It seems any thread about Venezuela ends with this discussion... I'll abstain from repeating myself in future threads, but I'll answer here one last time.
So a TV station is forced to broadcast rallies? Otherwise they get the boot? Is that your notion of democracy?
I think TV stations are free to endorse whatever politics they want, as long as they do not endorse violence, what RCTV never did.
A look back to the news published in the days before and after the April 11 coup will present a different scenario. Lets just use the short news from the BBC archives about the situation:
March 21st, 2002: the CTV has already set in motion the creation of a crisis situation, that would later be used as a justification to overthrow the government.
April 9th, 2002: a "general strike" where business leaders order their employees not to go to work. Original, no doubt.
April 12th, 2002: Chavez ousted, written off by the Venezuela's media...
April 12th, 2002: the media takes care of justifying the coup...
April 15th, 2002: the coup failed, suddenly a series of journalists seem to have forgotten what they wrote just 3 days earlier.
The news about the shootings were manipulated, as the release of videos after the days of the coup showed. But they were the main propaganda piece used to justify the coup.
Actually there were also anti-Chávez rallies after the coup... and it wasn't the army who rebelled, but rather the chavist officers, who are a majority among the junior officers.
Well, I guess Carmona and his co-conspirators found out that an army is more than just generals, then.
I don't think Carmona ordered the dissolution of the Supreme Court (and he didn't dissolve Congress either, he just shut it down). Furthermore, what good is the venezuelan Congress when 100% (yes, 100%) of the members belong to Chávez base? That's like the Congress of North Korea.
He didn't last long enough to carry it out, but he did order it.
Here's the decree he had time to announce. Notice these points:
Artículo 3°: Se suspende de sus cargos a los diputados principales y suplentes a la Asamblea Nacional.
Se convoca la celebración de elecciones legislativas nacionales a más tardar para el mes de diciembre de 2002 para elegir a los miembros del Poder Legislativo Nacional, el cual tendrá facultades constituyentes para la reforma general de la Constitución de 1999.
Translation: "suspension until new elections", which obviously equals dissolution.
Artículo 7°: El Presidente de la República en Consejo de Ministros podrá renovar y designar transitoriamente a los titulares de los poderes públicos, nacionales, estadales y municipales para asegurar la institucionalidad democrática y el adecuado funcionamiento del Estado de Derecho; así como a los representantes de Venezuela ante los parlamentos Andino y Latinoamericano.
Translation: all elected officers can be replaced by people appointed by the (self-appointed) president.
Artículo 8°: Se decreta la reorganización de los poderes públicos a los efectos de recuperar su autonomía e independencia y asegurar una transición pacífica y democrática, a cuyo efecto se destituyen de sus cargos ilegítimamente ocupados al presidente y demás magistrados del Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, así como al Fiscal General de la República, al Contralor General de la República, al Defensor del Pueblo y a los miembros del Consejo Nacional Electoral.
El Presidente de la República en Consejo de Ministros previa consulta con el Consejo Consultivo designará a la brevedad posible a los ciudadanos que ejercerán transitoriamente esos poderes públicos.
Translation: the self-appointed president removes all members of the Supreme Court and the other judicial offices, and all members of the Electoral Council, and will appoint his own people for those jobs.
As for comparing the National Assembly of Venezuela with a "congress of North Korea", are there free elections in North Korea? No, I don't think so...
But we now know just how much
you respect democracy: its good so long as the people vote for the candidates you like. Kind of like... the "Democratic" People's Republic of Korea?
And Carmona did not try to murder Chávez, what was a shame. Chávez is only concerned with himself, therefore he has no successors and he is the only face of his movement (typical sign of a bad leader). If he is dead, so is his party.
Right, that was why his movement immediately collapsed when he was sequestered in 2002. Oh, wait...
For me, a tyrant is someone who arms militias that have shot at the opposition, who shuts down media outlets that opposed him, who wants to rule for the extent of his life, who throws the Constitution in the garbage can and write a brand new one (very easy to do that "legally" if you controll 100% of the Congress).
So yes, death to Chávez. And no, I am not found of Carmona. He is a weak man.
Those media outlets were not shut down even after the coup. The license of one television network was not renewed when it came up for revision. Not quite the same thing.
As for rule for life and rewriting the constitution, it doesn't look good, I'll grant you that, But it has been both legal and democratic, so far.
You, on the other hand, would "defend democracy" by overthrowing the legitimately elected president and government, and replacing it with a murderous dictator (Carmona doesn't qualify for the job because he wasn't murderous enough, I see).
Frankly, I'd take Chavez democracy over yours any day.
