One more infrastructure project to put that well-earned political capital (and oil money) into, eh? Well, if it prevents “emergencies” like this, it will be worthwhile…
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has opened a military air base which was at the centre of a failed coup in 2002 for a concert by Latin pop star Shakira.
The Colombian singer, 29, had not been able to find a venue in the country, Mr Chavez revealed in a televised speech.
He decided to open the La Carlota base in Caracas after receiving a letter from Shakira’s promoters.
Mr Chavez also joked that he wanted to attend the concert. “Maybe I’ll put on a wig and go see Shakira,” he said.
Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Probably a taste of old times for him, too, since in the early, clandestine days of his Bolivarian movement, Chavecito routinely had to move around in disguise, according to his extended interview with Aleida Guevara:
On occasions I came to Caracas. I was virtually undercover. I couldn’t go to the military school because that would be a black mark against my comrades, jeopardizing their safety. For basic secrecy reasons I couldn’t openly contact the troops in the barracks. The top brass were monitoring me–wanting to know who I was speaking to. Wherever I went I had to try and throw them off my trail. When I came to Caracas I would go out quite openly with friends, have a drink, play softball. But late at night, I would put on a wig; can you imagine me in a wig? I would disguise myself, and would even be smuggled around in the trunk of a car, always changing my disguise, always moving around in the middle of the night.
Yup–good times! He’ll feel like a young army officer all over again.
And since Venezuela is fast on its way to first-world status, it’s only fitting that it should have the appropriate venues for all the performers it will in time attract.
I have to admit this next passage pissed me off, though, as being unworthy of the Beeb–which is normally more objective than to print drivel like this:
The La Carlota air force base has been reserved for military use since 2002’s attempted coup, which saw Mr Chavez temporarily forced out of power.
Hundreds of Venezuelans surrounded the base hoping to see the former president leaving the country.
But he was reinstated within 48 hours after a post-coup government collapsed in the face of a rebellion by loyalist troops and massive protests.
“Hundreds of Venezuelans” were there in the hopes of seeing their duly elected president abducted and spirited away? That’s pitiful when you consider that hundreds of THOUSANDS of other Venezuelans protested that same act of treason and demanded the return of the man they’d put in Miraflores. I guess, though, that poor folks from the hillside barrios around Caracas count for less with the foreign media than do a wealthy, privileged few who want to run the country like a private plantation complete with slaves–and the helping hand of Uncle Sam.
And that “post-coup government” was nothing of the sort. It was a junta of fascist pretenders with no democratic mandate whatsoever. The “rebellion” of the troops was nothing of the sort, either–it was the lawful and just restoration of democratic order according to a pre-arranged emergency measure, not a military coup.
It’s irresponsible wordings like this that encourage all the delusional wackos out there in their repeated calls for the violent overthrow of a leader who is not only democratically elected, but whose reforms all have the overwhelming support of the people–just as he does.
