Opposition-Controlled Police Acted as Sharpshooters During Coup (Venezuela

[Say_What]

<clips>

Caracas, November 27 (Venezuelanalysis.com).- Caracas Metropolitan Police (PM) Inspector Leonardo Navas, presented to the public a series of radio conversation presumably recorded during the April 11, 2002 coup d'etat against President Chavez, through the communications frequency used by the police, which may incriminate police chiefs and officers in the deaths that occurred that day.

The Metropolitan Police is controlled by Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas, a prominent figure of the opposition. Several Metropolitan Police officers are facing a trial, accused of some of the deaths that day.

The tapes supports the arguments raised by defense lawyers of four Chavez supporters who fired shots with pistols from the Llaguno Bridge and were absolved of all charges recently, after it was demonstrated in court that they acted in self defense. TV channels used footage of these four men firing shots, to accuse them of "shooting at innocent opposition demonstrators," and accuse President Chavez of ordering the killings.

The tapes

Inspector Navas said he received the tapes recently from an unidentified source, and that he could not wait until the end of the trial that is underway of the police officers accused of some of the killings. "I would be an accomplice if I don't present this evidence," said Navas.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1113


A Metropolitan Police officer (right) hides behind a anti-riot vehicle and looks at Chavez's supporters gathered at the Llaguno bridge.

[goforit]

1. Fascinating evidence of Poppy's demise.

LOL!!!!

Follow the footprints........

Truth can be liberating.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Powerful material.

(snip) The recordings describe Metropolitan Police officers in civilian clothing shooting from the rooftops of several buildings nearby the Miraflores Palace, including sixteen of them on top of the La Nacional building, in the corner were several opposition protestors were killed with shots mostly to the head and neck. (snip)

(snip)"Zeus 32 Americana wants information on the situation", says one of the officers. Navas says that "Zeus 32 Americana" was the codename for the American Embassy that day, and that it is very curious that in a situation as critical as that one, the police is informing people such as the American Ambassador, Charles Shapiro. "It seems like they were monitoring the whole situation," says Navas.(snip)

(snip) Another of the tapes shows police deputy Emidglio Delgado, during a strike by Metropolitan Police officers, months after the coup. Delgado, was Director of PM Operations the day of the coup, and later participated in the strike along with dozens of other officers, says on the recording "I'm sure there will be a retaliation against me because I refused to put bombs or kill people... if I'm not welcomed anymore, tell me and I'll resign, but I'm not going to kill any more people." This shows the kind of orders that Delgado was receiving those days, says Navas. (snip)

Long live Emidglio Delgado. I hope history proves his fears were not realized.

[tinnypriv]

3. I guess the Bush admin is "with the terra-rists" and against democracy

[UpInArms]

6. background info on US involvement

http://www.americaheldhostile.com/ed041702.shtml

On November 5 - 7, 2001, our National Security Agency, the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department held a two-day meeting on U.S. policy toward Venezuela. These meetings had been held to discuss foreign policies in the past: 1953 for Guatemala (Overthrow government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzman and replace with Carlos Castillo Armas), 1963 for Brazil (Organize campaign of labor strike and propaganda to overthrow government of Joao Goulart) and 1973 for Chile (Campaign of assassinations, propaganda, labor strikes and demonstrations to overthrow government of Salvador Allende. Cost: $8,400,000). The similarities do not end there. After each of these high level meetings, the targeted countries underwent what is known as a coup d'etat: That very undemocratic process in which the military assists some shadowy unknown in the takeover of the government. The shadowy figures in Venezuela were parts of the military, business, unions, the Roman Catholic Church and the news media. The coup installed Pedro Carmona and forced the removal and imprisonment of President Chavez to an island. Within hours of his illegal installation, Carmona dissolved the National Assembly, the Supreme Court and the Venezuelan constitution.

[Tinoire]

4. More confirmation! We've got to keep an eye on this

and keep posting about this so that it remains front and center. The CIA is not going to give up now; this time however they'll kill Chavez instead of whisking him off into exile.

Chavez rocks! Democracy ROCKS!

Can anyone imagine an American President having a weekly television show where ordinary people call in and can talk to him? I was WOWED when I saw that. Clinton could have had one, Bush... no friggin way.

[Say_What]

8. More dirty tricks by the opposition media...

Received via email yesterday:

This is the first of two notes today relating to current developments in
Venezuela. The second note concerns specifically the situation of workers
in the private sector in the upcoming signature campaign.

One of the interesting signs of the struggle and balance of forces at this
point was displayed by Chavez at his speech for the inauguration of the
Congreso bolivariano de los Pueblos last night. This was a congress
initiated by Argentinean supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution, who are
committed both to the social character of the Bolivarian Revolution in
Venezuela and to Bolivar's vision of a united Latin America; it drew upon
participants from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. In the
opening of Chavez's speech, he stressed that during the last week,
political parties which are supporting the government had attempted to
purchase advertisements on the private TV stations and had been refused.
Chavez had asked them to respect the Constitution and the law, and he asked
for a reply by the time of his speech. It was not forthcoming. So, his
reply was to call for a 'chain'--- to use his power under the law
(preceding him) to broadcast on all TV stations at once. And, he announced
to the Congress (to cheers) that his speech was being carried on all
stations at that point. He proceeded to ask what kind of democracy was
possible if the private stations could exclude advertising from parties
that they rejected. (Imagine, he asked, if a company wanted to introduce a
new product and couldn't buy advertising on stations for some reasons! How
could they communicate its existence?) If the private media could exclude
the advertising of particular political parties, then they would be living
under a dictatorship--- the dictatorship of the private media. So, Chavez
called upon the private stations to respect the law and the Constitution,
and he called upon the electoral commission (CNE) to enforce the law. If it
didn't, he said, he would use the powers available to him under the law.
This 'chain' was clearly an announcement to the country of what he intends
to do if the private stations continue to refuse to accept paid advertising
from Chavez supporters in this period leading up to the firmazo-- the
signature gathering campaign beginning on Friday (and extending to Monday).

Another aspect of Chavez's speech was his discussion of some initial
results of the campaign just completed to recall 38 opponents in the
legislature. Apparently, it went very well--- with well over the 20% of the
required signatures gathered in the 4 days past in several cases and the
signatures obtained to have recall referenda for 37. In fact, he joked
about how the polls in some un-named centres indicated very little support
for him (eg, less than 24%) and yet over 50 % of the electorate there had
just signed to remove his opponents. The initial report is that over 4
million signatures had been collected, and that in some cases over twice as
many recall signatures than the legislators had received in votes had just
been collected.

Other notes of interest indicating tension: a Cuban doctor working in the
barrio was murdered yesterday when he was providing healthcare in his home.
The report at this point is that it was a robbery but tension was very high
because of the fear that it was politically inspired. Also yesterday, 5
armed and masked men attacked an airforce base where jet fighters are; in
the gun fight that occurred, they escaped.

I noted that there had been an eery calm with the state TV stations
inviting opposition figures for discussions. All this is being denounced
now as a trick by opposition people (who are criticising oppositionists for
going on state TV). The International Press Institute has a delegation in
Venezuela to observe developments. In a statement which appears in today's
eluniversal.com, Jorge Fascetto, president of IPI, stated:

"Our organizations, specially the Inter-American Press Association, has
been visiting Venezuela during the last few years. We know perfectly what
is going on in Venezuela. We know the good climate we have seen in these
three, four, five days... We know what it is for; it is intended to deceive
many people. We want a fair play (during the collection of signatures
endorsing a presidential recall petition), that is all."

in solidarity,
michael

PLEASE POST WIDELY.
---------------------
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6

This is the second of two notes on current developments in Venezuela; it is
being sent to a larger distribution list because of its content. Please
circulate widely.

There have been rumours that in private industry (largely unorganised)
workers would be taken to the signature tables by their supervisors to sign
up in the 'Reafirmazo' to generate a recall of Chavez. (It is called the
RE-signing because of the opposition claim that their unsupervised and
constitutionally premature sign-up last February was the first firmazo.)

There is some rather concrete evidence, though, that the pressures upon
private sector workers will be intense.

I have just been shown a card by a leader of UNT (the National Union of
Workers, the new trade union federation formed in August). This nicely
embossed a card for the "reafirmazo' has a place for the bearer's name and
signature and a place where this card is to be stamped. It is being given
by private sector employers to their workers. The card reads (roughly
translated): 'Today I have left my signature and my hello for history, as
demonstration of my desire and will to look for a peaceful, democratic and
electoral exit to the crisis of the country.' What will happen to workers
whose card is NOT stamped is anyone's guess. The real point is that the
pressure being placed upon workers in the private sector is clear. We can
say with certainty that no such pressure was placed upon public sector
workers this last week because we definitely would have heard about it.
This is news that needs to be spread--- especially to trade unionists who
will recognise what such a card represents. Also, it is essential to ensure
that international observers watch for this.
in solidarity,
michael

[Tinoire]

5. Anyone have links to the bridge pictures that show the empty street? n/t

Thanks :)

[Say_What]

7. Check these

Includes one taken by golpista Globovision TV that shows the street empty.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1028

[Tinoire]

11. Awesome- Thank you! n/t

[Terwilliger]

9. Great article at above site

Counter-argumenst for the people who are criticizing "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

http://venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1047

[Judi Lynn]

12. Excellent information.

(snip) Indeed, the film’s main arguments and its account of events can be validated by numerous international media reports and by Amnesty International’s own 2003 report on Venezuela. http://web.amnesty.org/report2003/ven-summary-eng

I'm going to read it twice! Thank you.

[Say_What]

10. A Conversation With Hugo Chavez

<clips>

M: First I would like to try to set the record straight. This is for a U.S. audience. I have spoken with almost all of the journalists who report for U.S. newspapers from Caracas, and they agreed that people in the United States have a distorted view of Venezuela—they think it some sort of dictatorship, and has a repressive government.

Can you respond to this, and explain why you believe that Venezuela is a democracy?

H: Well we can try to measure democracy, just as you measure temperature with a thermometer, or pressure with a barometer. In light of everything that's happened here, is there a single journalist imprisoned here? In four years of government, can anyone point to an imprisoned or persecuted journalist? Has there been a single media outlet closed for even a second? Well, yes, there was Channel 8, the state television, during the coup that they carried out. We can measure whether there is real repression of the media or of speech…

…Democracy is also about representation—from the parties, for example. You could ask how many political parties there are here. In a true dictatorship, you would have one party in the National Legislature, among state governors, city mayors. But if you look at Venezuela today, a coalition does have a simple majority in the National Assembly with about 52%, but the rest of the parties combined have about 48% of the seats—all opposition parties voicing opposition opinions.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1064

[AP]

13. Chavez, on the US Media Whores (especially, the New York Times)

M: Let’s talk about the press for just a bit more. You have a problem with both the international and the Venezuelan press. The international press: the New York Times actually endorsed the coup in April of 2002. Probably the first time in more than 25 years that they supported a military coup against a democratic government. That was on the Saturday. And then on the Tuesday—this was their editorial board—they issued a retraction, but they never apologized. Have you talked to them since then? Or asked for an apology?

H: No, because I’ve begun to think that it’s not worth the trouble. During my first two years in government, I made it a priority to visit the editorial boards of several US newspapers, usually in the morning after a long night of travel having arrived at 3 in the morning. I would stay awake until 6 in the morning to speak with these editorial boards. I approached these opportunities optimistically, hoping to be able to have a good conversation and exchange, perhaps over coffee and with mutual respect. I was very patient with them, detailing our policies, leaving them my phone number, fax number, email. I told them if they had any questions or uncertainties, to call me so we could clear them up. That they should send a reporter to me whenever they wanted. I felt like this exercise was very important.


It seems to be part of a larger social defect in the US—that’s a society that should really develop some kind of response to the intellectual battering by part of the media that seems to take place daily. I sincerely hope that some day the US public will develop some kind of mass critical consciousness, that they will remove the veil from their eyes and see the media powers for what they are. No part of the human community can live entirely on its own planet, with its own laws of motion and cut off from the rest of humanity. They must be critical, and make it their personal responsibility to humanity and morality to discover the truth.

Eduardo Galeano once said, speaking about the global media companies, "Never before have so few fooled so many."

[AP]

14. Chavez could probably win an election in the US if he promised to do this

for us, like he did it for Venezuela:

We’ve initiated the Bolivarian Schools program. We have one of the first Bolivarian high schools opening this afternoon. It’s in Amazonas state, where I traveled two and a half years ago. While there, I was approached by a group of teenage boys, who complained about the lack of money for their school. It was a dirty school without running water or clean bathrooms. Today, it is a beautiful school! I’ll update you on our progress up to today. We’ve created hundreds of schools across the country. Schools that were operating at a third of their capacity, we’ve invested millions of bolivares into these schools; we’ve made them like new. School districts that used to serve only 3,000 kids now serve thousands more. We’ve reduced school absenteeism from 10% in 1998 to 3% today. For the first time in Venezuelan history, anyone can be an athlete. I suffered my whole life from lack of access to baseballs and other sporting equipment. There was no equipment; there were no baseball diamonds. We’ve redone all the sports facilities across the country. We have the most and the finest sports installations in all of Latin America. The focus of our investment is at the school level.

[Say_What]

18. Excellent new sig line!!

:-)

I liked what Eduardo Galeano said as well.

He was also interviewed for the film Hidden in Plain Sight, his comment about who the SOA-trained-military goes after in Latin America are the ones "who think, who question, who object, who say no". I like his writings very much. Most are in Spanish, but here's one on propaganda that was translated and published widely.

<clips>

The Machine, by Eduardo Galeano, from Znet

April 27, 2002

{Translated by Francisco González}

Sigmund Freud had learned it from Jean-Martin Charcot: ideas can be implanted by hypnosis in the human mind. More than a century has gone by since then, and the technology of manipulation has made great strides. This is a colossal machine, the size of the planet, that orders us to repeat the messages it puts inside our heads. It’s a word-abusing machine.

The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, had been elected, and reelected, by an overwhelming majority, in a much more transparent election than the one that put George W. Bush in power in the United States.

The machine propelled the coup that tried to overthrow Chavez -- not because of his messianic style, or his tendency toward logorrhea, but because of the reforms he proposed and the heresies he committed. Chavez touched the untouchables. And the untouchables -- the owners of the media and almost everything else -- were outraged. With complete freedom they denounced the crushing of freedom. Inside and outside his own country, the machine turned Chavez into a "tyrant," a "delirious autocrat" and an "enemy of democracy." Against him was the "citizenry". Behind him were the "mobs," which did not meet in rooms but in "lairs".

The media campaign was decisive in the avalanche that lead to the coup, programmed from abroad against this ferocious dictatorship that did not have a single political prisoner. Then the Presidency was occupied by a businessman for whom nobody voted, and whose first democratic measure was to dissolve the Parliament. The stock market went up the following day, but a popular uprising returned Chavez to his legitimate post. As Venezuelan writer Luis Britto Garcia put it, the media-engineered coup was able to generate only a virtual power, and it didn’t last. Venezuelan television -- a bastion of information freedom -- did not get wind of the upsetting news.


http://www.chiapasnews.ukgateway.net/news/020507.html

[Judi Lynn]

15. AP, it's good he's not laboring under any illusions

about social consciousness within our media. He's past the shock, obviously.

[AP]

16. That's where I'm at too.

Thus my new sig line.

[AP]

17. For people who haven't seen the Chavez movie yet,

they might not realize how powerful this image is.



Sit tight. Make a mental note. And see the movie.