FlamingText

Complete Coincidence Theatre: Pt 2

Episode 1: Venezuela.
Prologue:
Did you know there’s a South America? I know, I didn’t believe it either, but I looked it up. They have their own countries and languages and everything. Who knew? Among the many adorable countries with strange, exotic names located there is a little place that the natives call Venezuela. It is here that our first two completely unrelated stories take place.

First, a little background: Venezuela’s president is named Hugo Chavez. He came to power in 1998 after running on a left-leaning platform of social reform, and once in office he immediately began running afoul of the U.S., primarily over the heavy hand he took with the state-run oil monopoly, PDVSA. Declaring that the profits from oil (Venezuela’s main export) would be used to serve his populist revolution, he promptly began firing top officials within the organization, as well as instituting reforms that included doubling the royalty rate paid by foreign oil companies for Venezuelan oil and decreasing overall production in order to drive up the price on the international market. This, coupled with the rising cost of oil from the Middle East, helped to push the price U.S. consumers paid for their oil to record highs.

  Other noteworthy policy initiatives undertaken by the Chavez regime included governmental drafts affirming health care and education to be universal human rights, levying taxes on the five major television stations for the first time, and land reform. On the international front, he drew criticism from the U.S. by refusing to let U.S. warplanes fly over Venezuelan airspace as part of their ongoing Colombian anti-drug campaign.

  Chavez’s reform agenda ruffled quite a few feathers in the oil industry as well as in the Venezuelan military. This resulted in Chavez’s opposition, led by disgruntled oil executives and military leaders, organizing a nationwide strike in December 2001, issuing demands that Chavez step down. Chavez did not step down and in fact employed military and police forces to break the strike, which was causing severe food shortages throughout the country. Military leaders who called for his removal were removed from their posts and in some cases became the subjects of criminal investigation for insubordination.

  In April 2002 events came to a head, resulting in a coup that momentarily removed Chavez from power. The details of the coup (including whether or not it should be called a “coup”) differ depending on who’s telling the story. According to Chavez and his supporters, the coup was initiated by a group of military leaders, oil executives and white collar workers acting together with members of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV -- the oil workers' union) marching under orders of their pro-corporate leadership, with broadcasts on the privately owned (and newly taxed) TV stations delivering instructions on the air as to where and when the spontaneous protests should take place.

  According to the opposition, it was a popular uprising comprised of ordinary Venezuelans who were fed up with Chavez’s dictatorial ways.

  What is known for sure is that on April 11, as a group of protesters estimated to be 50,000 strong marched on the presidential palace, violence broke out in the streets when pro-Chavez and anti-Chavez supporters clashed. An estimated 16 people were shot in the day’s confrontations, although who was shot and who did the shooting is still the subject of feverish debate. At the end of the day the coup was successful and Chavez was removed from power (reports at the time called this a “resignation”, but it is worth noting that it was apparently a resignation made at gunpoint.) National Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Pedro Carmona, a respected business leader with ties to the oil industry, was instated as the new president. His first acts were to suspend the constitution, disband congress and the supreme court, reinstate the oil executives who had been removed from power while simultaneously removing Chavez appointees, change the name of the country from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to simply the Republic of Venezuela, and begin arresting Chavez loyalists in house-to-house searches.

  The leadership of the U.S. surprised the rest of the Western Hemisphere (and by surprised I mean “seriously pissed off”) by appearing to endorse the overthrow of a democratically elected leader by a military junta. By way of explaining why the administration was adopting a position contrary to its own stated policy of supporting democracy abroad, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer announced that Chavez was a dictator who had ordered his soldiers to fire on defenseless protesters. The coup was characterized as a people’s revolution against a tyrant and was praised as a victory for the oppressed common folk of Venezuela. Fleischer’s statement at the time predicted that “the situation will be one of tranquility and democracy” as the new government took over.

  This would prove to be embarrassing when, two days later, a much larger uprising of peasants and military rank-and-file would flood out from the slums of Caracas and the neighboring villages and completely shut down the city. Carmona’s troops began firing on the crowds of people, which did not stop the uprising but did apparently lead many soldiers and police officers to switch sides. The counter-revolution was ultimately successful, and Chavez was restored to office a mere three days after his “resignation.” This overturning of a military coup was unprecedented in South American history.

  This led to some back-pedaling on the part of the Bush administration, who again declared victory for the common folk of Venezuela. The American press, including the infamously liberal New York Times, was also forced to revise its earlier statements of support for the Carmona government as reports of strong-arm tactics began to circulate. The prevailing description of Chavez as a despot ruling with an iron fist over a fearful populace would be further discredited when he was re-elected with a record-breaking margin of the popular vote in elections overseen and certified by international observers. This in spite of ongoing strikes and opposition calls for his removal which continue to greatly destabilize Venezuela.

    Wow, that was a long prologue! Like Lord-of-the-Rings long! So, are you ready for the stories, pulled from last week's news? Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of Complete Coincidence Theater!

Posted by flamingbanjo at March 3, 2005 05:40 PM