(VIDEO) HAITI 2007: Chavez Visits Haiti and Gets One Hell of a Reception

This is a terrific 30 minute video that chronicles President Chavez’ March 2007 visit to Haiti.  If you take the time to watch it, you will not regret it.  It begins with Chavez’ motorcade leaving the airport in Port-au-Prince and ends at the National Palace for a meeting with President Rene Preval.  In the middle, you will find one rockin’ ride with thousands of Haitians running alongside his motorcade, as Chavez hangs out the door of his car to greet them. At one point, Chavez pops out of the car and RUNS with the people in the street. Naturally, this scared the beejeebers out of his security detail, but Chavez was delighted with his own audacity.  Also, listen to the crowd as they chant “aba Bush,” down with Bush.

The people of Haiti have gone through hell since the US-backed coup in 2004 robbed them of their democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Chavez’ visit signaled the rare instance in which a world leader comes to Haiti, not with the intention to interfere, but to provide help and solidarity. Viva Venezuela! Viv Ayiti!

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VIDEO: Venezuela Thwarts Recent Plot – Docu about 2002 Coup Gives Context, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”

Just fished out this 2007 post from a now-defunct blog of mine and re-posting it here because I think the story of Venezuela, especially the 2002 coup, can not be told often enough. Luckily, a highly informative documentary was made about the coup, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” and it provides much needed context for the current situation in Venezuela.  Many of you reading this may have seen the film.  If so, please consider passing this along to someone who hasn’t.

Below is my original post about the film and a link.

Haiti-Cuba-Venezuela blog, Posted on October 13, 2007

Venezuela and Hugo Chavez’ service as its president are among the most maligned topics in US (and much of European) media. In spite of valiant efforts by solidarity activists to refute the unfounded and shameless accusations hurled at President Chavez and the Bolivarian revolution, it is tough to stay ahead of the endless stream of propaganda spewed by cable news, the LA Times, The New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, etc. And then, there are those snotty State Department briefings where the reporters are treated with disdain and Venezuela is a perennial punching bag.

I think it’s time to resurrect one of the most powerful antidotes I can think of to counter the poisonous US government and media lies — the brilliant documentary about the 2002 coup in Venezuela, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”  Two Irish filmmakers came to Venezuela in September 2001 to work on a film about President Chavez when, in April 2002, the coup unfold before their cameras. If it had not been for Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Brian, we might never have known the depth and breadth of the people’s resistance to the US-backed, elite military coup in which the democratically-elected president, Hugo Chavez, was taken hostage.

If you have not seen this film, I urge you to watch it. If you have seen the film, please share it with someone who has not. Why am I so insistent that people see a film about an unsuccessful coup d’etat in Venezuela that took place five years ago? Because it provides background, context, and information about the Bolivarian revolution that will never break the “fact barrier” at Fox News or much of anywhere else. In addition, the more you know about the Venezuelan coup, the more you will know about US-backed coups that came before and after it.

(VIDEO) Venezuelan Opposition Makes a Mistake in Thinking it Can De-stabilize the Country

Over the last two months, the US-financed opposition in Venezuela has committed numerous acts of serious violence in an effort to destabilize the country and to depose the democratically-elected president, Nicolas Maduro.  This video is a parody of opposition efforts and provides a perfect example why they are failing.  The video is in Spanish with English subtitles.

 

A Salute to the People of Honduras and Their Persistent Resistance

My hat remains perpetually off to the people of Honduras, beginning with the coup on June 28, 2009, to this day for resisting a murderous regime sent special delivery from the US State Dept.  Below is a post I put up on January 27, 2010, on my now defunct blog, Honduras Oye.  I am trying to incorporate stories of peoples’ struggles I have chronicled in separate blogs over the years on Guinea, Honduras, and Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela into this blog.  This particular entry focuses on the song that united and fueled the Honduran Resistance.  It is presented in two, short compelling  short videos.  Of particular note, at the end of the first video you will see the Honduran Resistance gathered at the airport in Tegucigalpa waiting on a plane carrying their exiled president, Mel Zelaya.  Of course, the thugs who took over the government denied the plane landing rights.  Yet it was able to pass by the airport, tipping its wing in salute to the people on the ground.  Oh yes, it was a Venezuelan pilot doing the honors.  Thanks, Hugo Chavez.

January 27, 2010

It seems like a good time to look back at the last seven months and honor the Honduran Resistance which hit the streets June 28, on the day of coup, and has not stopped.

The Resistance is Not Afraid:

The anthem of the Honduran Resistance is a beautiful and compelling song:  “Nos tienen miedo porque no tenemos miedo” or in English, “They are afraid of us because we are not afraid.”  Two versions.

PEOPLES’ STRUGGLES IN GLOBAL SOUTH

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