• Affirms Fidel at the open tribunal in repudiation of the fascist coup attempt to defeat the constitutional government of Venezuela one year ago

BY MARIELA PEREZ VALENZUELA—Granma daily staff writer—

• TODAY’S happiness is being witness to what is occurring in Venezuela, affirmed President Fidel Castro, speaking at the open tribunal in repudiation of the fascist coup in that sister nation.

The leader of the Revolution headed the solidarity event with that country, one year after the people’s defeat of the coup d’état intended to bring down the constitutional government of Venezuela and its president Hugo Chávez Frías.

Fidel noted that Chávez effected a great political feat on obtaining the presidency, then as leader during the April incidents and afterwards by winning the huge battle when the oligarchies went on strike and attempted to paralyze the country.

Chávez possesses exceptional qualities, has a great creative capacity, is a man of infinite nobility and generosity; he is also a great leader and is showing himself to be a great statesman, Fidel attested.

The Cuban president highlighted the great unity among Venezuelans and Cubans visible in the event at the International Conference Center, as well as at the 1st Encounter between the youth of both countries in Caracas.

"For our part, we heard with emotion the words of our young pioneers and youth at the closing session of that meeting, where they excelled themselves in brilliance, as well as those of young Venezuelans and the affection with which Chávez listened to them," he commented.

Fidel went on to say that he had heard that the opposition planned to use the metropolitan police to tarnish the brilliance of the World Solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution Encounter, inaugurated on Thursday in Caracas on the first anniversary of the fascist coup.

He recalled the intensity of the days in that South American nation exactly one year ago: the poison sown by the media, the opposition call to march on the Miraflores Palace to provoke a clash with the Bolivarians who also went to the palace in support of the president.

He affirmed that those days were unforgettable and recalled with indignation how the counterrevolution killed dozens of Bolivarians.

He spoke of his concern at what was happening in Venezuela and recalled a telephone conversation with Chávez when the latter was entrenched in the Miraflores Palace without communication and how he asked the Venezuelan president to preserve his life and that of the people with him.

At another point he also referred to the fascist movement unleashed in the sister nation at the end of last year, employing different strategies to defeat the constitutional government.

Fidel went on to emphasize the strength of the Cuban Revolution from the political point of view and affirmed that our people had reached an unprecedented level of awareness.

"We are currently immersed in the battle against provocations intended to produce a conflict and U.S. military aggression, but will not lower our guard for one minute, one day or one second," he confirmed, adding that no lies, myths or slander would be able to destroy us.

Fidel highlighted the experience of the Revolution and the revolutionary awareness of our people and stated that our enemies to the North can invent lies, commit war crimes and murder but cannot win one single battle because they know nothing about politics.

"Whatever they do and whatever they spend, they cannot win one single battle in political terms."

He spoke of Cubans’ knowledge, culture and preparedness, their sense of solidarity that is increasing by the day and observed that the island has a very clear idea of what it has to do in all terrains.

"We are prepared and have a very clear idea of what we want and must do. They will never be able to do anything with this people," he affirmed.

The Cuban president stated that our country has been defending itself for 44 years and is always ready to continue to the end.

BY JOAQUIN RIVERY TUR—Granma daily special correspondent—

CARACAS, April 11.— I had never witnessed the "baptism" of a book before today. I didn’t know that tradition existed in Venezuela or in any other country. I witnessed it thanks to the fact that workers at the Municipal Publications Institute (IMP) invited relatives of the five heroes imprisoned in the empire to such an event, because it involved a volume of poems by Antonio Guerrero, Desde mi altura (From Where I Am) and Pensamientos de Bolívar (Ideas of Bolívar), both published thanks to the initiative of Bolivarian circles at the center, also known as the Caracas Municipal Press.

We were received by an enormous banner bearing the inscription: "At this moment of international solidarity, Venezuela’s heart is with the Cuban patriots imprisoned by the U.S. empire."

Rubén Martínez, IMP president, is not an orator, he prefers to work, but he informed Granma that the center has 200 workers and eight Bolivarian circles with an average of 11 members each.

The press is an open space for community organizations in the neighborhood, and they lend them space for meetings and events but, first and foremost, IMP publishes 95% of the alternative papers with runs of between 2,000 and 10,000 copies.

After lots of music and words of thanks and solidarity, the "baptism" finally took place. The godparents included María Eugenia Guerrero (sister of the author Antonio), Irma Sehwerert (René’s mother), Ailí Labaniño (Ramón’s daughter), Rosa Aurora Freijanes, (Fernando’s wife), and Alier Tapia Hernández (Gerardo’s nephew).

The ceremony consists of the godparents scattering flower petals on the books until they are covered. Then the book can go on sale.

Later, the five heroes’ relatives were giving away books on the imprisoned patriots, signing many of them and spending time with the workers at the press. The baptism was over.

narco News By Alex Contreras Baspineiro Reporting from Caracas with the Narco News Team April 11, 2003

APRIL 11, 2003; CARACAS, VENEZUELA: Thousands of people from all corners of the world, men and women, black and white, mestizo and indigenous, intellectuals and workers, revolutionaries and activists, students and journalists, join together from today until April 13, in the great land of Caracas, to participate in the World Gathering in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution.

Speaking different languages, dressed in clothing of a thousand different colors, bringing with them unique life experiences and national symbols, but united in diversity with a goal of global solidarity and a revolutionary commitment, we are beginning to join our strength together.

This morning’s inaugural ceremony in the Teresa Carreño theatre was marked not only by the crowds, but also by their conviction. When President Chávez took his seat, the orchestra fell silent before the cries of “¡Uh, Ah! ¡Chávez no se va!” (“Ooh! Aah! Chávez isn’t leaving!”) from every section of the theater, and, above all, from the depths of every heart.

This global gathering commemorates the first anniversary of the popular insurrection that toppled the dictatorship imposed by the coup d’etat of April 11 last year. At that time, the commercial media, along with the Venezuelan fascist oligarchy, proclaimed the success of the reactionary coup and the overthrow of the President of the Bolivarian Republic to be a success. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

At a conference on the ideas of liberator Simón Bolívar, Samuel Moncada, Director of the School of History at the Catholic University of Venezuela, remembered those days:

“April 11 was labeled the day of tragedy, when a group of military officers, together with the multinational corporations, CEOs, and some trade unionists, carried out a violent massacre against the people of Venezuela. The 12th was defined as the day of the boss’s revenge, as the new junta imposed a climate of terror, violating human, social, and political rights. The portrait of Bolívar (that hangs in the presidential press conference room) was removed and hidden, and the name of the Bolivarian Republic changed.

“But April 13th was the day of the dignity of the Venezuelan people. First dozens, then thousands, then millions of men and women confronted the coup to demand Chávez’s return to power. Unarmed except for the copies of the Constitution in their hands, the power of the people overthrew the fascist generals.”

Everyone “against the force of power”

Ignacio Ramonet, editor of the French newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique, spoke at the event’s opening. The thousands of people there, he said, from all over the world, were there in solidarity not only with the valiant Venezuelan people, but also with President Chávez.

“It is an honor,” he said, “to begin this meeting of meeting of solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution, which, in my opinion, is also an encounter with Venezuelan democracy. Appropriately, then, it is also a meeting in solidarity with a president who was democratically elected and who governs democratically.”

Ramonet spoke about the massacre of Iraq by the United States and other powerful nations, and warned that the same thing could occur in other countries around the world as an “ideological and political war.” He identified a new “military democracy” as the armed wing of globalization. The only response to this, said Ramonet, is a global mobilization against the force of power.

This gathering will see solidarity-building activities, a refreshing of the collective memory, a series of panels and conferences, symbolic actions, presentations on the experience of popular organizing, as well as artistic and cultural events. Together with Ramonet, world personalities such as US antiglobalization analyst James Petras, Bolivian coca-farmers’ leader Evo Morales, Argentinean leader Hebe Bonafini (veteran of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo group), Mexican economist Ana Esther Ceceña, Francois Houtart of Belgium, María Valencia of Colombia, Jaime Amorím of Brazil, José Cademátori of Chile, and many, many more have begun to arrive.

Hundreds of journalists are also meeting in Caracas. These journalists come not from the commercial media, but represent an alternative, popular, community-based and authentic communication. They are getting together to bring the truth about this event to the world, and to form a common front against the corporate press. Although at this time the Venezuelan masses face a difficult economic and social situation – the result of the work lockout and boycott by the Venezuelan corporations this winter – they take great pleasure in their liberty, solidarity, respect and friendship. More than ever, they believe in the construction of a new society.

Alex Contreras, graduate and now professor of the Narco News School of Authentic Journalism from Cochabamba, Bolivia, reports from Caracas this week with Narco News Andean Bureau chief Luis Gómez and other members of our news team on the first anniversary of the defeat of last April's coup d'etat. See our Spanish language front page for more reports from this historic celebration.

Posted on Sat, Apr. 12, 2003 STEPHEN IXER sunheral.com-Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - A pre-dawn bomb blast ripped through the building where Venezuela's government and opposition have been negotiating a peace agreement, destroying three floors but injuring no one.

The attack at about 2:45 a.m. Saturday came one day after the Organization of American States brokered a deal between the government and opposition to work toward a referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule.

Federal police chief Carlos Medina said the attack may have been politically motivated. An opposition negotiator said the blast was intended to intimidate his delegation at the talks, while the government blamed "coup-plotting" sectors of the opposition.

The explosion destroyed the first three floors of the Teleport building in central Caracas, shattering windows, destroying the entrance and twisting steel gates. Elevator cables hung from the facade and broken glass, roof tiles and light fixtures littered the ground.

A night watchman and a technician, the only two people inside the building when the blast hit, were unharmed, said Caracas fire chief Rodolfo Briceno.

Firefighters evacuated 40 people from a neighboring building.

"It was felt in various zones of Caracas," Briceno said. "There was a lot of panic."

Medina said the perpetrators may have been the same ones behind bombs that destroyed the Spanish embassy and the Colombian consulate in February. Investigators have suspects in the embassy explosions, Medina said, though he declined to give names.

"Judging from the type of damage, it may have been the same group," Medina said.

He added that Saturday's blast was an expert job, and the explosive appeared to have been homemade.

Rafael Alfonzo, an opposition negotiator, said the attack was an attempt to intimidate his delegation at the peace talks.

"This permanent intimidation ... is very worrying," Alfonzo said. "Every time we get an advance, every time there is the possibility of establishing the foundations for a recall referendum, then something like this happens."

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel, a member of the government's negotiating team, condemned the bombing. "I don't want to point the finger at anyone, but there are reasons to think that coup-plotting sectors of the opposition were behind these actions," Rangel said.

Venezuela has been steeped in months of upheaval over Chavez's leftist rule. His opponents launched a two-month strike in December to force his resignation or early elections. They succeeded only in crippling oil production and devastating the economy.

After five months of OAS-brokered talks, the government and opposition agreed to work toward a referendum to ask Venezuelans whether Chavez should step down. Such a vote is legally permitted after the president has served half of his term - August, in Chavez's case.

Serious disagreements over the referendum persist. Chavez says that more than 2.5 million signatures gathered by the opposition to petition for the vote are invalid. He argues the constitution doesn't allow citizens to begin collecting signatures until August. Foes insist they can be gathered at anytime.

New election authorities currently being set up by the National Assembly must decide the issue and verify the signatures before the referendum can be held.

Chavez is also insisting on the right to run in new elections if he loses the referendum. Opposition leaders are against the idea. Polls indicate 60 percent of Venezuelans would vote against the president in a referendum. But polls suggest Chavez could win elections against a divided opposition lacking in visible leadership.

Cybercast News Service Search

All CNSNews.com materials published on or before April 11, 03 at 11pm Eastern. A full list of current articles is found on the front page.

Search Results Request: Venezuela 130 document(s) retrieved)

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