<nettime> [Louis Proyect <lnp3@panix.com>] Counter-revolutionary media in Venezuela

[Craig Brozefsky <craig@red-bean.com>]

     [headited etc @ nettime]

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Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 10:29:27 -0400
To: marxism@lists.panix.com
From: Louis Proyect <lnp3@panix.com>
Subject: Counter-revolutionary media in Venezuela

Le Monde Diplomatique, Aug. 2002

HOW HATE MEDIA INCITED THE COUP AGAINST THE PRESIDENT
Venezuela's press power

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Never even in Latin American history has the media been so directly
involved in a political coup. Venezuela's 'hate media' controls 95% of the
airwaves and has a near-monopoly over newsprint, and it played a major part
in the failed attempt to overthrow the president, Hugo Chavez, in April.
Although tensions in the country could easily spill into civil war, the
media is still directly encouraging dissident elements to overthrow the
democratically elected president - if necessary by force.
by MAURICE LEMOINE

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"We had a deadly weapon: the media. And now that I have the opportunity,
let me congratulate you." In Caracas, on 11 April 2002, just a few hours
before the temporary overthrow of Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez,
Vice-Admiral Victor Ram=EDrez Perez congratulated journalist Ibeyiste Pacheco
live on Venevision television. Twenty minutes earlier, when Pacheco had
begun to interview a group of rebel officers, she could not resist
admitting, conspiratorially, that she had long had a special relationship
with them.

At the same time, in a live interview from Madrid, another journalist,
Patricia Poleo, also seemed well informed about the likely future
development of "spontaneous events". She announced on the Spanish channel
TVE: "I believe the next president is going to be Pedro Carmona." Chavez,
holed up in the presidential palace, was still refusing to step down.

After Chavez came to power in 1998, the five main privately owned channels
- Venevision, Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), Globovision and CMT - and
nine of the 10 major national newspapers, including El Universal, El
Nacional, Tal Cual, El Impulso, El Nuevo Pa=EDs, and El Mundo, have taken
over the role of the traditional political parties, which were damaged by
the president's electoral victories. Their monopoly on information has put
them in a strong position. They give the opposition support, only rarely
reporting government statements and never mentioning its large majority,
despite that majority's confirmation at the ballot box. They have always
described the working class districts as a red zone inhabited by dangerous
classes of ignorant people and delinquents. No doubt considering them
unphotogenic, they ignore working class leaders and organisations.

Their investigations, interviews and commentaries all pursue the same
objective: to undermine the legitimacy of the government and to destroy the
president's popular support. "In aesthetic terms, this revolutionary
government is a cesspit," was the delicate phrase used by the evening paper
Tal Cual. Its editor, Teodoro Petkoff, is a keen opponent of Chavez.
Petkoff is a former Marxist guerrilla who became a neo-liberal and a
pro-privatisation minister in the government of rightwing president Rafael
Caldera. The Chavez government is not, of course, above criticism. It makes
mistakes, and the civilian and military personnel who surround it are
tainted by corruption. But the government was democratically elected and
still has the backing of the majority. It can also be credited with
successes, nationally and internationally.

full: http://mondediplo.com/2002/08/10venezuela


Louis Proyect
www.marxmail.org


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-- 
Sincerely,
Craig Brozefsky <craig@red-bean.com>
Free Scheme/Lisp Software  http://www.red-bean.com/~craig

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