IBERO-AMERICAN NEWS DIGEST
UPDATE: Chávez Counter-Coup Succeeds in Venezuela
As the military-civilian coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez appeared to be succeeding on April 12, to the point that Chávez had left office, the international machine of "Project Democracy"--e.g., the Inter-American Dialogue--mobilized their forces both outside and inside Venezuela to secure support for Chávez. Capitalizing on the deep fissures within the Venezuelan military, mobs of hundreds of thousands of Chávez supporters seized television stations and newspaper offices, and the Presidential Palace in Caracas on April 13, looting stores and shopping centers across Caracas as they went.
By the early morning hours of April 14, the Chavista counter-coup had succeeded. Although Chávez, upon his return, spoke of dialogue, the conflicts which led to the coup attempt against him have only been exacerbated further, leaving Venezuela even more unstable than before.
As of April 12: Interim Government Proclaimed Chávez Ousted in Venezuela
At 4:00 p.m. on April 12, the "Government of Democratic Transition and National Unity" was formally established in Venezuela, to undertake the task of re-establishing Constitutional order and domestic peace in the country in the aftermath of the rule of Hugo Chávez. Presidential, legislative, state, and municipal elections are to be held within 365 days. Heading the intermim government as President was Pedro Carmona Estanga, head of the national business federation Fedecámaras, and a prominent leader in recent months of the opposition movement which ousted Chávez.
What precipitated the coup against the increasingly hated Chávez, was his April 11 decision to unleash his fascist shocktroops against a march of more than a half-million unarmed people who were demanding his resignation. He ordered the attack on the third day of a general strike against his regime, which had been organized jointly by business and labor in support of a state oil company strike. With the strike gaining steam, and oil exports and domestic supply shutting down, Chávez opted for terror. As the giant march neared the Presidential place, Chávez shut down all private television broadcasting in the country. Then, snipers from Chávez's "Bolivarian Circles" shocktroops began firing indiscriminately into the march from the tops of buildings, overpasses, etc. At least 19 people were killed, and more than 100 wounded.
That brutality tipped the balance of forces within the military against Chávez. High-ranking National Guard, Navy, Air Force, and Army officers rebelled against the regime. Within hours, Chávez was under military arrest, and had resigned his office.
The Transitional Government premised its legitimacy upon Article 350 of the Constitution of 1999, which provides a right of rebellion against a government which violates the Constitution. Cited as causes for rebellion were the Chávez regime's ties to the Colombian FARC narcoguerrillas; its refusal to recognize legitimately formed trade unions; and the formation of the so-called "Bolivarian Circles" to carry out Chávez's personal political projects.
How quickly the new regime can mop up the extensive terrorist infrastructure set up under Chávez, will be critical. The Army began searching for weapons held by the Bolivarian Cirles. The arrest April 12 of Chávez's Interior Minister, retired Capt. Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, dealt an important blow to the entire continental narcoterrorist apparatus, as he was Chávez's personal bagman for the Colombian FARC and allies.
While the Bush Adminstration has expressed support for the change of government in Venezuela, it remains to be seen what it will do to help the new government, which now faces the danunting task of rebuilding the country. Critical to its ability to establish control over the nation will be an economic reconstruction program for this country where more than 75% of the people live in poverty, and at least half live in the slavery of the "informal" economy.
April 10: Say Chávez Lied About the FARC's Activities in Venezuela
"Chávez is lying," the FARC does operate in Venezuelan territory, Army Gen. Nestor González charged on April 10, during the second day of the general strike against President Hugo Chávez, who swore up and down that the FARC did not so operate. González revealed that he has been sending information to Chávez for some time, documenting that the FARC maintains camps inside Venezuela, both to train its cadre and to offer them refuge, and that the Venezuelan Army has fought the FARC on Venezuelan soil and suffered casualties as a result. He said he didn't know whether Chávez had any personal relationship with the FARC, and didn't know why he was lying, but that fact alone disqualifies him from being Venezuela's President.
González concluded by saying that, since the President had failed to respond to this information, he had decided to reveal these facts publicly. On April 1, Chávez had called a press conference to personally charge the Colombian military with covering up for its own incompetence, by inventing such stories.
FARC Terror Spree Encircles Bogotá: Mass Kidnapping in Cali
In a horrific escalation of the mounting campaign of narcoterror in Colombia, following the shutdown of the so-called demiliarized zone by the government of Andrés Pastrana, the narcoterrorist FARC has carried out a series of brutal actions against the state. On April 12, some 20 FARC narcoterrorists, disguised as an Army bomb-squad, evacuated the Legislative Assembly building in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, and kidnapped 13 deputies and 12 aides. In the ensuing chaos, several people were killed or wounded, and a police officer had his throat slit, to keep him from sounding the alarm. The aides were later released; one of the 13 deputies has not been accounted for.
One of the kidnap victims, president of the Assembly Juan Carlos Narvaez, identified the 12 deputies in a phone call to his wife; he asked her to intercede with the authorities to call off any rescue attempts as "a threat to our lives," and to facilitate negotiations with the terrorists for their release. At least one of the kidnap victims is seriously wounded.
In Bogotá, a series of bombings and bomb threats inside the capital city itself have wrought havoc and panicked residents. A number of small bombs were detonated under sewer manhole covers in central Bogotá, seriously wounding four people and causing widespread fear. A car-bomb placed in front of the Presidential Guard barracks, just two blocks from the Finance Ministry, was deactivated before it could explode. Bomb threats led to evacuations and militarization of many public buildings, hotels, banks, and stores.
The military erected checkpoints at major intersections and access points to the capital city. Land and air security over Bogotá and surrounding towns was heightened, as the military received intelligence that at least four FARC front groups were planning actions. Bogotá Mayor Antanas Mockus pleaded for calm, and urged citizens to become "14 million eyes and ears" against terrorism.
Other bombs were exploded in Buga and Tulua, in southwestern Valle del Cauca province; fortunately, there were no victims. The FARC also dynamited a bridge along the Bogotá-Villavicencio highway to the south. Earlier in the week, on April 9, the FARC killed a peasant, and placed his booby-trapped body in a car, in the town of Sibate, near Bogotá. Two bomb specialists called in to deactivate the device, were killed when it detonated.
Fox Cooped Up by Mexican Congress; Permission To Travel Denied
For the first time since 1910, the Mexican Senate has denied a President's request to travel outside the country. President Vicente Fox was refused permission to leave the country and travel to the United States and Canada April 15-18. Fox's PAN Party voted in favor of the travel request, but was trounced in the vote, 71 to 41. The PRI Party, which led the opposition to Fox, issued a seven-point explanation, which can be summed up as follows: The Fox government is not protecting the nation's sovereignty. An angry President Fox addressed the nation a few hours after the vote on April 9, charging that the PRI was out to stop him from implementing "the change you voted for." Nonetheless, Fox agreed to stay home.
While the ostensible trigger for the showdown, was the Fox government's refusal to file a formal protest with the United States over the March 27 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that illegal aliens do not have the same rights as Americans when they are wrongly fired from U.S. jobs, EIR's Mexican bureau reports that the Congress is fed up with Fox's kowtowing to the United States on an array of economic and political issues. Nationalists in the PRI and other parties were already up in arms over Finance Minister Jorge Castaneda's open organizing for Mexico to be absorbed into a "North American Community," and Congress had requested Castaneda to appear before them to answer questions, but he had refused to go, saying he was "too busy." The talk in Mexico as of April 10 was that Castaneda may be sacrificed, and that there is no way that Fox can now get energy privatization or labor reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund, passed through Congress.
In the midst of this extraordinary political situation, Nevada State Sen. Joe Neal and LaRouche campaign spokesman Harley Schlanger are scheduled to arrive in Mexico City on April 14, invited by LaRouche's MSIA of Mexico, to organize against the insanity of electricity privatization and deregulation.
IMF Demands Argentina Bow to its Imperial Decrees; Accept Conditionalities
On the afternoon of April 11, the IMF's Anoop Singh, head of the Special Operations Division, held a highly unusual press conference in Buenos Aires, to warn the government of President Eduardo Duhalde that Argentina must accept IMF conditionalities--or else. The press conference, which was organized by IMF spokesman Francisco Baker (who flew into Buenos Aires from Washington for 48 hours for that purpose), was held at the Finance Ministry auditorium. Finance Minister Remes Lenicov and other officials were, however, nowhere to be seen: It was the IMF's show. Singh warned that "it will be very difficult, and decidedly painful for the population, to try to correct the current situation without the firm support of the international community. And, for this, it is essential to have a program backed by the IMF" (emphasis in original).
At the top of the list of those demands, was that provincial governments eliminate their budget deficits and stop printing local bonds; and that the bankruptcy and economic subversion laws be altered to favor foreign "investors." Responding to questions about specific time frames and amounts, Singh would only say that it "will depend on how quickly a consistent program is devised, and the Argentine economy recovers."
The IMF, of course, wants to "help," cooed Singh, but, "it is the [Duhalde] government, together with the Argentine people, which must arrive at a consensus on the type of economic reforms needed at this time, and then carry them out." The responsibility for finding a solution lies inside Argentina, not abroad, he said. "Once a solid program is put together, then financial assistance" will appear.
Scholar: FDR, Malaysia's Mahathir Are Models for Argentina Today
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, and measures taken by Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad in 1997-98 to defend his nation from the globalists, are positive referents for Argentina today, wrote Professor Miguel Teubal, of the University of Buenos Aires, in Pagina 12 on April 7. Debunking the idea that Argentina must depend on the IMF to solve its current economic crisis, Professor Teubal emphasized the importance of FDR's New Deal, "which tended to reduce unemployment and reactivate the economy." He stated that increasing public expenditures combined with large public-works programs are necessary to help Argentina's economy recover.
Next, Teubal recalled the capital and exchange controls imposed by Dr. Mahathir in 1997-98, at the height of the Asian crisis and Soros-led speculative attack against the currency. "These policies allowed a reactivation of the economy, without capital flight or massive bankruptcies, unemployment, or sale of assets at bargain-basement prices."
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