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Editorial Commentary
VenEconomy :
The stains of April the 11th
On April 11th, six years ago, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, civically held a peaceful march in Caracas, to let the Government of Hugo Chávez know that they rejected his policies.
The peaceful wave of humanity which overflowed the MeritocraciaPlaza in Chuao, spontaneously decided to head towards the Miraflores presidential palace to ask the President to return PDVSA’s autonomy and reinstate the mangers and professionals that he had arbitrarily and illegally fired. Many among the crowd yelled: Out with Chávez!
In his arrogance, the President, who is not one to tolerate any form of dissidence, didn’t not allow the march to reach the Palace, surrounding it with National Guard units. Additionally, along the marcher’s route, ambushes were set: a sniper located on the top of a building, and gunmen placed on the Llaguno Bridge. By the end of that afternoon, 19 Venezuelans were dead and dozens wounded.
But that wasn’t the full extent of it.
The President interrupted the broadcast of all TV channels in an effort to stop the news of what was going on in Caracas to spread around the country. This information blackout was partially neutralized by the private TV channels which through a split screen broadcast what was going on with the march live and direct.
The recording these events is still undeniable proof of what took place that afternoon.
The President also ordered the Military High Command to carry out Plan Ávila against the marchers that same afternoon. The High Command did not obey this order and refused to carry out a military action against unarmed civilians which included children, old people, and women. Instead, due to the severity of the order that had just been given, the Military High Command requested that Hugo Chávez submit his resignation as President of the Republic, “which he accepted.”
After this, a series of gross mistakes, mostly due to incompetence, improvisation, stubbornness and being naïve, as well as too much personal and group ambition.
This sequence of events led to Hugo Chávez returning to power two days later, and with him, a reinstatement of an autocratic and immoral government which is still governing the country today.
Six years after these ill fated events on April 11th, the truth of exactly what happened on that day, and the days that followed, is still largely unknown.
The “Comisión de la Verdad” (Truth Commission) promised by Chávez (apologetically) to the people in front of OAS arbitrators, was never formed.
Instead, the Government orchestrated a disinformation campaign that is still going on today. This year it will include a series of publications and a public even whereby the Government will narrate its version of how the events unfolded during those ominous days in April 2002.
This malicious manipulation of the facts let a number of criminals loose despite overwhelming public evidence that proved their involvement, while innocent people remain in jail, subject to never-ending trials based on false testimonies. Among them, commissioners Henry Vivas, Iván Simonovis, and Lázaro Forero, a number of metropolitan police officers, and Capitan Otto Guevauer, whose only crime was to guard Chávez when he was detained during the period he stepped down from Office.
But none of this is surprising, coming from a Government where the institutions that are supposed to administer justice are at the beck and call of the President, are totally amoral, and are capable of forging documents and condoning false testimony.
VenEconomy is a Venezuela's leading specialized publisher in the economic and financial area. VenEconomy's Points of View on the issues of the day, as seen by VenEconomy during the last week. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views.
Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published by VenEconomy, on 04/10/2007. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers.
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Petroleumworld News 04/11/08
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