Hi Raghu,
You clearly have to read the concluding chapter of Build it
Now! >:-} The short answer is that immediately after the coup, Chavez
was very conciliatory because he wasn't certain about the depth of
support in the military. After the bosses' general lockout, he was
much more confident... and then even more so after his referendum
victory. Still, he functions under significant constraints. You can
see the international campaign over the non-renewal of the RCTV
license; imagine if it had been cancelled before its expiration date.
It's not clear if chavez was preparing a confrontation in this
case--- I'd like to think it would have been better thought out and
executed if this were the case. In fact, it has breathed some life
into a moribund opposition. In any event, Greg Wilpert has a very
comprehensive examination of the RCTV issue in
www.venezuelanalysis.com--- at least I assume that he has posted it there.
cheers,
michael
At 19:26 03/06/2007, you wrote:
On 6/2/07, michael a. lebowitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Raghu,
Firstly, there was no cancellation. Rather, this station (which was
an active participant in the coup, going so far as to tape a day in advance
of a march in 2002 an announcement by military leaders of deaths in that
march) did not have its VHF license for the prime channel 2 renewed.
Thanks Michael. I am still puzzled about why Chavez did not move
against these guys sooner. Surely he must have been in a very strong
position right after the failed coup to do this. In any other country,
a station calling for overthrow of a government would be guilty of
treason. For a government that is constantly under siege by very
powerful opponents it seems dangerous to have let this station
continue as long as they did.
Is it fair to assume then that both sides have been preparing for this
confrontation for a long time? If so then this may be the last stand
of the anti-revolutionists?
-raghu.
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Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Director, Programme in 'Transformative Practice and Human Development'
Centro Internacional Miranda, P.H.
Residencias Anauco Suites, Parque Central, final Av. Bolivar
Caracas, Venezuela
fax: 0212 5768274/0212 5777231
http//:centrointernacionalmiranda.gob.ve
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
