The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Quick story: I'm signed up for a trip in April to Caracas (on the 2nd anniversary of the attempted coup) to learn more about the political/economic situation in Venezuela. (As is Bob of Bob's Links & Rants in Ann Arbor, MI, if you are reading his blog. We'll try to find an internet cafe in Caracas to post from while there.) One of the links the tour sponsor provided was to a documentary by two Irish film makers about the attempted opposition coup in April 2002. In the universe's awesome way of bringing things to you that you need, it so happens that there's a film festival this weekend in town, and that film is being shown one time, today, at noon. I didn't even know there was a film festival (ought to get out more), until a co-worker came up to me on Thursday talking about some films he was going to catch, showed me the list of films, and voila! there was this one. La Belle Soeur La Hermana Hermosa and I will be going.

This morning, in checking Vheadlines.com, there's an article about trouble in Boston where the film has been shown this weekend, and this note:

The documentary, made by two Irish journalists who filmed the 2-day coup attempt, was pulled last November from an Amnesty International film festival in Canada after officials from Amnesty's Venezuelan offices said they were threatened.

Damn! The opposition is serious. And backed by U.S. money and policy, I might add.

I don't expect we'll have any trouble here in Columbia. But I'll sure let you know this afternoon. (We actually had a very peaceful anti-war march on the first day of Operation Inigo Montoya. The police escorted the entire thing, and we only had one redneck in a pickup try to block the marchers' path - or maybe he was trying to run over some of us, I don't know. Anyway, the police made him stop and sit there while we filed by.)

In case you missed it, here's Greg Palast's recent reporting on Venezuela.

And a page of film reviews for The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

From February 12 Houston Chronicle:

Without warning, Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain found themselves in the presidential palace in the middle of a coup. Amazingly, they had complete access to the rapidly unfolding events, starting with the coup, continuing with gun-toting riots in the streets and concluding with an astounding turning of the tables -- well, maybe we can stop talking details on this point. What ultimately happened is in the history books now and you can look it up. But The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, which plays like a raw, Costa-Gavras-style thriller and makes disturbing implications about the role of the Bush administration in all this, is worth watching down to the last thrilling minute.

What makes the film more explosive is the continued uncertainty that hangs over the country. Chavez's story, and by extension Venezuela's, is far from over.

Chavez, a populist leader with a clearly socialist, anti-global-capitalism agenda, has a strong connection to Venezuela's impoverished people, estimated at 80 percent of the population. He is known and loved by many of those constituents for his promise to redistribute the wealth and also for his energetic outreach, which includes a government television station that he uses to answer live, call-in questions from the public.

Can you imagine Bushbubble doing that?

Chavez is a virtual pariah among the ruling classes, which includes wealthy oil exporters (the country is the world's fourth-largest oil producer) and the privately owned media companies who relentlessly criticize him. And his refusal to play ball with Washington in the global economy, as well as his blunt criticism of the government's bombing campaign in Afghanistan, all but sealed his doom.


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