All the best, Joshua
http://www.uvm.edu/~wmiller/vencoup3.htm
http://www.blythe.org/nytransfer-subs/Ireland/Venezuela:_Irish_Eyewitness_Ac count
Venezuela: Irish Eyewitness Account
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Intro from Karen Wald <kwald at calidfornia.com>:
THEY HAVE BEEN DOING AS MUCH DAMAGE CONTROL AND SPIN-DOCTORING AS POSSIBLE INT HE MEDIA, BUT IT IS GOING TO BE HARD FOR THEM TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SPIN THIS REPORT. MY GUESS IS THEY WILL JUST BURY IT. AFTER ALL, IN THE US, WHO ELSE BUT THE IRISH CARE WHAT THE IRISH TIMES SAYS? -- Karen
[Who else but the irish, in the first world, give a shit about the fight against tyranny, occupation and other lost causes the world around, whether it's Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Timor or El Salvador. The Brits did a good job in their 800-year-old occupation of Erin creating hundreds of thousands who are ready to go to the barricades for the underdog.--NY Transfer]
IN THE FIRST HOURS OF THE COUP, THE STORY THEY'D CONCOCTED WAS THAT CHAVEZ' POLICE OR ARMY HAD FIRED ON THE ANTI-CHAVEZ DEMONSTRATION, KILLING AT LEAST TEN PEOPLE AND WOUNDING MANY OTHERS, AND THAT CHAVEZ HAD RESIGNED OR BEEN FORCED TO RESIGN AS A RESULT.
IF THAT HAD IN FACT BEEN THE SCENARIO, THERE WAS A SEED OF BELIEVABILITY ABOUT IT. ONE'S FIRST INSTINCTS WOULD BE, "CHAVEZ WOULD NEVER RESIGN;" BUT ONE WOULD BE HAUNTED BY THE THOUGHT THAT IF IN FACT HIS OWN POLICE OR ARMY HAD DONE SUCH A THING, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE....
BUT BIT BY BIT, THE TRUTH OF WHAT HAPPENED HAS BEEN COMING OUT. AS IT WOULD HAVE, EVEN IF THE VOICE OF THE VENEZUELAN PEOPLE HAD NOT BROUGHT HIM BACK. DID THEY REALLY THINK THE TRUTH WOULD NEVER GET OUT, OR THEY SIMPLY THOUGHT THAT ONCE THEY WERE ENTRENCHED IN POWER, WHAT THEY DID COULD NOT BE UNDONE? IN ANY EVENT, THE REPORTS THAT IT WAS IN FACT ANTI-CHAVEZ SNIPERS WHO WERE SHOOTING AT THE GROUND IS NOW CONFIRMED BY A IRISH FILM CREW ON THE SCENE. IN THE COMING DAYS AND WEEKS, I AM SURE WE ARE GOING TO HEAR A LOT MORE. AND MORE ABOUT OTTO REICH'S AND CHARLES SHAPIRO'S ROLE IN ALL THIS, TOO....REMEMBER, RABIDLY RIGHTWING CUBAN EXPATRIATE REICH WAS THE AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA WHO HELPED GET MASS KILLER ORLANDO BOSCH (FREED FROM A VENEZUELAN PRISON AFTER HIS ARREST FOR PLOTTING THE BOMBING OF THE CUBAN AIRLINER), INTO THE US WHEN EVEN THE DEPT OF JUSTICE WANTED TO KEEP HIM OUT FOR HIS LONG RECORD OF TERRORISM. AND SHAPIRO, NOW THE VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR, PREVIOUSLY SAT ON -- WHERE ELSE? THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S CUBA DESK. THE FORMER HEAD OF THE CUBA DESK, DENNIS HAYES, IS -- YOU GUESSED IT -- THE VITRIOLIC SPOKESMAN FOR THE CUBAN AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION.....SO WE KNOW WHERE THAT CIRCLE LEADS).
*
The Irish Times - April 18, 2002 http://www.ireland.com
Film-maker describes the overthrow and return of Chavez
VENEZUELA, Apr 18--Michael McCaughan speaks to Kim Bartley, who witnessed last weekend's coup attempt in Venezuela
Ms Kim Bartley and Mr Donnacha O'Brien have spent the past three months filming a documentary on Venezuelan President Mr Hugo Chavez for Power Productions, an independent film company based in Galway.
"I arrived in the centre of town just as the shooting started," says Kim. "I filmed a while then took cover in a doorway. Whoever was firing aimed directly at the crowd, which was pro-Chavez. I filmed two dead bodies, both of them beside the podium set up to rally Chavistas to defend the presidential palace.
"A woman working in the vice-president's office identified the bodies as a legal secretary and an archivist, both working inside the building. A 10-year-old girl was then taken away, fatally injured.
"More shots. We ran for cover like everyone else. We made it to the palace through back streets as the firing continued and as soon as we got in the gate another sniper started aiming at the crowd. We were all thrown to the ground behind a wall and later ran for cover into the building. Three of the snipers were arrested . . . "Chavez was about to explain what was happening in a live television broadcast but the state channel's signal was cut just as he began to speak.
"The army generals arrived and went off for a meeting with Chavez. The evening passed in a flash as we waited for news inside the presidential palace. A tearful Environmental Minister, Ms Analisa Osorio, emerged in the early hours of Friday, announcing the end of an era. 'He's under arrest,' she said. Chavez emerged, barely visible with all the bodyguards and junta soldiers jostling both to protect and arrest him. "The atmosphere turned ugly. Radio and television immediately announced the resignation of Chavez and began broadcasting upbeat messages: 'Venezuela is finally free' was the banner across all private TV channels."The government went into hiding. Everyone fled for their lives. The witch-hunt began. We decided not to go home, checking into a hotel instead, for safety . . . "The media kept repeating footage of the swearing-in ceremony of the interim president [Pedro Carmona] which was followed by images of empty streets, everything in perfect tranquillity. We were about to book a ticket to Panama when a well-dressed passer-by told us to get off the streets. 'The Chavistas are coming' he said. It was Saturday afternoon.
"We took a taxi to the centre, where huge crowds had surrounded the palace, demanding the return of Chavez. We managed to get inside and found several Chavez deputies calling round the country to find out what was going on. A dozen people who were working for the interim government had been taken to a room in the basement for their own safety.
"Reports came in from around the country, barracks by barracks, like a Eurovision song contest jury, that the military was rebelling against the coup. Then came the rumours that a commando had been sent to kill Chavez at the army base where he was being kept.
"The television continued to broadcast a steady diet of soap operas, saying nothing about the huge mobilisation, which was now making a deafening racket outside. Then came the news that Chavez had been freed and was taking a helicopter to Miraflores. The crowds went wild. The presidential guard made a tunnel from the palace gates to a helicopter pad across the street. The sound of choppers buzzing overhead.
"Then he was there, striding toward the palace, mobbed by supporters. It was like a dream, it's still hard to believe it really happened."
(c) 2002 The Irish Times
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nytire-04.18.02-19:32:12-16661
----- Original Message ----- From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 9:58 AM Subject: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
[snip]
> <http://www.filmthreat.com/FilmFestivals.asp?Id=1089> *****
>
> Does anyone know how to get a copy of this documentary on video?
> --
> Yoshie