ALAI, América Latina en Movimiento
2002-12-15
Venezuela
Mediatic strike, Mediatic coup and Economic coup
Naryttza Díaz
Last December 2nd began a general strike invoked by Carlos Ortega on
behalf of Venezuela's largest labor federation (CTV), by Carlos Fernández
head of the largest business federation (FEDECAMARA) and an organization
named Coordinadora Democratica (CD), that brings together all the ones
that oppose President Chavez. General strike began with the big question
about its length, this is why the leaders say: "this is not an
indefinitely strike, we just don not know when is going to end". This
kind of comments reveals the are not playing a clear game. Every night
the leaders reported trough the TV the advances of the strike.
Written and audio medias supported the strike 100%, jus as they did
with the coup last April 11th. The disinformation campaign began very
early that morning. Reporters went out to document all events, as the
morning was running the continuously said how many businesses were
closed, how many cars were on the streets, etc. Many businesses were
filmed before the opening hours and repeated later. Later in the day the
reports were concentrated in the east region (mainly opposed to the
constitutional President Chavez) of the capital of Venezuela (Caracas)
I have to confess, the strike had small from moderate intensity
(30%) in some sectors of Caracas. The strike had been mainly accepted by
business men, while the transport, health, supermarkets and restaurants
have not accepted to keep their doors close. This situation contrast to
the populous areas of Caracas which had never stop working.
PDVSA (Venezuelan petroleum company) joined the strike on December
4th. Until now we the people revealed that such a petroleum strike is a
vile sabotage against national patrimony with the main purpose to hurt of
death the main company where lies the Venezuelan economy. Petroleum
workers on strike think that strike means to make disappear maps of the
refineries and plants, access passwords to the electronic systems,
intentionally flat tires of hundreds of gasoline trucks, and many other
actions that we will not mentioned to make this too long. Just now we
revealed the big fraud against the Venezuelan people because we never had
the wealth derived from the petroleum we were always told.
Last 40 years of democracy we had democratic governors form any
political party but the truth is that none of them really had the power
(PDVSA). Right now the problem we have is not about people that believes
in the legal President Chavez or the one that not, it is a problem about
the future of Venezuela as a country where we all belong or whom ever
really feel this country as own.
Last week the strike suffer a terrible deterioration even though
the big media support and the pressure from many business men to drop the
strike, somehow the decision is to give new air to the dying strike. On
Friday, December the 6th the Plaza Altamira (Square in the east of
Caracas, where the opposition have been meeting with few rebelled
military claiming for the national army to follow them) murderer came
into scene. In this event 4 civilian died and other 30 were hurt (all
from the opposition). During the shooting the militaries and civilians
that were standing in a platform where were giving directions on what to
do during this events, curiously seems they were confident that any
bullet was going to reach any of them. Moreover with the hurt and dead
bodies still in the same position as the fall the CTV-FEDECAMARAS-CD
leaders arrived in the next 10 minutes and immediately they had the
culprit "Hugo Chavez Frias".
The murderer of Plaza Altamira had big attention from the media and
few hours later a video appeared. The video showed the murderer in a
manifestation close to the mayor of the city of Caracas, Freddy Bernal.
The murderer is caught immediately and the investigations began.
Investigations showed that at the day and time the murderer was filmed in
the concentration was also traveling from Portugal (country of origin) to
Venezuela. Mysteriously this video as many other "bums" news and videos
disappeared after investigations from the government…I asked myself Why
this reiterated attitude from the written and audiovisual media?
Contradictorily, the 4 deaths of Plaza Altamira and the 30 hurt
civilians from the opposition deserve mourning but not when the same
quantity were killed and hurt the week before the events in Plaza
Altamira. Now, the opposition decide who deserve mourning and who
not?…This has not sense at all.
Today, December 13th almost all businesses opened their doors, even
in the municipality of Chacao, (opposite area), nevertheless the malls
keep their doors closed but the renters are beginning to exert the
pressure on owners standing in front of the main doors. The new strategy
seems to be a clear sabotage to basic services and the petroleum
industry.
Since the last Monday the 9th banks worked only 4 hours a day and
with the presence half payroll, this causes big lines outside the banks.
Yesterday, December 12th many clients have done several protests in front
of bank agencies. Organized group of civilians have presented
denunciations in the Bank Superintendence (SUDEBANK) and the National
Bank Commission due to limitations on withdraws imposed to the clients.
This kind of actions are very similar to the one executed in Argentina
and Uruguay. The owners of the banks know the harm that can cause to the
nation. They know that our small and sensible stock market can be
affected by the restrictions imposed on the transaction hours. All this
actions are based on the mourning of the death from Plaza Altamira.
Many other protests are announced for next Monday the 16th.
Nevertheless the terrorism and sabotage suffered by the petroleum
industry, the President Chavez received the international intention of
support by the OPEC, who offered ships and specialized personnel. The
support received from the National Army Force is slowly helping to
normalized the operation of the industry. The government have announced
the dismissal of the some managers and executives from the PDVSA's major
payroll (highest position of the industry) but all plants and refineries
are still kept under custody of hundred of civilians that believe in
their constitution.
Yesterday, December the 13th owners from the TV stations had an
interview with reporters form the international press. The reporters made
very interesting questions about free press and the right to be informed
but the owners never gave clear answers. On the other hand today December
14th, CNN international gave 30 minutes to a report that does not reflex
the later fact. Meanwhile the TV stations RCTV and TELEVEN have began to
normalize the programming. Several civilians organizations have announced
to introduce legal claims against TV stations. Venezuelan people have
already suffered damages on their mental health.
Venezuelan representative in the OAS Permanent Council reaffirmed
the will to stick to the Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela as the
fundamental guide where it lies any solution to the crisis. Venezuelan
representative also made an arraignment against Carlos Ortega (CTV),
Carlos Fernandez (FEDECAMARAS) and the owner of TV stations – qualifying
them as "political parties"- accusing them to be promoters of anti
constitutional solutions to the crisis.
Spokesman from the Episcopal Conference read an official notice
where it seems a position change from the Catholic Church, this time
there was not attack against the constitutional government, on the
contrary the called for peace and request from the media "an ethic
treatment of the information". The opposition have mobilized many persons
to one of the PDVSA building located in Chuao, a square in Baruta
Municipality (Caracas), in a popular commercial area called Las Mercedes,
nerveless it is noticeable the loss of supporters, in the best case they
have achieve to group around 5 thousand people. On the other side,
through the alternative media and the unique state TV station we receive
innumerable communications about concentrations from the people that
supports their constitutional government. Moreover, information about
concentrations of hundreds of people around the strategic facilities such
as where the gasoline is stored and distributed or in front of private TV
station claiming for veracity of the information and respect to the
mental health of the people, is always received.
Private schools report the closure of their doors while public
universities except Universidad de Los Andes keep their doors open, even
though a small group of students, professors and employees tried to exert
pressure over the directors of faculties and the university in order to
close the doors of the main University of Venezuela (Universidad Central
de Venezuela). But the there was a resolution to keep the university
open, thanks to general meeting made since December 3rd with all sectors
form the university. The general consensus is that the University has to
play a main role in the search of TRUTH without taking any particular
party.
Health sector is functioning about normal in private and some
public hospitals (many doctors form the opposition that work in public
hospital just decide not to work because they accept the strike, Did they
forget the Hipocratic oath?, except the Oncológico Padre Machado, a
public hospital specialized in cancer. The
Electoral sector: the transitory directors keep their idea to make
a consultative referendum with the intention to revoke the constitutional
president Chavez, even though the constitution has the revocatory
referendum, this is due to the lack of possibility to win it. The
electoral solution of the Venezuelan crisis seems to be a mask to gain
time in the seek of non constitutional solution since almost all
congressmen do not go to the session to discuss proposals about the
electoral problem or the possible amendment to the constitution So Does
this can be taken as a double face of a speech?.
I will take this opportunity to make a public and international
denounce for all the abominable lies that few but powerful and thirsty
for power TV and radio station as well as some newspaper owners that
distribute violence and hate every single day at their will, many them
have not option where to choose from, falling in a manipulation spiral of
violence and hate. All of this terrible persons have partnerships on the
most filthy scumbag political parties on earth.
The media keep intentionally shutting the other half of the truth
while they keep saying that the strike is a complete exit, thousands of
people are in the streets all around the country to defend their
constitution and trying to express their opinion. But this is never said
in the private media. Permanent and pacific manifestations in front of
the media facilities is the rule, there are even 4 students in hunger
strike at the doors of RCTV which attention has been depreciable compared
to the hunger strike made by the father of the 11th of April victim.
Please international reporters and sirs, radio and TV stations form
Europe and other Latin American countries, in the name of my nation we
beg to divulge this information and if is possible please send reporters
to Venezuela in order to give the world an opportunity to listen and read
an ethic, serious, veracious and impartial information about the sabotage
never seen in our country done by a filthy political class, demagogue and
corrupted in complot with unscrupulous alliances from powerful and rich
national, international business class. The main goal to do all this is
to defame, boycott and destroy the deep social transformation that is on
going under the sight of the constitutional President of the Bolivarian
republic of Venezuela.
Right now in Venezuela we are suffering of almost lack of
journalism. It has been substituted it by banal, gossip and injustice,
violating under flagrancy the human rights.
Honest Venezuelan civilians wanted to believe that it was only the
incapacity of some professionals that prefer to watch over the interests
of the TV and radio station owners and newspapers. But we were wrong
because the media beside of converting themselves in open political
parties it is also evident that there is a very powerful and superior
mandate that those who make the reports for the media have to be obeyed.
Definitely the attitude of the media, specially the commercial TV
stations it is just a humiliation and garrulous.
Since the beginning of the strike the commercial TV station RCTV,
Venevision, Gobovision and Televen do not transmit a commercial video,
programs for the youth and children, they simply left a side the already
crooked programming. In order to dedicate all their TV spaces to maintain
in constant alert the unwary population that still watch them, also they
continuously give space to whomever wants to call for any non
constitutional rebellion and seed profound hate against the
constitutional government and any decision or action taken by them.
On the evening of December the 10th the OAS secretary general, Cesar
Gaviria mediator between opposition and government took a lamentable
position, weak and partialized for the opposition that seeds terror. The
speech was televised borrowing the signal from the state channel, in the
speech Gaviria reproached the attitude of a group of civilians that were
protesting in a pacific manner. We have to say that there were two
violent events in two regional TV stations but in one of them the
violence came from the Aragua estate police commanded for a governor
(Aragua state). The owners of the TV stations that night had a meeting
with Cesar Gaviria. They took advantage as Gaviria left the podium to
send insults and call him murderer and ask him to resign because "the
great majority do not want a "castro - communism" (a term that does not
even exist). This is a feasible proof of their political partiality.
Even though Gaviria deserves a confidence vote because after few
hours from the first energetic speech favoring the commercial TV
stations, he KNOWS about the other half of the truth hidden from the last
visitors. The truth is the continuous aggressions against the estate
channel.
There is not doubt we are in front of an extreme and desperate
attitude of pro right political movements idealist that order what to
show in those filthy commercial TV stations, responding to obscure
economically powerful sectors from Latin American and also powerful
nations and traditionally bellicose.
Commercial television in Venezuela; now supported by the General
Secretary of Organization of American State (If this situation occurred
in any other country Gaviria would have been considered not able to
mediate) has certain responsibility of a psychological component of
penetration not seen before. All this abominable campaign is followed by
the reiterate sabotage of the main estate oil company (PDVSA) with the
main objective to get rid of the constitutional President of Venezuela
Hugo Chavez Frias, and take over the oil company for once and for all
erasing any possibility of real social development in Venezuela.
I beg your attention again, to please help me to divulge this
information and you are more than welcome to contact me and corroborate
all this ideas with historical data (made from some international
journalists) from the coup we had on April 11th, 2002, all what is
happening is so similar that can not be coincidence that the same names,
organization and events are acting now days.
Once more thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Naryttza Díaz, Science for People
PS. This document has been written in collaboration with many
people that belong to this civil organization.
http://alainet.org/active/show_text.php3?key=2924
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