Marchers protest against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the Little Havana section of Miami, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2003. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
Posted on 01/18/2003 8:27:33 PM PST by LO_IQ
About 50,000 protesters jammed into Miami's predominantly Cuban Little Havana, calling for the ouster of Chavez, whom opponents say is dissolving the country's long-standing Democratic structure. The Venezuelans were joined by Cuban-Americans and sympathizers from other Latin American nations.
"He's trying to do everything that he can to abrogate all democratic principles in Venezuela," said Miami mayor Manny Diaz, a Cuban. "That's something that we should not support."
Miami police reported no injuries or incidents of violence at the rally which stretched for about five hours.
In an effort to force Chavez from office, Venezuelan business and labor groups are in the midst of a 7-week-old strike that threatens to destroy the country's economy. Venezuela's opposition launched the strike Dec. 2 to demand that Chavez resign or call early elections if he loses a Feb. 2 nonbinding referendum on his rule.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
Marchers protest against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the Little Havana section of Miami, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2003. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
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As of this moment, the Miami Herald has no story covering the 50,000-protest on its turf.
You can have 1 million conservatives going to Washington and you might get a 5-second blip on the news.
In contract, you can 1 thousand liberals and you get wall-to-wall coverage.
The media has a ring-wing bias < /sarcasm >
Chavez has taken a number of steps to make himself "coup-proof", among them scattering Cuban observers throughout his forces, cache'ing arms near the Colombian border, for the real doomsday scenario, and organizing and arming a private militia (the so-called Bolivarian Circles) that answers only to him.
During a mass demonstration a couple of months ago, Chavez feared that the demonstrators might march on the palace, and he likewise feared that in this event his military would not open fire on the demonstrators. So he supplemented his military security with his Bolivarians armed with rifles on rooftops.
As the demonstrators approached the palace, the Bolivarians opened fire, and some 35 people were gunned down. Shocked by this, Chavez' generals marched into his office, and arrested him for murder. Supposedly, Chavez tried to shoot himself, and one of the generals wrestled the gun away from him, begging him not to do it.
In any case, he was jailed, and the generals handed power over to an interim president, who announced a return to the pre-Chavez constitution.
However, coincidental to this, the armed "Bolivarians" swarmed down into the city, firing at random, attacking journalists, and then led a mob that surrounded and took the palace.
It happens that Chavez has considerable support among young officers, and he was being guarded in his cell, precisely, by young officers. When the Bolivarians seized the palace, his guards loaded Chavez on a chopper and flew him directly to the palace.
This, his return, the mob, and the support of the young officers, were the elements that returned him to power.
The general who arrested him was charged with treason, but the Supreme Court refused to try him. The Supreme Court judges were hand picked by Chavez, so the fact that they dropped charges against the general, twice, even after being threatened with arrest themselves by Chavez, shows that even his closest supporters are backing away from him.
If memory serves, this and other generals planted themselves at a major city plaza, announcing that they would not leave until Chavez was gone. They have been camped there ever since, and have become the focal point for the movement to force him from office.
The crowds camped there have been themselves attacked by Chavez' goons, who recently opened fire and gunned down another 30 or so, killing several. Still, they have hung on at the plaza rather stubbornly, and now most of the country has shut down in support of this movement.
Venezuelan and Cuban protestors rally in downtown Miami, calling for the removal of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez January 18, 2003 in Miami, Florida. General strikes and protests have plagued Chavez and his administration. REUTERS/Marc Serota
Daisy Fernandez cries during a protest against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the Little Havana section of Miami, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2003. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
Quite true, that's at the Plaza Altamira. I was down there last month and met and interviewed many of these Generals who recently left the Chavez regime. They know what he has been up to and his plans (USA has much more to worry about than just stable oil from Venezuela) and are telling all here...
http://www.militaresdemocraticos.com.
-Shane
Geraldo took film crew to Coca Cola plants yesterday showing tear gas and police shoving woman who was protesting plant takeover.
Brit Hume had something on this story friday, calling it the most under-reported story in the news.
http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.asp?ref=/comment/comment-osorio010803.asp
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Venezuelan Air Force Major Juan Diaz Castillo, who is now seeking political asylum in the United States and says his "life and liberty are in danger in Venezuela," says Chavez chose him to conduct the transfer because he trusted him as a close personal assistant. But Díaz, disgusted with Chavez's regime, resigned his post on October 25 — and fled following a December 16 attempt on his life. At a Miami press conference this past Sunday, Diaz said that shortly following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Chavez commissioned him "to organize, coordinate, and execute a covert operation consisting of delivering financial resources, specifically $1 million, to [Afghanistan's] Taliban government, in order for them to assist the al-Qaeda terrorist organization," while, "making it appear as if humanitarian aid were being extended to the Afghan people." The first attempt to transfer the money fell through, but in late September 2001 Venezuelan Vice President Diosdado Cabello decided to funnel the money through Venezuela's ambassador in India, one Walter Marquez. The Taliban received the money and publicly acknowledged receipt of $100,000 in "humanitarian aid." "The rest went straight to al Qaeda," claims Díaz Castillo. "That is, $900,000." There is more. Diaz Castillo said that while in the Venezuelan air force, he saw Chavez's government send pro-Chavez armed groups — named "Bolivarian Circles," after South American independence hero Simón Bolívar — to Cuba for military training and ideological indoctrination, in order "to carry out acts of violence through them" against opponents. Diaz also says that Chavez has supplied money and arms to the Marxist guerrillas in neighboring Colombia that have plunged that country into chaos. Diaz Castillo's testimony alone should not be taken at face value — but his statements are consistent with other defectors' testimony and Chavez's public behavior.
Chavez's hatred of the United States and our allies is well known, as is his propensity for violence. On September 12, 2001, Chavez supporters burned an American flag in Caracas's Plaza Bolivar to celebrate the previous day's terrorist attacks. Chavez tried to seize power by force in 1992; and recently his thugs have ransacked television stations and fired on opposition demonstrators. It is not a stretch to believe he would ally himself with anyone trying to do us harm. The Bush administration must leave no stone unturned in investigating the allegations of Major Juan Diaz Castillo and of other Venezuelans who have fled and will flee Chavez's rule. If the allegations prove true, then the Chavez regime's current course poses a threat to the region's stability. How deeply is Chavez involved with international terror? We and our hemispheric neighbors need to know. — Ivan Osorio is editorial director at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The views expressed here are his own. |
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n January 5, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's former personal pilot dropped a bombshell that has been ignored by just about every major U.S. news organization: The Venezuelan president, according to the pilot, gave al Qaeda a substantial sum of money following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
General Marcos Ferreira, who resigned as director of Venezuela's border-control service, recently told Insight magazine that Cuba's General Intelligence Directorate (Spanish initials: DGI) has practically taken over Venezuela's ominously named Directorate for Intelligence, Security, and Prevention (DISIP), and that Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin pressured him to cover up the identities of terrorists — many from the Middle East — passing through Venezuela and to deceive U.S. terrorism investigators. "I quit my job when I got tired of doing dirty work for Chavez with the Cubans looking over my shoulder," he said.