which is that Chavez armed and then ordered his supporters to shoot at the opposition demonstration. Perhaps my information is incorrect, but what is certain is that the local media here will never bother to investigate this information. And the international media will probably simply ape what the local media reports (which they are already doing).
Chavez� biggest and perhaps only mistake of the day, which provided the last remaining proof his opposition needed for his anti-democratic credentials, was to order the black-out of the private television stations. They had been broadcasting the confrontations all afternoon and Chavez argued that these broadcasts were exacerbating the situation and should, in the name of public safety, be temporarily shut-down.
Now, all of �civil society,� the media, and the military are saying that Chavez has to go because he turned against his own people. Aside from the lie this is, what is conveniently forgotten are all of the achievements of the Chavez administration: a new democratic constitution which broke the power monopoly of the two hopelessly corrupt and discredited main parties and put Venezuela at the forefront in terms of progressive constitutions; introduced fundamental land reform; financed numerous progressive ecological community development projects; cracked-down on corruption; promoted educational reform which schooled over 1 million children for the first time and doubled investment in education; regulated the informal economy so as to reduce the insecurity of the poor; achieved a fairer price for oil through OPEC and which significantly increased government income; internationally campaigned tirelessly against neo-liberalism; reduced official unemployment from 18% to 13%; introduced a large-scale micro-credit program for the poor and for women; reformed the tax system which dramatically reduced tax evasion and increased government revenue; lowered infant mortality from 21% to 17%; tripled literacy courses; modernized the legal system, etc., etc.
Chavez� opposition, which primarily consisted of Venezuela�s old guard in the media, the union federation, the business sector, the church, and the traditionally conservative military, never cared about any of these achievements. Instead, they took advantage of their media monopoly to turn public opinion against him and managed to turn his biggest liability, his autocratic and inflammatory style, against him. Progressive civil society had either been silenced or demonized as violent Chavez fanatics.
At this point, it is impossible to know what will happen to Chavez� �Bolivarian Revolution��whether it will be completely abandoned and whether things will return to Venezuela�s 40-year tradition of patronage, corruption, and rentierism for the rich. What one can say without a doubt, is that by abandoning constitutional democracy, no matter how unpopular and supposedly inept the elected president, Venezuela�s ruling class and its military show just how politically immature they are and deal a tremendous blow to political culture throughout Latin America, just as the coup against Salvador Allende did in 1973. This coup shows once again that democracy in Latin America is a matter of ruling class preference, not a matter of law.
If the United States and the democratic international community have the courage to practice what they preach, then they should not recognize this new government. Democrats around the world should pressure their governments to deny recognition to Venezuela�s new military junta or any president they happen to choose. According to the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), this would mean expelling Venezuela from the OAS, as a U.S. state department official recently threatened to do. Please call the U.S. state department or your foreign ministry and tell them to withdraw their ambassadors from Venezuela.
Gregory Wilpert lives in Caracas, is a former U.S. Fulbright scholar in Venezuela, and is currently doing independent research on the sociology of development. He can be reached at: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Venezuelan President Resigns
S. America: Military arrests Chavez and names a businessman interim president.
April 13, 2002
Los Angeles TimesBy HECTOR TOBAR
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Hugo Chavez resigned as president and was placed under arrest by his former military allies Friday, after his charismatic reign as Venezuela's nationalist strongman came crashing down in a flurry of protest and violence.
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The military and its civilian allies named a 35-member "government of democratic transition" to run the country, headed by a prominent businessman and top Chavez critic. Pedro Carmona, the leader of Venezuela's largest business association, became interim president.Carmona promised to hold elections within a year to choose a new president for this oil-rich but economically troubled South American nation. The new ruling council announced a major overhaul of Venezuela's government, including the immediate firing of all members of the pro-Chavez National Assembly and Supreme Court.
"We must go about returning to the rule of law," Carmona, 60, told supporters after taking the oath of office at the presidential palace. "Strongman rule will be left behind. I will act in the most open manner, working with all sectors of the country."
The measures amounted to a counterrevolution, led primarily by the nation's business sector, to the highly personalized state that Chavez built in the three years since becoming president. The former paratrooper allied Venezuela with Fidel Castro's Cuba, espoused a fiery populist rhetoric and encouraged the growth of a cult of personality.
In a major shift in foreign policy, Carmona's government also said the state-owned oil company would discontinue Chavez's controversial oil sales to the Communist regime in Cuba.
Cuban Foreign Relations Minister Felipe Perez Roque said that his country still recognized Chavez as president and that the overthrow was illegal.
Chavez's supporters at home and abroad called the events in Venezuela a coup. Chavez, who led a failed coup 10 years ago as a lieutenant colonel, has not spoken in public since his last, defiant speech to the Venezuelan people Thursday afternoon, in which he said he would not step down.
In Caracas, the capital, Atty. Gen. Isaias Rodriguez said he had not seen evidence that Chavez had resigned.
"Why don't they allow him to be interviewed?" Rodriguez asked. "Did he commit a crime? Is resigning a crime?"
Rodriguez called the Carmona government "unconstitutional." A few hours later, Carmona announced that Rodriguez had been relieved of his duties.
Even the name of the country was changed Friday. Chavez fancied himself the true heir to the mantle of Simon Bolivar, the 19th century independence leader, and had renamed the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The new government announced, to loud cheers from its supporters in the palace, that the nation would once again be called, simply, the Republic of Venezuela.
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer declared the Bush administration's support for new elections in Venezuela and condemned the actions of Chavez's government against protesters that left at least 14 people dead and more than 200 wounded Thursday.
"According to the best information we have, the government suppressed what was a peaceful demonstration of the people," Fleischer said.
Several Latin American leaders, however, were critical of the new government. In Costa Rica, leaders at the summit of the 19-nation Rio Group of Latin American countries criticized "the interruption of constitutional order" in Venezuela.
Mexican President Vicente Fox said his country would not recognize Carmona's government until new elections were held, although he said it wouldn't sever diplomatic relations.
The streets of Caracas were calm Friday, a day after tens of thousands of people marched on the presidential palace to demand Chavez's resignation. Some witnesses said snipers positioned on rooftops had fired on the anti-Chavez protesters.
Chavez could face charges in the protesters' deaths. Still, he retained the support of an untold number of Venezuelans, especially among the poor. On Friday evening, the mood remained tense.
"How can it be that our president, the man we chose to lead us, is rotting in a jail cell?" said one of dozens of pro-Chavez callers to Faith and Happiness, a religious radio station.
"We repudiate, we hate what has happened," another caller said. "A group of military men has stabbed our president in the back."
Chavez is a cult hero to many impoverished Venezuelans, even though in the final months of his presidency he implemented tough economic policies demanded by the International Monetary Fund and sharply reduced government spending.
There were reports of violent protests Friday evening in some poor neighborhoods of the capital.
In a ceremony before Carmona was officially sworn into office, the members of the new government took pains to give his administration a veneer of legitimacy, scheduling legislative elections for December.
The new leaders cited a long list of crimes committed by Chavez's regime, including "an illegal concentration and usurpation of powers," the suppression of free speech and a foreign policy of "isolation" that harmed the Venezuelan economy.
Most of the military turned against Chavez on Thursday after the bloodshed near the presidential palace and after Chavez moved to shut down all the nation's private television stations.
After being taken from the palace before dawn Friday, Chavez was being held in an army base.
"He is not being held in any cell," army Gen. Rommel Fuenmayor said. "He is in a secure place being guarded by people of extreme confidence."
Fuenmayor added that, in the final hours of his rule, while negotiating his resignation with military officers, Chavez asked to be allowed to leave Venezuela and flee to Cuba.
Several of Chavez's political allies and high-ranking members of his government were arrested Friday, including Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, who is both interior and justice minister.
Rodriguez was detained by police in the city of Baruta.
"He surrendered without any resistance," Henrique Capriles, the mayor of Baruta, told a local radio station. "He knew there was nothing he could do."
A pro-Chavez provincial governor, Ronald Blanco of Tachira, was detained after refusing to recognize Carmona as president. Two generals took him into custody at the provincial government offices and brought him by plane to the same military facility where Chavez was being held.
Venezuelan television also showed images of police raiding homes and wrestling with Chavez supporters. They were reportedly searching for the leaders of the "Bolivarian circles," pro-Chavez muscle groups that are suspected in the repression of Thursday's march.
A large anti-Chavez crowd formed outside the Cuban Embassy after rumors spread that at least two pro-Chavez legislators and the vice president were seeking refuge inside. Diplomatic sources later denied the rumors. The crowd lingered, however, and at one point it cut off water and electricity to the embassy.
