Before Hugo Chavez was widely known in the U.S., Irish film-makers, doing a documentary about Chavez during his second term as Venezeula, found themselves in the middle of a coup lanched by the Venezuelan oligarchy with the support and aid of the U.S. against his government. Although Chavez life was in danger, as were the lives of other members of his government and quite possibly the Irish film-makers, mass protests against the coup and Chavez own remarkable courage led to its collapse. In the aftermath, the Bush administration launched its own campaign against the documentary, as did capitalist media through the world. When I sought to have the Rutgers University Library purchase it, they called the distributor in the United Kingdom who told them that it had been "pulled" by the Venezuelan government, which made no sense, since it is both a very positive portrayal of Chavez and is regularly shown on Venezuelan TV. However, it is free on the Internet.
In reality, while accounts of why it cannot be purchased in the U.S. are tangled, with some contending direct or indirect censorship by the U.S. government, it should be required viewing for all who are interestedi in both Venezuela, a country with oil, poverty, and a history before the Bolivarian revolution of U.S. monopoly capitalist influence(no South American country, unlike the nations of the Carribean and Central America, was, because of its oil, subject to such influence. Most U.S. media outlets will either condemn Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Socialist movement or damn him and it with very faint praise. Those of us how are for socialism and anti-imperialism should see it as an important and ongoing development in the struggles for both in the 21st cetury In honor of Hugo Chavez, I would ask our readers to view "The Revolution Will Not be Televised"
Norman Markowitz
