THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED = FILM on the Failed Overthrow of Hugo Chavez

[L. Coyote]

If you have not yet seen this, it is a must see history of the unsuccessful plot to overthrow the democratic government of Venezuela. The plot succeeded and a dictator was quickly installed, but the People realized what was happening and they rose up. Before I give away the whole story.....

And NOW, presenting, for your viewing discretion at any time

THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
KIM BARTLEY AND DONNACHA O'BRIAIN
1 hr 14 min 31 sec - Apr 23, 2006
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144

Let's discuss the film here. If you want to discuss the current situation, there are plenty of threads, like:

Chavez on news now. Will cut off oil supply to USA for interference in elections.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2386514

[panader0]

1. I'm unable to watch video, but I reall y used to like that song.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. Yes, see just how "democratic" the opposition is

See what they announced at their own press conference.

[1932]

12. Love the expression on the "Coup" Atty General's face when he's read his constitutional rights after

getting arrested for participating in the coup -- two days after he tore up that same constitution.

Priceless.

[99th_Monkey]

3. Highly Recommended!! This is not just any documentary, it is history in action.

The film was shot by a crew of videographers who just happened to be in Venezuela to interview Chavez, and got caught up in the whole
drama of the attempted coup and amazingly were allowed to continue filming the action, even once the coup leaders had taken over the
Presidential Palace. It's not just a bunch of talking heads jabbering about stuff they remember, it's live footage of the entire event
from beginning to end. One really gets the feeling of "being there". I hope everyone who reads this post at least bookmarks it for
later viewing.

[NYC]

8. Thanks for the description.

I can't download the movie because I'm on dial up. I'll wait for it to come along in another form.

Thanks.

[99th_Monkey]

21. It's out on DVD too. I rented it as I remember. n/t

[NYC]

23. Thanks.

I'll watch it soon.

[EFerrari]

14. Kick

[Gregorian]

4. Two minutes in- What a contrast between him and Bush in terms of popularity.

The crowds adore him. He's a hero. Compared to Bush running from eggs thrown at his motorcade in 2000.

I'm looking forward to this. Thanks for the link.


Warning- contains footage of ARI FLEISHER CREATURE.

[1932]

13. Love the scene of him singing with the developmentally disabled kid.

Mother thanks Chavez...says he met the kid before when he was younger. Great example of how connected he is with Venezuelans, no matter who they are.

[ellenfl]

5. kick for later. eom

[radiclib]

6. How long before we "liberate" Venezuela?

Of course it'll have to be Blackwater. Aren't you glad there's no need for a draft, though?

[seemslikeadream]

7. I've been carrying that film around with me for quite awhile

:hi:

[ClayZ]

9. K and R

[Gregorian]

10. It's interesting to see the rich people doing the same thing they do here.

I forget the term for it. The rich are projecting their anxieties as being caused by the followers of Chavez. But if you heard those same words coming out of the poor people's mouths, they'd fit the rich people perfectly. Whining about problems they've never had to deal with. Talking about how Chavez and his people want the rich out of their own country. Bullshit. This is a constitutional democracy. And it's very easy to tell the real deal. The people have color in their cheeks. They're vibrant. Where they didn't care, they now are learning about politics. Because now they have a chance.

It's an open government where it was closed before.

I see parallels with our mess. But the difference is Chavez. He's like a good fish swimming against a bad current. The media doing just what our unfair and unbalanced media is doing right now. Lying. Slandering.

Unlike some in the film, I began my political interests because of just the opposite. A lousy fascist. Hope died in America. So we all got on our feet.

It's easy to spot a fake. Bush is a fake. Chavez appears to clearly be a man for the people. A man who cares. His door is open. He talks directly with the people. It's about the people. Not about the big business.

And what I get from this is that even if it's not an either-or situation, it can tend to be for the big business or for the people. There is absolutely no doubt that Chavez is for the people. And what is it that comprises the majority of a democracy? People or corporations? People.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. I saw this film with another DUer, and we agreed that

the rich people complaining about Chavez in the film were exactly the same people who would be country club Republicans in the U.S.

[EFerrari]

24. Wasn't that amazing? They didn't know enough to wear flats

to a demonstration.

I went nuts and bought two copies, one for the house and one for circulation.

[Blue-Jay]

11. I'm fairly certain that the revolution WILL be televised.

Call it a "hunch".

[L. Coyote]

15. The Shadow of Bolivar

The Shadow of Bolivar
http://www.chavezthefilm.com/html/backgrd/bolivar.htm

One of the most interesting aspects of Chavez and his political movement
has been the central role given over to the man known as The Liberator
- Simon Bolivar. The outstanding leader in the struggle for Venezuela's
independence from Spanish colonial rule in the early 19th century,
Bolivar went on to liberate four other South American countries -
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia ( his namesake).

Inspired by the republican ideal of a sovereign people shaping its
own political future, Bolivar also cherished a vision of a united
and independent Latin American continent to rival the US to the north.
However, after his series of remarkable military victories Bolivar
was sidelined by the local elites who took over the running of the
newly independent countries, and this vision was never realized. Bolivar
died in 1830.

For the next 120 years Venezuela was ruled - with a few short-lived
exceptions - by a series of despots and dictators until 1958. In January
of that year a civilian-military alliance overthrew the then dictator
Perez Jimenez and for the first time the promise of real democracy
and an open society was in the offing for Venezuela. This hope was
soon crushed, however, when the two mainstream political parties Accion
Democratica and COPEI decided to share power exclusively between themselves
under an agreement known as the Pact of Punto Fijo.

Spurred on by the US government, the aim of Punto Fijo, was to exclude
the Left from political life, and this imbalance in the political
system was to characterize Venezuela for the next 40 years. While
the oil boom of the 1970's lasted, this political set-up could be
held together by massive corruption and graft, but with the fall in
oil prices in the 1980's the cracks began to show.

Although hundreds of billions of dollars had come into the country
there had been an abject failure to re-distribute the wealth, so that
by the 1990's 80% of Venezuela's 23 million people were living in
poverty. During this period the figure of Bolivar appears in popular
culture as a symbol of an alternative society based on real democracy,
civil rights and patriotism ( cf the songs of Ali Primera).


It was against this background that Hugo Chavez launched his failed
coup attempt in February 1992. For several years Chavez and a group
of officers within the army, inspired by their studies of Bolivar,
had begun to refine a political philosophy they termed Bolivarianism.
They aimed to resurrect some of the central values of Bolivar, that
in their view had been lost in modern Venezuela: national independence,
economic self-sufficiency, and an ethic of service to the people.

In the aftermath of the failed coup of '92, Chavez became a popular
symbol of resistance to the old political system, particularly among
the country's poor. After his release from prison in 1994 he set about
building a broad political movement, bringing together other parties
of the left such as MAS, Patria Para Todos, and the Communist Party,
as well as his own party the Movement of the Fifth Republic. This
movement set out an agenda broadly defined as Bolivarian - inspired
by Bolivar's vision of a democratic society with real rights for all
its citizens.

In the presidential elections of 1998 Chavez won 56% of the vote.
Once in power Chavez set in motion a process of redrafting the country's
constitution. National elections were held to a Constituent Assembly
where representatives of political parties and civil society drew
up a new "Magna Carta", as Chavez termed it at the time.
This new Constitution was passed by popular referendum in 1999. Under
its terms the country became officially known as the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela.

One of the central tenets of this Bolivarian Constitution is its focus
on participative democracy, the idea that citizens should be involved
as much as possible in the process of political decision making. To
this end, the Constitution allows, among other things, for any elected
official - including the President - to be removed from office by
popular referendum half way through their term. The Chavez government
has also encouraged the creation of what are known as Bolivarian Circles,
neighborhood and community organizations which focus on popular education
and activism. The aim is to provide an arena for people to become
aware of their rights under the new Constitution - such as free healthcare
and education - and to lobby their public representatives or local
government wherever there is a failure to implement them.

Much of the private media campaign in Venezuela has sought to demonise
the Bolivarian Circles, claiming they are a front for armed militias.
The evidence on the ground seems to suggest, however, that the Circles
are a progressive phenomenon, providing a much-needed sense of empowerment
and "ownership" over the political process amongst those
previously marginalized.

In addition, Chavez has attempted to resurrect Bolivar's ideas of
a unified Latin America. While the elites of these countries have
been wary of supporting his position, the realities on the ground,
with millions from Chile to Chiapas feeling the negative effects of
Washington's neo-liberal economic policies, point to a fertile ground
for such a vision. Two hundred years on The Liberaor still casts a
long shadow.

[L. Coyote]

17. The Politics of Oil

The Politics of Oil
http://www.chavezthefilm.com/html/backgrd/oil.htm

"Standard Oil (now Exxon-Mobil) and Shell seat and unseat kings and presidents, finance palace plots and coup d'etats, have innumerable generals, ministers and James Bonds at their command…..make decisions about peace or war in every field and every language."
- Eduardo Galleano, Open Veins of Latin America

Crude Despots
It was dictator Juan Vicente Gómez who set the pattern. Gómez ruled Venezuela between 1908 and 1935 and was perfectly placed to benefit when the country's remarkable oil wealth began to flow in the 1920s.
Gómez used this new wealth to underpin his regime, enriching family, friends and supporters alike - the archbishop who gave a special dispensation allowing the dictator to eat meat on Fridays, was handsomely rewarded with oil shares.

The Gómez regime, a US diplomat wrote approvingly, was characterised by a "benevolent despotism", which the diplomat felt was infinitely preferable to "anarchical democracy."

..................

NOTE: The scroll button in the page is rather unusual, off to the upper right.

[L. Coyote]

18. USA in Latin America: 1912 - U.S. marines invade Nicaragua

http://www.chavezthefilm.com/html/backgrd/usa.htm

1912 - U.S. marines invade Nicaragua, beginning
an occupation that was to last almost continuously until 1933. In the
same year, President Taft declares: "The day is not far distant
when three Stars & Stripes at three equidistant points will mark
our territory: one at the North Pole, another at the Panama Canal and
the third at the South Pole. The whole hemisphere will be ours in fact
as, by virtue of our superiority of race, it already is ours morally."

[Gregorian]

19. A very important film.

The irony is high in this. And only half the story is told. And maybe will not be told.

The people did this. They brought Chavez back.

This reminds me of what happened in 2004. Or even 2000, in combination with the following elections. But no guns here.

This could happen here. I'm thinking of Kucinich, as president. The powers don't want what's best for the people. They want wealth. And that is not what's best for the people. Wealth through power is not democracy.

[slipslidingaway]

20. Netflix "The Revolution Will not Be Televised"

"On April 12, 2002, the world awoke to the news that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez had been removed from office and replaced by a new interim government. Documentarians Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain, in Venezuela making a film about the left-leaning democratic president, suddenly found themselves in the heart of a coup d'état and captured those frightening moments and days in which a nation's political future hung in the balance.


Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"It is remarkable because the filmmakers, Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain, had access to virtually everything that happened within the palace during the entire episode." ... Read More

Stephen Holden, The New York Times
"More than a scary close-up look at the raw mechanics of a power grab, the film is also a cautionary examination of the use of television to deceive and manipulate the public." ... Read More

Ty Burr, Boston Globe
"Stands as our best chance to understand what happened in Caracas, even if the filmmakers' pro-Chavez stance should send you to alternate sources for the larger picture." ... Read More"

[deutsey]

32. I've tried to get the movie from Netflix but it's not available n/t

[slipslidingaway]

33. I watched it online but noticed they have it listed??? I just tried to

add the movie and here is the message.

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised has been added to the Saved section of your Queue.
This movie's release date is unknown.

...Q: What is the "Saved" section in my Queue?

A: The Saved section holds DVDs that you have added to your Queue that haven’t been released yet.

When our customers add unreleased DVDs, it helps us see what movies our members are interested in and it helps us decide whether or not we should purchase a particular title.

When a saved DVD becomes available to Netflix members, it will be moved from the Saved section to the bottom of your Queue. If you want to remove a movie from your Saved list, check the Remove box to the right of the movie and then click Update Saved Movies.

Please note that movie studios decide whether or not to release movies to DVD, so not every move you save will be released and some may never be available from Netflix."


Learn something everyday, too bad about it has not being released. Wonder why not and if it just has not been released in the U.S.???

:tinfoilhat:

In edit, thanks for letting me know!

[nightrider767]

22. I didn't have time to waste on a long video...

But once I started,,, I couldn't stop.

Amaaaaazing.

Highly recommended.

[Judi Lynn]

28. It's great something moved you to satisfy your curiosity, anyway!

There has NEVER been anything done which approaches this documentary. One of a kind, will never be duplicated.

Once you've seen it, it does tell you so much that has never been breathed into anything our media have told us about what happened, and makes that coup seem even more outlandish, barbaric, and stupid.

I'm convinced right-wingers would rather be hit by a truck than to take a chance on watching it themselves. Too much could go wrong!

[nightrider767]

37. I was startled.. I felt disoriented.

I couldn't believe my eyes. It was shocking that everything I thought, may have been wrong.

I never considered the power of media disinformation on this issue, since it simply wasn't an issue that was close to me. But it was stunning to see.

You mess with the oil supply,,,,, and bad things will come from the ground to swallow you up.

[Whisp]

25. thanks so much for the reminder...

I've been meaning to see this for a long time, and finally did tonight.

[L. Coyote]

26. Do you recommend to others? I call it "MUST SEE" and Five Stars and thumbs up.

[Whisp]

27. most definitely recommended.

everyone anti-chavez and pro CIA coup here should see it too.

[IndyOp]

29. Tremendous! Thank you! Inspiring to see the citizens inspired the palace

guard who returned the ministers, who found the vice-president, who sent the military to return Chavez, who treated the people who had participated in the coup with full citizen's rights.

Any anti-Chavez people reading this thread - please watch the video. I don't like everything about Hugo, but I do believe that he has stood and continues to stand for democracy, for the people.

[ooglymoogly]

30. Wow! just wow. By people like Chavez, the wonderfully brave people of Venezuela and the people

making these eye popping films at tremendous risk to themselves, the crooked lying right wing is coming undone and revealed for what they really are like water on the evil witch. Bravo to these film makers!!!!! big Kick and Rec

[murray hill farm]

31. Not a suprising observation, but

The opposition is made up almost exclusively of light skinned men and women...all expressing a kind of ugly rage. A lot of the women had bleached hair..wanting to be even more white, I guess. They were all better dressed, but not very nice looking with that kind of hard, cold kind of look of supressed fear and not so supressed anger. The poor, on the other hand were easy to smile and had a warm an open happiness about them..easy to sing and laugh....though they had so little. Hope is an amazing thing. Congratulations to all of Venezuela tonight.

[ooglymoogly]

34. Great find Coyote

Anyone else notice the similarities between the private media in this incredible film and our own corporate propaganda mills. This film in a way is a mirror as it were held up to ... Well the good old USA and the evil that has a stranglehold on it. I wept all the way through this documentary.

[L. Coyote]

35. Huge lesson you point to. The media was manipulated to overthrow democracy.

It really is a tale of caution and points to how media easily controls a society with blatant falsehoods.

[shance]

36. When people come together, powerful things happen.

Great film.

Footage speaks for itself.

[ellenfl]

38. kick eom

[L. Coyote]

39. Highly recommended film kick