On April 11, 2001, the moneyed elites of Venezuela, who have fought with every dirty trick and lie against the emergence of democracy there, kidnapped the elected president and attempted to dissolve the parliament, the judiciary, and all civil institutions in a US-backed coup d'etat. Without a doubt, their victory would have led to dictatorship, a reign of terror and rule by death squad. Instead, on April 13th, the people of Venezuela took back the power and reinstated their president.
Broadcaster RCTV and its reporter Napoleon Bravo were instrumental in the coup d'etat against Chavez (see below). Incredibly, they and the other coup plotters were not lined up against a wall and shot, as they might have been for attempting the same crime in the United States, or in almost any country in the world. In fact, RCTV was allowed to keep broadcasting, in an incredible act of conciliation by Chavez the Venezuelan government.
Five years later, RCTV's license is up. It has not been renewed. This is within the rights of the elected government of Venezuela. It would be no different if the FCC refused to renew the license of a broadcaster in the United States. (If I were the FCC, I can tell you right now: all US media licenses would be re-issued to other carriers. No one would be allowed to own more than one TV station, radio station, or newspaper.)
This is what the imperial propagandists of Washington are now presenting as "an attack on the free press" in Venezuela.
http://counterpunch.org/maher04132007.htmlThe Failed Chávez Coup, Five Years On
By GEORGE CICCARIELLO-MAHER
Caracas.
Q: How do we know that Hugo Chávez has popular support?
A: Simple. Because if it wasn't for the popular masses springing autonomously into action on April 13th 2002, he would no longer be in power.
(...)
A planned mediatic coup
On April 11th 2002, the Venezuelan opposition activated snipers who fired on a largely pro-Chávez crowd that had gathered near Miraflores Palace to defend the president from the threat of an approaching and aggressive opposition march. Film footage from the ensuing gun battle was inserted into a pre-fabricated media strategy which sought to convince the Venezuelan population that government supporters were responsible for the deaths, and that they had acted directly on the orders of Chávez himself.
That the opposition planned to slaughter innocents is clear from the fact that the public statement by members of the high military command, which cited a specific number of casualties and urged Chávez to resign, had been filmed long before the deaths had even taken place. That the role of the media was paramount is clear from the revelation that this pre-filmed statement was recorded at the house of opposition journalist and host of 24 Hours Napoleón Bravo.
Indeed, it would be on that very same program that Venezuelans would first learn of what had transpired overnight. Bravo opened his April 12th program with the following statement: "Good morning, it is 6:14 a.m. Thanks to society and the armed forces, today we awake differently. Good morning, we have a new president." Bravo continued, reading a falsified letter of resignation from Chávez and discussing the momentarily successful coup with some of its leaders, who expressed their indebtedness to "all the private media."
The media is a force to be reckoned with, this much we know, and one of the coup leaders openly declared it "our most powerful weapon." But equally clear in retrospect is that the golpistas overestimated the hegemonic control that these media outlets exercised over the population as a whole. Despite the carefully-calculated media strategy, despite the collusion of almost every single media outlet, despite the media blackout that ensued in the aftermath of Chávez's ouster, the coup was short-lived. Why?
Because, as a recent commemoration of the event puts it, every 11th has its 13th. Popular rebellion against the coup was immediate, as millions of poor Venezuelans streamed spontaneously down from the cerros, the hills that surround Caracas and which house her massive shantytown population.
READ MORE at
http://counterpunch.org/maher04132007.html---
The 13th of April, 2002, is an inspiration to the world. What could have been another September 11th, 1973, instead turned into the historic reversal of the CIA's reign of terror and destruction in Latin America. For this the world can thank the Venezuelan people.
Napoleon Bravo and RCTV get a minor comeuppance, five years later. They are free to speak wherever they like, but they lose their hegemony over the airwaves.
---
KICK THIS THREAD NOW to counteract the CIA-style propaganda about Chavez and Venezuela!
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
