Venuzuelan Vice president (left ) congratulates President Hugo Chavez after restoration to power.

   

Hugo Chavez returns to his elected presidency:
a lesson of democracy and the lies of the Bush administration

   
Nipawin - Sunday, April 14, 2002 - by: Mario deSantis
 
 

coup

Last Thursday April 11, a coup d'etat was staged in Venezuela by the planned efforts of a segment of the military, the big corporations and their controlled media, along with either the explicit or implied support of the White House. Businessman Pedro Carmona was installed as the new president and stated that Hugo Chavez had resigned.

 

 

condemned
elected
president

Carmona used the typical term 'resignation' invented by our neoclassical aristocracy, that is the imposing language to speak for others in accordance to the private contract of the Free Market. As Carmona took over the presidency he hypocritically accused Hugo Chavez of having undermined the democratic institutions and therefore he dismissed the country's constitution and dissolved the National Assembly and the Supreme Court. The White House got along with the coup d'etat and issued a statement supporting Carmona which included that the Chavez administration did not
"act with restraint and show full respect for the peaceful expression of political opinion... Chavez supporters, on orders, fired on unarmed, peaceful protestors, resulting in more than 100 wounded or killed. Venezuelan military and police refused orders to fire on peaceful demonstrators and refused to support the government's role in such human rights violations. The government prevented five independent television stations from reporting on events. The results of these provocations are: Chavez resigned the presidency. Before resigning, he dismissed the vice president and the Cabinet."

 

 

elected
president
back

Today, April 14, we understand that Hugo Chavez has returned to his presidential compound with the support of the military and of the people. Also we know that there is no evidence that Chavez supporters fired on people, that the corporate media is nowhere to show that Hugo Chavez has returned to his democratically elected position, that Chavez didn't resign the presidency, and that Chavez didn't dismiss the vice-president and the Cabinet.

 

 

US
disapproval

Further, the White House's claim that Chavez didn't respect the expression of public opinion is a testament of the fraudulent use by the Bush administration to use public opinion polls to zig zag the US foreign policies.

 

 

he works
for the
poor

The Bush administration recognizes democracy as marketed by the firing of guns and missiles, while true democracy is expressed by ordinary people as experienced today in Venezuela when one man grabbed a microphone to greet Mr. Chavez and cried
"Today we are celebrating a new democracy" and when an unemployed, wearing a tattered shirt said "The people want him back. He works for the poor."
   
References:
  Chavez Provoked His Removal, U.S. Officials Say, by Peter Slevin, Washington Post Staff Writer, April 13, 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41210-2002Apr12.html
   
  State Dept. statement on Venezuela crisis, April 12, 2002 http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/04/12/state.venezuela/
   
  Chavez makes dramatic comeback, BBC April 14, 2002 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1928000/1928860.stm