Venezuela opposition leader shot dead

[bemildred]

Democratic Action party leader Eva Carrizo was killed in Zulia state, 600 kilometres west of Caracas, when protestors backing a recall referendum clashed with National Guard troops, an opposition lawmaker said.

Carrizo was taking part in a protest in the city of Machique and was killed by gunfire, said regional lawmaker Elias Mata. Mata and other demonstrators told the Globovision television network a National Guard trooper had shot Carrizo.

In the upscale Caracas district of Chacao, Chavez opponents demonstrated against the firing of several judges who ordered the release of demonstrators arrested in protests in recent days. About 350 people were arrested and the opposition said about 40 people were still being held.

Says in another story (Bloomberg) the VP of the stock exchange
is being held for rioting among the 350.

Why a delay in the referendum might be important:

However, if a referendum was held after August 19 and Chavez lost, new elections would not be called. The vice president would assume power until 2006, when Chavez's current term ends.

iafrica.com

Carizzo story is interesting in light of this one in Vheadline:

Out-of-control opposition radicals discovered by intelligence services in conspiracy
plans to assassinate one or more of their own leaders

Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) deputy, former National Assembly
(AN) president Willian Lara says that out-of-control radicals in the
loosely-formed Coordinadora Democratica (CD) coalition of opposition
parties have been discovered in conspiracy plans to assassinate one or more
of their own leaders."

Intelligence reports delivered directly to President Hugo Chavez Frias show
well-advanced plans by anti-government conspirators to assassinate several
high-profile (though presumably politically dispensable) opposition personalities
and then to put the blame on President Hugo Chavez Frias as the supposed author
of the crime.

The covert scheme follows the pattern of a success of events which, though
perpetrated by the opposition, have sought to throw suspicion on the
government which maintains that it has kept its hands clean while the rebels
are up to all sorts of dirty tricks after failing in an April 2002 coup d'etat and
follow-up attempts to sabotage the nation's economic life with the sole
purpose of getting rid of reformist Chavez. Flyers claimed to be from left wing communist organizations in favor
of Chavez Frias have been found at the scenes of bombings at diplomatic legations in Caracas last February
(2003) and the opposition continually used the government-hostile media to drum up antipathy at the slightest
excuse.

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16220

[Judi Lynn]

1. Isn't that remarkable?

Not a total shock, though, is it......

It doesn't seem that long ago when we read that there had been some very crudely arranged situations which smelled from the very first, as mentioned in your article. How many adults would REALLY believe people bombing places would also drag along political flyers with them? Please!

Sounds as if they are really, really desperate. If they'd do this to their own, and it appears they do, god knows what they'd do to someone else!

[bemildred]

2. It is kind of amazing.

The thing that strikes me is the yuppie sense of entitlement
and invulnerability. Remember the pic yesterday of the woman
with the slingshot? She didn't have a care in the world. No
fear at all. Racism makes you stupid.

Edit, The picture:

[not systems]

7. That photo got me wondering...

about how bad you would be beaten if you did that protesting
Bush or the war. Riot squads kicked the crap out of nonviolent
protest in Oakland last spring.

People complaining about Chavez suppressing protests have no
idea what would happen if "protesters" adopted the same tactics
here.

[bemildred]

15. Yes. I remember the VietNam resistance days.

Anybody who thinks this is bad, or that it doesn't happen
in "democratic" countries, or that Chavez has been unusually
violent in dealing with the "opposition" is not paying attention.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

16. Yeah. Ive been inviting people to join me in the overthrow of bush.

You know just to see how our government would react, whether they are repug or Dem. No takers so far. Imagine that.

[maxsolomon]

10. i'm sorry to hijack the thread, but

man, what a bod!

[windansea]

12. lots of the protesters are babes

and they are not all "self entitled yuppies"

http://blogs.salon.com/0001330/categories/VenezuelanBeauty/

[AP]

50. Fascism has always tried to sell itself with sex and style. This is...

...nothing new.

Isn't this what broadway play Alan Cummings was in all about.

[windansea]

56. yikes

can't help it if there are lots of pretty girls against Chavez

please describe who are the fascists after reading post 55

[AP]

75. If you can't tell for yourself who are the fascists who's looking after

the people in the face of avaricious neoliberalism in Venezuela, I can't help you.

[windansea]

78. I'm certain you can't help me

you are delusional if you can't imagine a widespread and very popular opposition to Chavez and see his fear of allowing a constitutional and democratic vote on a recall...if he's so popular what are you worried about?

[AP]

84. The CIA and the incredibly wealthy interests perpetrating a fascist coup.

That's what I'm afraid of.

[windansea]

89. yeah..with Barney Frank

US Congressman Barney Frank:

"I am very disappointed at the Venezuelan National Electoral Council's use of hyper-technical points and controversial procedural rulings to repress what appears to be the clear will of a sufficient number of Venezuelan citizens to move the country to a constitutional referendum on President Chavez"

[Media_Lies_Daily]

116. Even Barney Frank can be fooled every now and then.

[windansea]

120. Frank is just agreeing with the Carter Center

who had representatives in 50% of the polling places where signatures were collected, along with ID numbers and fingerprints

someone's getting fooled but it's not Carter and Frank

[tinanator]

64. I think Im gonna be sick

A CIA titty attack? New lows in political theater.

[htuttle]

65. Free beer, too

[windansea]

70. double LOL n/t

[htuttle]

73. Don't laugh

Your tax dollars probably paid for it.

[windansea]

77. triple LOL

yes..the CIA is sponsoring pics of cute opposition girls to subvert democracy

that's the ticket!!

[pescao]

85. this is sick!

in the style of "sexy girls i've seen at demos" - classy!



accompanying text: "No words for this" - i bet not u pedophile!

[windansea]

90. shocking

you better run down to Caracas and educate the natives

[dax]

119. I invite you to check out DemocracyNow they have Steve Kinser on

He wrote a book All the Shah's Men about the coup d'etat in Iran, the first one the CIA did in 1953.New York Times reporter describes how the CIA sent the operative, Kermit Roosevelt, to bribe members of the government, police, army guards, community leaders and GANGS to go around causing chaos while chanting that they loved communism and supported the government they were trying to overthrow. Of COURSE the US will pay to have members of the opposition they are using, murdered, so they can blame it on Chavez and manipulate people like you who are basically suckers-you just can't believe it is possible that the government you worship could participate in clandestine activity of such a heinous nature. wake up and step out of the matrix. I just heard an administration official slipped off the record and said there may be a mass-terror event in which the 2004 election will be cancelled. HELLO we are on our way to martial law and people like you are slidin that propaganda in just playin innocent... I am hoping you don't realize what you are doing. But I can't believe anyone could be so naive. (See Jay Garner's interview last summer where he said the same thing-there may not be an election in 2004 if "there is a mass terror event" ie Bush can't steal it- read between the lines like I do if they can't have their way with the machines, martial law is really the only other option-they are willing to do it to everyone else, why not you?

[Jose Diablo]

21. You noticed too..LOL

n/t

[Fridays Child]

122. And that face is so familiar...

[windansea]

11. perhaps she was returning fire

at these guys

[not systems]

20. Here is what Oakland looked like...

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

22. Well, actually Chavez and Aristide conspired with the Oakland cops.

[not systems]

24. Those sneaks will do anything to suppress "free-speech" and...

"democratic rights".

"Coup...coup...coup...coup..."

That was my imitation of certain posters here.

[windansea]

23. wanna play photo games?

you don't even wanna see photos I have from Venezuela...dead people (they don't just use rubber bullets) electric shock and burn torture victims...

[not systems]

28. I saw film of the people shot in the head by the...

anti-Chavez snipers in 2001.

Is that what you will post?

I'm interested what your connection is to this story
you are very active posting anti-Chavez stories.

Do you have a dog in this fight?

I just believe in democratic elections and constitutional government.

You?

[Vladimir]

30. Even if

democracy means that the upper and middle classes have to stop ripping off the poor? You commie pinko pig! </sarcasm>

V

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

32. I got your back

There's a few anti-chavez posters around here

[windansea]

34. gosh!!

we wouldn't want any opposing viewpoints in a democracy would we???

[tkmorris]

42. So you DO favor Democracy

Thanks for clearing that up. After your support of the anti-Aristide rebels terrorizing Haiti and now this it wasn't clear. That WAS you wasn't it?

[windansea]

47. nowhere did I praise rebel thugs

they are as bad as the thugs working for Aristide..I know it's a nuanced position but try to grasp it ok?

if you checked my links from AI, HRW, NCHR etc you can see that they also detail and denounce rebel atrocities

[windansea]

33. I just believe in democratic elections and constitutional government.

and support the referendum going ahead in Venezuela, the law supporting referendums was supported and put into the constitution by Chavez...but he seems to have changed his tune as the govt controlled election board keeps moving the goalposts

you??

[not systems]

37. What if they don't have enough signatures?

Or the signatures are forged?

Then the constitution say no referendum, right?

I guess these guys are your idea of peaceful protest?

"Opposers to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez throw a Molotov cocktail
bomb during a demonstration in Caracas(AFP/Juan Abrreto)"

[DrWeird]

41. How come we never see Molotov cocktails in the states?

Boy, I'd sure hate to see that happen at the RNC.

[bemildred]

44. Such things have occurred here.

It is generally dealt with severely, if you know what I mean.

[Mika]

52. Anti Castro exiles used Molotov cocktails after Elian

After Janet Reno ordered the rescue of the kidnapped 6 year old from the CANF cretins, the Miamicuban rightwingnuts burned US flags and threw Molotov cocktails at the cops and at cars and stores (this was pre storm trooper days when the cops had riot helmets and not much else, unlike Miami today where the cops are fully ninjablacksapglovejackbooted).

[windansea]

57. see post 55 and let me know

what you think about the validity of the signatures

I don't support anyone throwing molotov cocktails

[not systems]

60. I saw a picture of signatures that appeared...

to be written by the same person either here or on yahoo's slide-show.

If the referendum happens and Chavez wins will you call for
the opposition to accept the results or will you still hope
for a US backed coup?

[windansea]

61. I support the referendum

if Chavez wins thats fair democracy at work...but if it happens there is a very good chance he will lose...thats why they are stonewalling on the signatures

what you probably saw was the same handwriting filling out name address etc on the forms...because the poll workers would help do that in some cases...but each and every person had to have an govt ID and they fingerprinted each and every person as well...and all of this was watched by CNE reps, opposition reps, and international observers

[rooboy]

49. You believe in constitutional government? Yeah, sure you do.

Maybe you can refresh our memories about what happened during the last short-lived "coup"...

If you remember, the coup plotters occupied the presidential palace, declared themselves leaders of the country and SUSPENDED THE CONSTITUTION. They also disbanded the National Assembly and Supreme Court, arrested dozens (if not hundreds) of legislators and judges, dismissed mayors and governors, and suspended about 50 federal laws.

To be anti-Chavez is one thing, but to claim these anti-democratic sons of bitches are anything but latin freepers is ridiculous.

[windansea]

55. where have I defended the coup?

is this the only response people have ???

but using that as justification for the Chavez govt's actions is weak

I don't think you understand how Chavez is trying to subvert the constitutionally guaranteed right for a referendum...here's a short history on it...and why people are rioting now...and remember...each and every signature was taken with witnesses from the govt CNE, opposition groups, and the Carter Center, people had to show identification, the form was printed on special fraud proof paper, and they took a thumbprint.

Hugo Chavez was elected in December 1998. One of the first things he did was to call for a Constituent Assembly to rewrite the Constitution. This was done through a referendum, a figure which appeared nowhere in the old Constitution. But through a popular petition, it was done.

The new Constitution, contemplated two types of referenda: Consultative referenda, where the people would vote on important issues and would require 10% of the registered voters to sign a petition and Recall Referenda, where people would be able to request for a recall referendum after the midpoint of the term of any elected official.

Contrary to popular perception, it was not Chavez that introduced this concepts into the Constitution, they were introduced in the project to change the Venezuelan Constitution by the COPRE in the mid-90’s and it was lawyer Ricardo Combellas, who coincidentally no longer backs Chavez, who introduced their discussion in the Constituent Assembly.

In November 2002, before the strike, the opposition began gathering signatures for a Consultative referendum asking whether the people approved or not of the job President Hugo Chávez was doing. On January 23d. 2003, the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled that the referendum could not take place, not because the question was illegal, as the pro-Chávez forces requested, but because the Court said no elections or referenda could take place in Venezuela until a new Electoral Board (CNE) was elected by the National Assembly.

After many attempts of trying to choose an Electoral Board, the Supreme Court stepped in and said that since the Assembly had left a legal void by not naming the new CNE and thus it would name one which would be in place until the Assembly fulfilled its obligation. (It never did)

The day after the mid-term of President Hugo Chavez, the opposition submitted 3 million signatures collected in a petition drive which it submitted to the new CNE. One month later in mid-September, the new CNE said that the petition was unacceptable because there were no regulations on how to do it and it would issue the regulations soon.

The CNE in early October issue the regulations. They were absurd for a petition. Essentially, the CNE would issue forms printed on money paper. During four consecutive days, those that asked for the petition would set up booths, much like polling booths, in the presence of a CNE representative and many witnesses from the other side to gather signatures. The people would have to sign and leave their fingerprint on the form. Each form had ten lines and it contained the name, the birthdate and the National ID number of the person signing. There were very specific regulations as to how the fingerprint should be stamped, you should write clearly, don’t go over the boundary etc. But the regulations did not say anything about the person signing having to fill out their own personal data.

One troublesome aspect of the petition drive is that the results would be made public, putting pressure on Government employees and the military not to sign and those living abroad could not participate, despite the fact that the Constitution says they have a right to participate in electoral processes.

Despite the hurdles, the opposition gathered 3.6 million signatures of the 2.436 million needed and turned in 3.4 million to the CNE.

This was all handed in before Christmas and despite the fact that the law says the CNE has one month to say whether the signatures are there or not, it has been two and a half months and no answer has been given to the opposition petition (or that against Deputies on both sides)

Half way through the verification of the signatures, where just the data was being checked, it looked like clear sailing, rejection rates were running at 5-9% in the first 13 states verified. Suddenly, the CNE technicians decided to declare under observation all the forms in which the data was filled by the same person, i.e. had the same calligraphy the so called “planas”, but the signatures were different. These occurred because in an effort to make sure the signatures would be validate, those collecting the signatures would fill out the data in some booths and simply have the person sign and stamp the signatures. This was done according to regulations that said only the signature needed to be by the person. Similarly no rule said this was a reason to eliminate a signature.

Reportedly, the CNE has certified valid 1.914 million signatures, has placed under observation 750,000 and ahs rejected 718,000 either because of data inconsistency or because the cover sheet that accompanies the form (the “acta”) had a number different than the total in the form.

What the CNE proposes is to have people go back and ratify or conform that they did sign only for the “planas” and those forms that had other errors, but not for the 714,000 to technical problems.

Thus in one word, the opposition would need (doable but difficult) that over 70% of the people that sign the “planas” go back and confirm they did.

The opposition has argued that the CNE is changing the burden of proof, presuming those signing are guilty without having any proof and says why not ratify ALL signatures, particularly those that have problems with the “Actas” and inconsistencies with the electoral registry.

In the end, this has been an obstacle course for the opposition which has complied with every step, despite the difficulties introduced. However, the pro-Chavez members dominate the Board of the CNE by a three to two margin. People feel cheated; think the system is unfair, that the rules should not be changed on the fly. Last Friday, during the G-15 summit in Caracas a huge opposition demonstration was met with excessive force, two people die and 40 were injured. Since then there have been continuous protests and clashes with the military police and the National Guard. Human Rights have not been respected and over one hundred people have been jailed, some without charges or due process. The CNE and the opposition negotiate at this time a possible compromise on the signatures.

But we did not have to get this far. This is only a petition to have a recall vote. Who is afraid of the actual recall vote? Not the opposition.

http://blogs.salon.com/0001330/2004/03/02.html#a1338

[not systems]

69. Images from your source lead me to believe they are bias.

Funny the seem to find the Molotov cocktails funny and cute.

Why should I believe you or your source on this blog?

[windansea]

72. your choice...does this sound like a real person to you?

notice how the Chavez supporters here in DU have no real response to the info I'm posting...

I doubt they know anyone in Venezuela

There is a lot to blog about tonight, but I really need some rest before tomorrow’s march. Hopefully nothing will happen, but the attitude of the President, the Vice-President, the Minister of Defense, the Mayor of the Libertador District and the Fiscal (bundled Attorney general/Prosecutor) make me pessimistic.

The Government wants a confrontation and we want to protest to defend our rights. As usual we want it to be peaceful, as usual, the Government means to stop us. Why? I think the Chavez administration is looking for a crisis. Nothing else can explain everything that has happened during the last week. People have disappeared (10), have been killed (10), have been injured (more than 1300) and have been detained illegally, but the brutality can be proven by the fact that throughout all this, the ratio of injuries Opposition/Government is 150 to 1.

Mind you, I don’t want to keep count and I don’t want anyone, absolutely anyone, from either side, to be injured, but when you hear the Government justifying the brutality and the repression on the fact that National Guardsmen have been injured, I have to worry.

Last week, the Government did not want the opposition march to get close to the theater where the G-15 summit was taking place. They did not even allow a small group from the opposition to present a document to the leaders at the Summit. Hundreds of heavily armored National Guards with tanks were put in place and the tear gas began to fly even before the march got there.

This week, the opposition symbolically plans a march to the same place, there is no summit, all Mayors, including the Mayor of all of Caracas authorize the march, but the pro-Chavez mayor of the Libertador District says we can’t go there. Why? Coincidentally he is holding a market right at the same place, that nobody had heard about until the opposition said where it was going. This is what it is like to live in a totalitarian state. First we could not march to the presidential palace, later it was to the Electoral Council, now it is wherever we say we want to march, we can’t, just so a confrontation may take place.

Maybe the Government will be surprised tomorrow. See, there is a trap planned. Tomorrow we will behave badly, very badly. If we are attacked we have a plan, a really aggressive plan. We are going to sit down. If and when the National Guard starts throwing us tear gas canisters we, all of us, are simply going to sit down right there. The second part of the plan is even worse, more aggressive and Machiavellic, we plan to have international observers present. Foreigners at that! Some even from Bush’s country! Oh yeah, we are getting to be really bad people down here. We are learning.

We actually practiced today, in Chacao and in front of the OAS, and in Maracaibo and in Plaza La Meritocracia, where Jose Vilas’ mother challenged Hugo Chavez to meet with her. See, that is the ultimate battle plan. We all go out; we sit down, the whole country, at once. And we will be called all sorts of names.

Today was surreal. We had our “bundle” the Fiscal; imagine an Attorney General/Prosecutor, bundled into a single position. He is Chavez’ first Vice-President, later named to this hybrid position. While guaranteeing us impartiality, transparency and all those empty words he has said for the last two years, he actually justified the National Guard going outand repressing people by saying that the local authorities failed to maintain order. Hey! Pretty Good argument for the world press Isaias! Except the National Guard went out first! Remember? It was Thursday afternoon, Mugabe had not arrived yet and hundreds of prototypes of the “New Venezuelans” disguised as Robocops took the Avenida Libertador to stop us. Even before we were there they began throwing tear gas, injuring a reporter. By the time we got there, repression was all over. The tactics were those for a World War II tank battle, except Isaias, these were people armed with flags and posters. And more than half of them were women, not tanks. And Venezuelan women not only are good looking, but they are very tough, ask Elinor Montes. But your story is good Isais, Milosevic would love to have you as a roommate, and he will eventually. Imagine, you, Hugo, Milosevic and all three cheating Mugabe in the card game as he falls sleep!

And then there was Hugo himself. Inviting the Diplomatic Corp to explain to them how the opposition wants to overthrow him. After a sort of rerun of the Revolution will not be televised, lots of Carmona-the-Brief shots, he showed the aggressiveness of the opposition in last week’s march. Oh! The slingshots! The stones! The Women! So incredible aggressive, like that terrorist named Montes that walked up to the National Guard, flag in hand! Imagine she is a hero now! Terrorist! These women are really getting on my nerves and Garcia Carneiros’s. But he hates that Spanish reporter named Marta more.

Then, Chavez began to show how the media terrorizes. Video Clips of Mugabe falling sleep listening to Chavez’ speech! The TV announcer actually cracks up. What nerve! How irreverent! Except it was never clear whether the announcer was laughing at Mugabe or Chavez. Little difference in the end, you just wait. So far the imitation is uncanny!

Oh yes, in the interest of fairness, Chavez did show one yuppie with a .38, a pair of binoculars and a bullet proof vest. My God! This must be a coup in the making! What do your need a bulletproof vest for? We only use assault rifles! A bullet proof vest is useless against that! What fools! And more slingshots! That dangerous weapon that has been revived by the Venezuelan opposition and used to threaten the life of our citizens and loyal troops!.

See, said Chavez, it is George W. Bush (emphasis on the W) who has paid these thousands of people (no more than 2000,Jose Vicente told him) to do this. They want me to look bad; I have infiltrated the CIA and found they are giving Slingshot 100 and 101 courses! You want to know what the requirement is? You have to have signed in the Reafirmazo, except that the CIA does not accept the CNE data, it only accepts the Sumate data, otherwise they would have no students, their signatures would all be disqualified or under observation!

Then we saw the fraud by the opposition. Imagine, one person was dead, another was a foreigner. Cedula number 5070673, she is dead (but you try 8080 on your cellphone and she is pretty much alive) or 250083, he said this person does not exist, but it is in the Electoral Registry. Or some foreigners who signed, but their Cedulas were disqualified anyway, along with 143,000 others that were simply not in the registry. But Chavez talked to the psychiatrist Jorge Rodríguez who gave him some statistics classes, he can no longer be fooled, four cases make a gigantic fraud, no matter what Gaviria and Jimmy the guy with the funny accent in Spanish and his lackeys say.

Chavez told all of this with a nervous smile that made him look cynical and somewhat deranged, but that is only my personal and extremely biased judgment. As the Diplomats sat uncomfortably in the cheap plastic chairs with weak legs for four hours and they were all getting hungry (it was 4 PM) Hugo said: “We respect Human rights, but we will use force whenever necessary”. Only the word excessive was missing from the statement.

Chavez then called the CNE decision wise, the Church also took its blows “I have had more tolerance with them than with any Government, event his Sanctity" referring to the Pope. He threatened the media with closing them down (it’s coming, believe me).

He did not show pictures of anyone being shot in the back in cold blood, he did not mention the resignation of his UN Ambassador yesterday, he did not say that the Venezuelan Government has recused the Executive Secretary of the OAS Human rights Commission. You see, this is the pretty revolution; we do not talk about such things. They are simply necessary.

http://blogs.salon.com/0001330/

[pescao]

82. peaceful, sure

"The Government wants a confrontation and we want to protest to defend our rights. As usual we want it to be peaceful, as usual, the Government means to stop us."

"stop" u being peaceful, just keep repeating the lie...

[Vladimir]

104. So what exactly?

I doubt they know anyone in Venezuela

The only people in Venezuela whose rights I am terifically interested in are those with no mobiles, no phones, no coputers... theose who can't post on a blog because they are too busy making sure they have food fror the next week.

They made their feelings quite clear to everyone in 2001, when they brought Chavez back to power.

V

[Isome]

97. It goes like this:

You came in and robbed my store last week, this week I'm not letting you past the front door. You're not welcome in here because you cannot be trusted; you do not play by the rules. You are a lying thief.

Too bad, so sad.

[belle]

107. Sigh. The whole thing just sounds like an utter mess, as is Haiti.

[Zhade]

38. Not just anti-Chavez posts -- anti-Aristide posts, too.

Disinformation, in my humble opinion.

[windansea]

58. vey must not have zey opposing opinions

Heil Hitler



yes...my sources such as Amnesty International, Human Rights watch, Carter Center etc are highly suspect...I feel sorry for people who think an opposing viewpoint is disinformation

[Zhade]

86. Yes, I'm a Nazi for pointing out your questionable posts...

...and use of right-wing news sources like the Hollinger-owned Telegraph. I feel sorry for people who swallow propaganda, but I'm not going to call you a Nazi. That would just be a stupid comment.

:eyes: It's not even a very clever allegation, by the way.

[DennisReveni]

45. Cop in the bottom pic

Is C.Freemna his real name or are they using psuedonyms.
C Freeman, Crying Freeman.
Makes you think don't it?

[daleo]

25. This looks like it could be a Gap ad.

I suppose I should not make assumptions like that, but the picture looks very professional - clothes, model-like good looks, action pose like a Greek statue, nice colour composition (note how well all the colours work together). A professional photographer would have good reason to feel proud of himself (I don't mean a photo-journalist, I mean the kind who does magazine layouts).

[bemildred]

27. The pics in post #12 are similar.

Check it out.

[daleo]

46. I had heard that Venezuelans were very body conscious

I believe they have done pretty well in the Miss Universe type contests, regardless of what anyone thinks of the legitimacy of such completions.

[Logansquare]

51. It's the only pic of a woman in the violent protests

I guess it got published because she is rather shapely. Most of the protesters are young men. You should check out the Yahoo slideshow on this. There are some shots of National Guardsmen who look like they are scared shitless.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040305/481/car10203051751

[Nlighten1]

48. What is the story behind this picture..

no pun intended...

[bemildred]

53. I first saw it here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=398971&mesg_id=399437&page=

Seems to come from common dreams.

[Judi Lynn]

113. bemildred, you'll see that slingshot is a little more dangerous

than it actually looks.

A DU reader who corresponds with a few of us saw your photo, and directed us to this article, which stunned the heck out of me. Those things actually KILL people!

Pro-government website APORREA.ORG has published several incredibly gory morgue photographs in color (WARNING!) , refuting domestic private print & broadcast media statements that dismissed Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) employee, Jose Manuel Vilas (41) was killed by 2 National Guard (GN) FAL assault rifle bullets during an opposition demonstration in Los Castores urbanization situated in Miranda State's Los Salias municipality.

Apologizing for some gruesome morgue photos, the website says that despite the uncertainty as to where exactly the bullets came from, Los Salias Mayor Juan Fernandez told 2001 newspaper that a medical report had confirmed the death was caused by 2 FAL bullets.

Neighbors at the scene are alleged to have said that the incident took place as the GN fired tear gas on the protesters.

Photos taken at the autopsy reveal that a marble was extracted from one wound but in the other orifice, whatever hit the unfortunate man went clean through him, leading to the possibility that his death was called by marbles from slings used by opposition armed groups.
(snip/...)

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16237
(Free registration required, I think)

Here are completely graphic photos of the wounds taken at the autopsy, although only Spanish readers can grasp the text:
http://www.aporrea.org/dameverbo.php?docid=14583

Thanks to our DU reading friend! :hi: :hi: :hi:

[bemildred]

126. That is a "Wrist Rocket".

They are very effective, and silent (which is most likely the point),
but the aim is not very precise.

[UpInArms]

3. is this just another form of the

jihad martyrs?

I am about as nuts as I can stand, the through the looking glass backwards approach has me wishing I lived on another planet.

[bemildred]

4. I suspect it's not voluntary. nt

[PATRICK]

5. The outline for a coup timetable?

If it were happening I would expect we have seen the groundwork and events for some time now. What following steps would one expect?

What should be watched for before it is too late to be anything but analyzing a train wreck.

[MaineDem]

6. This is not going to be pretty

How much will it be covered by the US press though?

[Just Me]

8. Did Rummie personally train these freaks or what?

The tactic of selective assassinations or terrorist acts as a vehicle to manipulate appearance is precisely akin to the Machiavellian technique ole' Rummie and his buddies are apparently willing to utilize.

Yup, so, one need not look too far to see some real life "evil-doers".

[sonias]

9. The US press will have a field day with it

Spinning it as more killings that Chavez is responsible for. She will be a martyr for the cause by the end of the day. And the US media will continue to inflame more of the recall supporters to riot and revolt. This is a classic CIA technique, to shift blame for the death of a leader to the party they want to unseat. The CIA wrote the book on how to overthrow a government, and now the opposition is using it carefully.

Vheadline has been doing a great service but none of the US media pick up on their articles.

I just hope the masses of poor can hang in there. It's tough to fight a US coup attempt.

Sonia

[LSparkle]

31. Agreed

Bushco have the "big mo" after what happened in Haiti.

[windansea]

13. how convenient

you want to believe that crap, then I guess you'll believe the guard nacional went to the hospital with eva just to help out...or maybe retrieve the bullets

Carrizo was rushed with several other injured to the emergency room at the Hospital de Machiques where she later died of her wounds as GN units commandeered the medical unit reportedly terrorizing the sick and their families as well as nurses and medical staff. Reports have been coming in of a series of explosions in the vicinity.

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16229

[lostnfound]

14. Listen to DN! on Roosevelt' grandson instigating Iran coup of Mossadeqh

It is REALLY very interesting -- in just a few weeks, creating chaos, hiring young men to commit violence in gangs on the streets and pretend to be Mossadeqh supporters, hiring other young men to fight against the first group to create a sense of disorder, bribing editors, bribing some Parliament members to divide the party, and bribing imams to criticize Mossadeqh in the mosques as anti-Islamic communist.

If you sincerely have an open mind, and I'm sure you do, I really recommend giving http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/05/1542249">this a listen. Either way, regardless of your feelings about Chavez, this is really fascinating stuff.

[bemildred]

18. I believe nothing WRT what happened to Ms Carizzo.

It was an interesting juxtaposition of stories.

I assume by "that crap" you mean the "intelligence sources".
I don't have a position on that either. It is certainly possible
that it is a pack of lies, deliberate disinformation. Certainly
most other "intelligence" services lie and misinform as one of
their most basic functions.

OTOH the story from the "intelligence sources" is consistent with
a good deal I have read in the past about events in Venezuela.
There have been other events, bombings come to mind, apparently
carried out by agents provocateurs.

It is mere speculation to assume that Ms Carrizzo's death
was anything but what was reported. There is no reason at
all the think that Chavez and his minions are a bunch of
plaster saints. One is well advised to be skeptical when
considering Venezuela, and to wait for further evidence.

One of the reasons I like Vheadline is they report everything,
you get to sort it out yourself. I expect we will hear more
about all of this as time moves along.

[windansea]

19. agreed

but the fact that the troops rushed the hospital where she was taken and intimidated the staff looks pretty bad

[bemildred]

26. I don't believe that either.

Nothing means nothing.

[windansea]

29. believe what you like

I talk with people in Venezuela almost daily....armed soldiers intimidating hospital staff where the victim was taken tells me more than a government minister waving a "security report"

[bemildred]

35. Thanks. I find most people do (believe what they like). nt

[lostnfound]

36. Did your associates in Venezuela see it on TV or in real life..

just asking.

Please have a listen to the DemocracyNow! item that I mentioned if you haven't already heard it.

Obviously it may or may not be relevant to the question of what role the US is playing in Venezuela today..but it does leave you with the recognition that looks can be deceiving.

[windansea]

39. both

your link doesn't work...and the opposition to Chavez is deep and wide...thats why he's trying to stop or delay the recall...thinking that everything that happens in the world is the result of and caused by Bush and the CIA is naive and also a bit insulting to true opposition groups around the world...which is not to say that it doesn't happen either

[Vladimir]

40. Of course its not purely the work of the CIA

The local ex-ruling class has plenty of interest in having Chavez overthrown, and quite a bit of resources as shown in 2001. They hardly needed to be bought, and I don't think anyone is claiming this. But it is also most definitively true that the US wants Chavez out. Given its past interventionist record, you have to work from the premise that they ain't just crossing fingers and hoping shit happens.

[bemildred]

43. Yeah, I think the pressure is the other way,

the opposition wants the US to step in and solve
their problem for them, which is rather naive on a number
of counts. The US wants him out, but not at the cost of
destabilizing the place or clobbering it's own pretensions to
being the fair and impartial policeman of the world. Add to
that the fact that the US has already taken a shot at it
several times now, and in each case the attempt failed, and
the opposition showed itself to be narcissistic and incompetent.

The real problem is the military though, the military supports
Chavez, and the opposition can piss up a rope for all the good
it's going to do unless they can change that. If the "strike"
last year did not turn the military, this sort of piss-ant
rioting they are trying now is just going to cement Chavez in
power by pissing the NG off against them.

[The Magistrate]

54. Interesting Reports, My Friend

Put bluntly, a few summary executions by Col. Chavez' forces would not disturb me over-much: mobilizing against a government in power is a dangerous occupation, and people do poorly to forget this.

Nor is the idea of factional assassination within the rebel camp too far-fetched; things like that have happened.

"Can't nobody here play this game?"

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[windansea]

59. yummy...a few summary executions

should do the trick!!!


see post 55 and perhaps you will understand a bit more
about what's going on

[The Magistrate]

66. It Does Not Much Impress Me, Sir

This is a revolutionary fight, albeit one of almost antique, nineteenth century character. All parties can be expected to play fast and loose with procedure, and make use of whatever advantages they can contrive for themselves, from regulation or sharp practice. The over-all situation remains one where it is easy to see what side is best supported: when the professional classes and landowners are in rebellion against the slums, the latter will receive my support.

"Revolution is not a tea party."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[windansea]

83. ah...so this is just an antique 19th century fight

down there in backward ol South America...summary executions and playing fast and loose with constitutional rights and laws don't matter for those "other people"

thank you kindly massa!!! all 3.5 million of us landowners and professionals that signed the petition in 4 days thank you!!

[The Magistrate]

109. You Misunderstand The Point, Sir

And that is all that will be addressed here. The political situation in Venezuela is indeed more akin to developments of an earlier day. Social and political structures retain important fuedal characteristics, and in this situation, as in early nineteenth century Europe, one of the leading locii of reform becomes centered in the armed forces, among younger and most ambitious officers, who understand that a restructuring of society is the best way to enhance the nation's power, and hence their own professional scope. It is, so to speak, a pre-Marxist situation, which is one reason that so much commentary on the matter seems so confused.

"I was not born with knowledge, but being fond of antiquity, am quick to seek it."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[bemildred]

111. Very nice, Sir.

And what is most striking in the situation is the
clarity with which Sen. Chavez seems to understand what
he is about, and how effective he has been.

[belle]

108. In theory. Of course, once you're actually in power, technically...

you're no longer in a slum. Just noting.

"Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

[The Magistrate]

110. The Base Of Power, Ma'am

Remains in the slums, and among the agricultural laborers, who the government seeks to uplift in some degree, regardless of what this may cost the more prosperous.

"The laboring class is necessarily the most numerous in society, and it is nonesense to maintain that what will benefit the greatest part can be injurious to the whole."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Tinoire]

121. Here's to "after the Primaries"

:toast:

[bemildred]

63. It is interesting.

I have been trying for some time to figure out what the opposition
hopes to accomplish by this, and other than making some public
relations points, I can't figure it out. It may well be that some
of Sen. Chavez supporters have bent the rules a bit here to thwart
their enemies, but that is hardly a new thing. If one considers the
record, Mr Chavez has done the following:

He's been elected twice, got a new constitution ratified, survived two
attempts at his overthrow, taken control of the military, taken
control of the PDVSA, and he appears now the be consolidating his
control of the foreign service. Unemployment is down 6% in the last
ten months, PDVSA is pumping as much as before the "strike", and
larger and larger sums of money are being diverted into social
programs. He is implementing the new land and hydrocarbon laws
and trying to diversify and make more self-sufficient the Venezuelan
economy. There is no reason that I am aware of to think that he
will lose a referendumm, if one is held. It is an annoyance.

In other words he has steadily consolidated his political position
and his hold on the reins of power, and pursued his stated agenda.
He has done this without anything remotely resembling a bloodbath or
serious repression, and he shows no signs of being provoked into it.
One must assume that it is the assurance that he won't do much about
it that leaves the opposition feeling secure in having these sorts of
"demonstrations". I suppose an accustomed reliance on Uncle Sugar to
set things right is behind it too, but I think they are mistaken there,
they are going to have to live with him.

While I understand your comments, I don't expect that to happen,
there seems little reason to think he will be provoked now if he
has not been in the past, although I must say he did get a bit
worked up when he called Shrub out a few days ago. :-)

It's always good to hear from you.
:hi:

[The Magistrate]

67. Indeed, Mr. Mildred

Col. Chavez seems to be handling the situation masterfully.

Nor is it my expectation there will be any blood-bath, or anything approaching one. My comments were only meant to indicate that some use of violence by Col. Chavez or his loyalists, should it occur, would be readily understandable, and ought not really draw much condemnation. The line between bullet and ballot in these circumstances is a fine one.

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[bemildred]

68. Exactly my friend.

What we have seen so far could as easily be observed in
South Korea or France, maybe a few more guns in the general
public. The expectation that that is all there is to it is
what I meant in post #2 about a sense of yuppie entitlement
and invulnerability. Of course it could merely be ignorance.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

74. The ballot and the bullet.

That brings to mind a brilliant speech by Malcolm X. I could be wrong on the tittle though. I agree. In the struggle between the land owner over privileged classes and the proletariat I'm with the people 100%.

[Isome]

87. Just about right...

It's actually: The Ballot or the Bullet.

[AP]

76. Right on.

[windansea]

91. bueno!!

make sure you all tell the bandera roja that a summary execution is acceptable...

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

92. No hay que decirles nada. Esos ya son sus metodos de operacion.

[windansea]

95. I bet you sound like chimpy

with his mangled gringo spanglish accent

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

105. Explicame exactamente que partes son las que estan incorrectas.

Como no tienes mas nada con que tirarme sigues repitiendo la misma mierda. Tipico riquito elitista. Yo he conocido muchos como tu. Pero la verdad es que no dan el grado a la hora de la verdad. Asi que sigue en tu nube, papa. Que yo aqui sigo en lo mio. Estas bien guillao del mas que habla español. Pero a nadie estas impresionando. En cualquier idioma te hago ver como lo que eres. Ahora, si mi español esta tan mal y te ofende tanto. Pues dale, dime donde estan los errores. Aqui el unico gringuito entre los dos sabemos que eres tu socio. Te quieres meter a payaso y ponerte a decirle a uno nombrecitos porque te faltan argumentos. Yo se perfectamente que tu eres, como dicen en Rio Piedras, un wanabi. De verdad que es triste. Pero no te preocupes de ahora en adelante cuando te vea por ahi te hablo solo en español pa' que no te equivoques conmigo. Boricua 100% nacido y criado papin. A diferencia de otros no tengo que fingir que soy lo que no soy. Por cierto el Simio te puede dar unas buenas catedras en español. Asi que ve y matriculate, que te hace falta. Yo en verdad que no se cual es ese español que tu dices hablar. A mi me parece que tu eres uno de esos que el español es del de cajita de cereal. Pero definitivamente la proxima vez que este en Puertorro le voy a decir a la gente que todo este tiempo hemos estado hablando como gringos y no lo sabiamos. Por cierto, date una vueltita por mi barrio, a ver cuanto duras.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

106. I'll give this one to you in English.

Since that seem s to be the only language you can actually understand. You're talking about mangled gringo Spanglish. But I bet you can't point out one word that fits your description. Here I'll help you out. I did use the term "wanabi" which comes from the English wannabe. This has become an acceptable slang term in PR urban areas. But of course you knew that with that wonderful high school Spanish of yours. It's truly sad that I've now schooled you in two language and the only thing you can come up with is mediocre name calling, Washington times articles comparing Chavez to Mao and Hitler and putting words in Jimmy Carter,s mouth. I know you're getting desperate just like the "opposition". But remember "El pueblo unido, jamas sera vencido". Wait, I'll help you out: The people united, will never be defeated.

[Just Me]

127. Impressive!!!!

You are damned impressive!!!

:yourock:

[AP]

125. First thing coup leaders did to Venezuela: tore up the constitution.

First thing Chavez's government did when they ousted the the coup leaders: read them their constitutional rights.

[lostnfound]

71. Sorry. Here's a corrected link. And thanks for checking it out.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/05/1542249

I do agree that thinking all opposition happens because of the US or the CIA is naive.

But I can still wonder --and only wonder-- how these same conflicts would play themselves out if the power of specific groups wasn't so exaggerated / exacerbated by outside actors..

[genius]

17. That's what the U.S. did in Central America

The leader of the Contras (who were under the command of the U.S. government) said he had orders to shoot women and children and blame it on the forces loyal to the government.

[windansea]

62. coup by technicality

LATE LAST YEAR 3,448,747 of Venezuela's 24 million citizens turned out in just four days to sign petitions calling for a recall referendum on President Hugo Chavez. This extraordinary civic exercise, monitored by observers from the Organization of American States and the Carter Center, offered a democratic solution to years of political conflict in that important oil-producing nation -- trouble that threatened to push Venezuela into dictatorship or civil war. Now Mr. Chavez, whose crackpot populism and authoritarian methods provoked the crisis, blatantly seeks to stop the vote, in violation of his commitment to both the OAS and his own constitution. His actions have already prompted a new wave of unrest across the country, including demonstrations in which at least seven people have been killed. Unless he can be restrained, Mr. Chavez may complete his destruction of one of Latin America's most enduring democracies.



Though the constitution, drawn up under Mr. Chavez's own administration, requires 20 percent of all voters to back a referendum, opposition groups collected 1 million signatures more than should have been needed for the recall vote. These signatures were rigorously audited by a nonpartisan civic group before being forwarded to the electoral commission. Yet, after delaying its response for weeks, the commission, dominated by Mr. Chavez's supporters, rejected 1.6 million of them, or nearly half the total. To do so, it invented requirements that didn't previously exist. Most notably, it threw out 876,000 signatures, each accompanied by a thumbprint, because someone other than the voter had entered registration details on the petition.

Mr. Chavez's functionaries subsequently announced that they would give about a million of those stricken from the list a chance to restore their names -- but only if they appear in a limited number of registration centers during one two-day period. In practice, that poses a next-to-impossible logistical challenge to the opposition, even if there were no harassment from Mr. Chavez's police and civilian goon squads. But attempts by the foreign mediators to reverse this Kafkaesque coup have so far been unsuccessful.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31927-2004Mar4.html

[pescao]

79. laughable

"These signatures were rigorously audited by a nonpartisan civic group before being forwarded to the electoral commission."

who, exactly? súmate? "nonpartisan", u must be kidding me! and they were forwarded two weeks late - plently of time for a little 'fill-out-the-form fraud'. propaganda overdrive, here we come...

[Judi Lynn]

93. I'll NEVER understand why the government accepted their signatures

when they had exceeded the well-known deadline by TWO WEEKS.

How could ANYONE even dream of claiming the government didn't bend over backwards to accomodate them? And what did they do to show their appreciation?

They are scum, the lowest of the low, and don't deserve to be addressed as responsible people.

I think everyone sensible knew, when they didn't hand over the signatures on time, that they were showing the world they DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH SIGNATURES by the deadline. What other possible excuse would they have? Pathetic.


Referendum demonstrators, resembling the Republican mafia at the Miami-Dade vote recount.

[windansea]

96. yes I'm sure you're better informed

than the Carter Center people on site

[Isome]

100. Yeah...

She probably is better informed than the winger toadies and raging blan that support democracy only when it's convenient. Yep, no doubt she is.

[windansea]

112. hmmmm Carter and Frank

are "winger toadies" ????

yikes!!!

[Shanty Oilish]

94. I hear you, windansea

You're wasting your time, though. Chavez is a demented piece of shit.

And I do have a dog in this fight. My mother was from Venezuela.

Keep telling them, windansea...I haven't the stomach.

[Isome]

98. Was? As in past tense?

That sounds like the dog is done fighting.

[windansea]

99. you just don't understand

they all KNOW the "truth"....just not any Venezuelans...

:freak:

thanks for pitching in...
:)

[Isome]

101. They?

Yes, "they" do claim to know the truth, but "they" also claim to know Venezuelans.

[bemildred]

80. A couple related stories:

CD director Carlos Melo arrested for possession of 2 military FAL assault rifles

Coordinadora Democratica (CD) street action director, Carlos Melo is currently in a State Political & Security
(DISIP) cell charged with possession of military weapons, and inciting to rebellion.

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16201

Alternative media raises doubts about who really killed Jose Manuel Vilas

Apologizing for some gruesome morgue photos, the website says that despite the uncertainty as to where exactly
the bullets came from, Los Salias Mayor Juan Fernandez told 2001 newspaper that a medical report had
confirmed the death was caused by 2 FAL bullets.

...

Photos taken at the autopsy reveal that a marble was extracted from one wound but in the other orifice, whatever
hit the unfortunate man went clean through him, leading to the possibility that his death was called by marbles
from slings used by opposition armed groups.

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16237

[bemildred]

81. Credit Suisse: There will be no Recall Referendum against Chavez Frias

Nice pic of Hugo too.

Emerging Markets Economic Daily writes: According to the investment bank
Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), based on the recent decision announced
by the National Elections Council (CNE), the Venezuelan opposition could
begin to suffer from a ?referendum fatigue syndrome.? However, this does
not imply that the subject could not once again become a matter of interest
within a few weeks once the revalidation process of more than one million
signatures begins.

...

The investment bank affirmed that once it is absolutely clear that there
will not be a referendum, the opposition will continue to generate
disruptions, although it stated that such discontent most likely will not
spiral into an uncontrollably violent situation for the government ... ?we
estimate that the political situation could improve and that the opposition
should focus on the regional and local elections coming up next August.?

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16232

[Isome]

88. Hang tough Hugo!! n/t

[rman]

102. Venezuela: Chomsky's Tropical Nightmare

Venezuela: Chomsky's Tropical Nightmare
by FRANCISO ARMADA and CARLOS MUTANER
January 4, 2003
Francisco Armada works in the Ministerio de la Salud y Bienestar Social in Venezuela. Carlos Mutaner teaches at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. They can be reached at: [e-mail]
http://www.counterpunch.org/mutaner01042003.html

To suffer in your own flesh and blood what Noam Chomsky writes about the ideological power of Media is very different from reading it. We have enjoyed reading his articles about the media that helped us understand its enormous influence in contemporary societies. However, living in Venezuela during the last three years has allowed us to suffer directly that power.

The role of the media was crucial during the short coup of last April 11 against the president Hugo Chávez. Private TV chains and local newspapers maintained a constant campaign of attack to the government and they supported a national strike just before the coup. They judged according to their own biased criterion the demonstrations for and against the coup and they did not doubt in blaming to the government as author of the unfortunate deaths occurred that day, near the half among supporters of the government. They quickly endorsed as leading authority the self -proclaimed temporary president, a conservative business leader. They even went so far as to endorse the coup's first government action whereby the self-proclaimed president annulled the Constitution of the Republica Bolivariana of Venezuela, changed the name of the country and dissolved all public powers, including the legislative power and the dismissal of state governors. The media quickly launched a campaign with an "Orwellian" doublespeak celebration of return to "democracy".

While thousands of people took the streets of the country's main cities calling for the return of President Chávez, the media progressively began to change its programming to children's movies and practically suppressed any information about what was going on inside the country. They justified their silence with explanations involving "security concerns". Only when the crowd surrounded media headquarters and demanded the transmission of current political events did the media managers and owners agree to deliver some news about the return of the president.

After the restoration of the legitimate democratic government, most of the Venezuelan private media continued its one-sided political action, serving as a crude outlet for anti-government, pro-coup propaganda. The media has become one message, to paraphrase McLuhan. They often transmit interviews with soldiers involved in the coup, dressed in military uniforms and ask their old comrades-in-arms not to recognize the government. The media have endorsed the take over of a Caracas square where groups of civilians, mostly upper middle and upper class, have supported to the leaders of the coup for months. The daily live coverage from this square has become the "reality show" in a grotesque fascist experiment. When several people were injured and three were killed during a terrible spur of violence in that square, the media immediately blamed president Chávez, and aired demonstrations of coup perpetrators blaming the president for murder and calling on the armed forces to rebel.

The media not only ignores the most obvious realities, propagates and endorses protests called by the opposition, censors news about the events carried out in support of the government, labels Chávez's followers as violent and their opponents as democrats; it also exaggerates the size of the opposition's protests while minimizing or ignoring the breadth of support for Chávez. The media is thus both jury and defendant in this trial.

Numerous popular demonstrations have taken place by government supporters against the role of the media. Recently four young university students initiated a front hunger strike one of local T.V. chains, while the private media has yet to consider this event news at all. The private media has also ignored a caravan of hundreds of vehicles that called for an end to mass psychological terror and urged people to not watch private TV channles. This demonstration ended with the destruction of a dozen television sets in front of one of the main TV stations.

Popular demonstrations in front of media headquarters are frequent these days in Caracas and other Venezuelan cities. The majority of these demonstrations against the media are peaceful, although one turned violent and ended up with the destruction of some material goods. While the police protect TV stations and newspapers, the media continues with its pro-coup political activism, propaganda, and call for the violent overthrow of a democratically elected government. While the government is afraid of curtailing the freedom of expression, viewers cannot be protected from this media manipulation unless we continue to build alternative mechanisms of organization, participation and communication in defence of our society.

[Judi Lynn]

103. Great article. It's a good time to refer to the close friendship

between _{George Bush the Elder} and _{Gustavo Cisneros,} who owns tons of media resources in Venezuela, and obviously controls much of what we actually read here, which I'm sure you already knew a long time ago, like the rest of us DU'ers.

To refresh anyone's mind:

Opposition business leaders openly said they wanted to depose Chávez "so they can boost oil production or even privatize the country's cash cow , according to Letta Tayler writing in Newsday (Apr. 24, 2002). "They have been enraged ...over Chávez's efforts to take resources from the rich to aid the poor, who represent 80 percent of the population," she said.

In fact, according to Aram Ruben Aharonian in an article in Mexico's Proceso, (May 1, 2002) one of the moves of the 48-hour coup leaders was "the privatization of PDVSA, turning it over to a U.S. company linked to President George Bush and the Spanish company Repsol; plus the sale of CITGO, , to Gustavo Cisneros and his partners in the north: as well as an end to the Venezuelan government's exclusive subsoil rights."

Aharonian pointed out that for this to happen, "it was necessary to suspend the 1999 constitution and take advantage of the conflict at the state oil company, where top management was following orders sent from the north through its former president Luis Giusti. And support came from businessman Isaac Pérez Recao, for whom Carmona had worked in the Venoco oil company, and who actively participated in the coup and provided financing." (Giusti has ties with the White House as an energy advisor.) Within 48 hours, Carmona did dissolve the parliament and the supreme court, and dismissed all mayors and governors--hardly a democratic act.

Cisneros, a longtime friend of former President George Bush, who had hosted Bush on a fishing trip a few months ago, heads up a corporate empire stretching from the U.S. to Patagonia. Cisneros' huge dominion is made up of DIRACTV, Venevisión, Coca Cola, and Televisa. It seems that on the afternoon of the coup , the coup makers, including Carmona, met at the Venevisión television station in Gustavo Cisneros' office,' according to opposition legislator Pedro Pablo Alcántara of the Democratic Action Party. The person who read Carmona's decree and who Carmona named as attorney-general, was Daniel Romero, who had been a private secretary to former President Carlos Andres Perez and a functionary in the Cisneros organization.
(snip/...)

http://icpj.org/democracy.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SIGN ON: Women protest US award given to Venezuelan coup leader Gustavo Cisneros by war criminal Henry Kissinger

The Global Women’s Strike condemns the outrageous decision of the Inter-American Economic Council to honor Gustavo Cisneros at its 2004 Winter Gala – it shows once more the total contempt of the US administration for people’s right to elect their own government. To recognize as a person who “has consistently sought to create an environment where business and government can work together in meaningful ways for the betterment of society”, a man who has systematically used his corporate wealth and media monopoly to illegally and violently attempt to force from office the democratically-elected government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is particularly cynical. It is women in particular who elected and have overwhelmingly defended President Chavez, and women from the poorest areas who have most to gain from and have been most involved in the economic and social reforms Venezuela is undertaking to tackle poverty and corruption despite constant coup and assassination attempts from the likes of Cisneros.

Gustavo Cisneros’ record is one of working for the “betterment” of the white, racist elite of Venezuela against the interests of the vast majority of Venezuelans who are people of color, and who, in oil-rich Venezuela, were left mired in poverty after 40 years of rule by the Venezuelan elite:

He played a leading role in the bloody April 11, 2002 coup d’etat against the government of President Hugo Chavez – a coup planned and carried out with the support of the US administration. The coup was defeated within days by millions of grassroots people taking to the streets to demand the return of their elected President and constitution.

He was a leader in the Dec 2002-Feb 2003 nationwide big corporations’ lock out aimed at forcing President Chávez from office, which brought more suffering to grassroots Venezuelans. He played a similar role in the more recent oil lock out orchestrated by the CIA and aimed at paralizing the whole country. Again, grassroots people, starting with the oil workers themselves worked overtime to save their valuable resource, and won.

§ The Cisneros Group has been implicated in the Dec 2003 illegal shipment of US$2.5 million cash seized aboard an American Airlines flight from Miami FL to Caracas, no doubt intended to help finance another attempted coup against the Venezuelan people.

§ Gustavo Cisneros personally spoke with the U.S. State Department's former Latin American Affairs Chief, Otto Reich and the U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, Charles Shapiro (currently under fire for hosting a puppet show ridicule of President Chávez in his home in Caracas) on the day of the coup, an event reported in Newsweek Magazine (see Newsweek, April 29, 2002, p.10).
(snip/...)

http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/English/cisneros.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On edit:
Adding Cisneros/Kissinger article

(snip) Kissinger presents award to Venezuelan coup leader

Philadelphia — On January 29, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger presented an award from the Inter-American Economic Council to Gustavo Cisneros, a Venezuelan billionaire identified by Newsweek and Venezuelan publications as one of the protagonists and financiers of the April 11, 2002, coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The IAEC is associated with the Organization of American States. In publicity for the ceremony, the council described Cisneros as being someone who, “consistently sought to create an environment where business and government can work together in meaningful ways for the betterment of society”.

It went on: “The council seeks to create a forum in which effective policy making is made by the public and private sectors working together. Mr Cisneros' life's work parallels the council's mission.”

Cisneros is also credited with being a driving force behind the December 2002 nationwide lock-out and sabotage of the oil industry, which drove the Venezuelan economy into the ground by causing a historical drop of 27% in the country’s GDP in the first trimester of 2003.
Cisneros is the owner of AOL, Coca-Cola, DirecTV and Pizza Hut in Latin America, Univision in the US, and Venezuela’s biggest TV network Venevision.
(snip)

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/570/570p18b.htm

[Judi Lynn]

114. Please see posts #113, for info. on what those slings can do

which you saw in bemildred's photo of the "opposition" sling-shot artist last week.

Had to post this at the bottom of the posts also, hoping more people will catch the post buried up in the middle. The information is truly unexpected.

Thank you.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=401277&mesg_id=405736&page=

[bemildred]

115. Some related things in post #80 also. nt

[Judi Lynn]

117. Whoops! Don't know how I missed it......

I was sure I had read the entire thread, too. Ohhhhh, never mind!

Thanks, bemildred. I am glad information is getting out on these guys. I'd like to see them all get a new hobby.

[bemildred]

118. Check out the thread in GD if you want to see people

blathering on endlessly without reading anything.
:thumbsup:

[hellhathnofury]

123. Thank you for the complement!

:thumbsdown:

[bemildred]

124. That's "compliment".

Edit: you are welcome.