November 5, 2005 - Yesterday, on our computers via Telesur, we had the pleasure of watching President Chavez of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as he spoke at the international summit at Mar del Plata in Argentina. He spoke to the massive, attending crowd and to all of Latin America via the Argentinian satellite. We also watched the impressive transcontinental protests against U.S. economic policies (e.g. FTAA), the U.S. war on the people of Iraq and against the very presence of George Walker Bush on their soil.

 

Of course none of this was shown in it's depth or breadth by the corporate media in the U.S. On their front page, today's Boston Globe conveniently headlined, "Rioting Spreads in France". The Globe also included headlines of "Disclosure of medical mistakes is sought"; "Alito remarks backed strong presidential powers"; Tomato as a cancer fighter..."; Woman, 65, dies in stabbing at housing complex"; "Fenway pub hopes to host fans on roof", but on this most important news of the week - the Summit of the Americas? Nada - at least not on the front page. Instead, the Globe published a story on page 8 about the summit, sensationally titled, "Violent protests, clashes roil start of summit."

 

The Globe's owner/parent corporation, the New York Times, headlined the summit on the front page, "Protesters Riot as Bush Attends 34 Nation Talks", subtitled, "Hundreds Battle Police" and "In Argentina, Venezuelan Chief Leads Peaceful Rally Against U.S." Emphases on the "riots" prevail throughout both of these corporate news reports rather than on the depth and breadth of President Chavez' speech - the real story of the day. Facts show that these attacks by a relatively small number of protestors were carried out against property of transnational corporations like a branch of Bank Boston and a McDonald's restaurant in Buenos Aires. No human casualties have been noted in this report, but it states that riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds in an effort to protect corporate property.

 

Yuri Pimentel, Venezuela's Minister of Information and Communication issued a statement that the government of the Bolivarian Republic "rejects all violent deeds" - consistent with the behavior of this government even in the midst of the 2002 coup attempt and the national strikes in 2003.

 

The most extensive media coverage we found of the events at Mar del Plata was a radio broadcast by NPR yesterday. We listened with interest.  NPR chose to interview a neoliberal commentator from La Republica del Peru, who spoke very disparagingly of Chavez. The NPR show also included interviews with a spokeswoman from the Council on Foreign Relations and an anti-Chavez personality from Argentina. All of those interviewed, obviously attempted to marginalize the President of Venezuela to whom most of Latin America gave rapt attention and support. The NPR show was in our opinion, a planned attempt by NPR to discredit Chavez, the Venezuelan government and the Bolivarian Revolution and to undermine what millions heard from Chavez' lips yesterday. 

 

The anti-Chavez rhetoric of those interviewed by NPR sounded exactly like that which I hear from members of the opposition whom I have interviewed on a number of occasions in Caracas - all ad hominem rhetoric, at best based upon anecdotes and never any factual, logical defense of their complaints. This is not surprising, when one considers that these same people - along with the Bush regime - either participated in or supported the attempted coup d' etat against Chavez in 2002 when 19 people were shot and killed by the opposition (see the film documentaries, Keys to the Massacre and The Revolution will not be Televised). In the NPR coverage of yesterday's events at Mar del Plata, it appears they conveniently chose not to interview anyone representing Venezuela or the Chavez administration.

 

We were unable to find a record of the broadcast noted above on NPR website. However, we did locate a report by Julie McCarthy, an NPR reporter whom I had occasion to meet 2 weeks ago in Caracas. (We were investigating one of Venezuela's social programs for NPR and Axis of Logic, respectively. Our report on my 2 week visit to Venezuela will be published on Axis of Logic in the near future.) McCarthy's report on yesterday's events at Mar del Plata is essentially strategic, in my opinion. Like the Boston Globe, New York Times and other corporate media, this "not-so-public" National Public Radio report begins with a focus on a relatively small amount of violence. It follows with a tongue-tailored view of Chavez' speech and the anti-Bush protests, using some very carefully-selected language. If you listen to Julie McCarthy's summit report on NPR's website, please let us know if you agree with this assessment.

 

None of these media focused on the content of Chavez' speech or of the transparent unity sweeping across the continent of South America which has grave implications for the economy, foreign policy and stature of the United States. If Chavez' powerful speech, the refrain of the crowds and the protests against Bush could be summed up in a phrase, it would be this:

In their attempts to discredit the spread of the Bolivarian revolution and to undermine the unification of South America, the capitalist media are preaching to their own choir. The Latin American people have been living with the resulting poverty of U.S. exploitation and depredations for a long time. At long last, they appear to be coming together in numbers and power with which to be reckoned - led by individuals of their choosing - rather than Latin American politicians owned and operated by Washington. Our friend and columnist, Robert Thompson watched yesterday's events in France via satellite and wrote the commentary which appears below. - Les Blough, Editor