Hugo Chavez was a colourful, unpredictable folk hero who was beloved by his nation’s working class. He was elected president of Venezuela in 1998, and proved to be a tough, quixotic opponent to the power structure that wanted to depose him. When he was forcibly removed from office on 11 April 2002, two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace.
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One of my top five favorites really. You look on Wikipedia and the only mention of this coup was that Chavez survived.I just saw this film this year and was shocked by the power of private media. I knew it was powerful, but I guess until you see it in action you never realize how easily they can overthrow a leader and misinform the masses.Incredible footage that resulted from being at the right place at the right time. This film is a must see.This should be mandatory in every high school government class. We host documentary nights several times a month with friends and this film is highly regarded by everyone who's seen it.
An interesting documentary. Some points...1. Hugo Chavez was elected Venezuela's president in 1998, his support largely coming from the poorer regions of Venezuela.2. In 2002, a coup briefly deposed Chavez. At the time, Irish filmmakers Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain were in Caracas, shooting a documentary about Chavez for British television. They documented these events and produced "The Revolution Will Not Be Televisd", a documentary which records history unfolding on-the-spot, outside and inside the presidential palace.3. Chavez aimed to free Venezuela from the free-market policies imposed on it by the West. Though Venezuela's oil was already state-owned, it was run for private benefit by executives who Chavez wished to replace.4. Despite being the world's fourth largest oil supplier, Venezuela is awash with poverty. At the time, Venezuelans believed that "kicking out multinational corporations" and "nationalizing local oil" would kick start massive social change. Citizens are still awaiting this change. Chavez has rallied much of the international Left with an ideal of a popular democratic revolution in which the country's poor have risen to redress deep social injustices. There is still a deep gap, however, between those idealised beliefs and the realities faced by the Venezuelan underclass. It is debatable whether Chavez has brought about any beneficial, concrete changes.5. The documentary begins by portraying Chavez's first years as president before the coup. It focuses on his popularity with the poor, and his various policies which proved popular with working class locals (educational plans, distribution of the oil revenue, grass-root democracy etc).6. Chavez was a huge proponent of education, and printed thousands of copies of the Venezuelan constitution, encouraging children and adults to study and understand it.7. When Chavez came to power, he immediately pledged to redistribute oil profits. This, understandably, made the oil companies nervous.8. A media-war broke out. The six private TV stations promptly began opposing the state-run TV station. They questioned Chavez's motives, sanity and sexual orientation.9. Without media support, the coup would not have been successful. The film makes it clear that coups rely heavily on the media to disseminate information and that news can be easily fabricated.10. Under the guise of "re-establishing democracy", the opposition silenced the state-run TV station, dissolved the National Electoral Board, Supreme Court, National Assembly and took control of the military.11. Moneyed interests, backed by the military elite and encouraged/sponsored/planned by the US and CIA, organised a citizens' march on the presidential palace to effect the coup. Snipers shot at Chávez supporters, but the private media stations edited footage so it appeared that return fire was aimed at the opposition march that in fact had been safely diverted.12. Police went on a shooting rampage against Chavez supporters, further bloodying the streets.13. Chavez, held captive, refused to resign. Of course the media/government then lied, saying he had resigned, but Chavez's cabinet members communicated the truth to the international community, which eventually got the message back to Venezuela by cable TV.14. The people rose up, pressuring the return of the president they had elected, whom only a referendum could constitutionally replace.8.9/10 - Worth one viewing. See Adam Curtis' docs.
There's no doubt: this is a great film.but it has at least a flaw: it is not about facts. most of the research has been done without even consulting anybody but president Chavez and his allies, so it's totally one-sided, and filmmakers just cast their prejudices over the Venezuelan opposition and make the world to believe them.I suggest other commentators to take a good look at Venezuelan newspapers so they don't get fooled by this enormous propaganda effort, done to please president Chavez and people who idyllically believes that there's a revolution taking place in our country.In Venezuela there's only another military fellow who wants to hold on to power as long as he can, regardless of democracy or civil rights.I strongly suggest also to see La fiesta del chivo (The Feast of the Goat), The last king of Scotland, Fall of Fujimori and Juan Vicente Gomez y su epoca so you can see what president Chavez is about.Nice work for the Irish people who made this film: just hope next time they decide to do another they reach for the truth if it's a documentary .
The material in this documentary is so powerful that it brought me to tears. Yes, tears I tell you. This popular struggle of a traditionally exploited population should inspire all of us to stand up for our rights, put forth the greater good of the community and stop making up cowardly excuses for not challenging the establishment. Chavez represents the weak and misfortunate in the same way Bush is the face of dirty corporations and capitalism ran amok. Indeed, Latin America is being reshaped and the marginalized majority is finally having a voice in over five centuries. Though, in the case of Mexico, the election was clearly stolen by Calderon. Chavez is not perfect, far from it. He's trying to change the constitution to allow him to rule indefinitely. That cannot be tolerated. Enough with the politics and back to the movie; The pace is breath taking at moments, and deeply philosophical at others. It portrays Chavez as a popular hero unafraid to challenge the US hegemony and domination of the world's resources. If you think the author is biased in favour of Chavez, nothing's stopping you from doing your homework. One crucial message of the film is questioning info sources, as was clearly demonstrated by the snippers casualties being shamefully blamed on Chavez's supporters. Venezuela puts American alleged democracy to shame. Hasta la revolucion siempre!