Venezuela, in 2002, Pioneered the Events in Iran in 2009

hey Al

I've seen it. It is amazing and I recomeend it to everybody! I had already been promoting the documentary to friends and 'enemies'.

this is a link to show people how to help the Iranians with a proxy internet link/server/whatever it is called. What seems to be important, or at least is being suggested as being, is that the Iranian gov is using twitter to look for these proxies being published so they can block them. So suggestion is either tweet them directly to Iranians you know over there/trusted tweeters or if loads of people do it publicly it may be less of a problem if they are brought down (that way iranians who don't 'know' people who are being emailed directly can access them). Anyway, it doesn't take long to do, and is essential for the internet service to remain up. As they are currently tweeting, " We have no national press coverage in Iran, everyone should help spread Mousavi's message. One Person = One Broadcaster. #IranElection"

http://blog.austinheap.com/2009/06/15/how-to-setup-a-proxy-for-iran-citizens/

is when the formerly smug, coup-cheerleading TV anchors are shown grim faced and humiliated in the basement of their station once Chavez returned.  If only the Fox News people could experience such a comeuppance.

I wonder if Al or anybody else can explain why the film has never been available for order on DVD.  I saw it in Austin in '03, and wanted to teach it in my media theory course but could never find a DVD copy for sale.

i watched it with my class. it was on dvd format. however it broke halfway through so we switched to watching the full google video using the projector. 

here is another petition for google earth to update. I am sure there are other ways to get in touch with them too. It's suggested that can watch/track the protests this was even if there aren't MSM or tweet clips/photos getting through. The thing says for tehran, but also in the text says nationwide. it seems to me that that this is more important for the nationwide, the other cities, getting less tweet coverage, but still showing they are protesting but also getting horrendous crackdowns.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/irangooglemap/

Twitter was successfully asked to move their maitenance to a better time. It is now tomorrow night at 1.30am in Tehran, of course I don't know for sure that this is a wholly better time. 

celia

Let me get this straight you are praising Chaves for averting a coup, he who has now become a dictator?  If the papers were biased then now he owns them.  That's sure progressive.

Excellent article. The contiguities between the 2002 coup and present day Iran are one of the reasons I'm so disappointed Chavez was one of the first world leaders to recognise Ahmedinejad's election 'victory.'

Blov - Your use of the word "dictator" to describe Venezuela's democratically elected president (three times he won by significant margins and a fourth he won a recall vote) is false. He doesn't now "own the papers." The dailies El Universal, Tal Cual, El Nacional and many, many others across the country are vehemently anti-Chavez, not a single reporter for any of them has ever been prosecuted or jailed, and it was Chavez who ended the previous regimes' practice of pre-censoring each day's newspaper (big white spaces would appear, including on the front pages, where articles inconvenient to the government were to be). Chavez brought more press freedom to Venezuela than any other leader in its history.

I don't know where you're getting your information, but it is not factually true. I say that as a journalist that has worked repeatedly in Venezuela, one of the most vibrant democracies on earth.

Justin - I found the congratulations offered by Venezuela (also Turkey, Iraq and other countries leaders') to Iran after the vote to be disappointing, too, but also kind of automatic, especially from other OPEC nations where there is a long working relationship. Just as I have said here that Obama should be careful not to denounce the vote I don't think it helps the current regime to have foreign governments endorse it either.

I also think that Americans, in particular, have a way of always looking for the fly in the ointment, but selectively. If we're going to split straws, why not get all upset that Mousavi - today's "democratic" leader in Iran - as the country's prime minister executed the fatwa and death sentence upon novelist Salman Rushdie? Mousavi is not perfect. Chavez is not perfect. Nobody is perfect! But both have found themselves at the helm of huge citizen pro-democracy movements that run them much more than they run the citizens. Humans are made by history.

Blov has obviously been watching Fox News and its ilk, which continue to treat Hugo Chavez as the devil for his anti-American statements (which seem understandable in light of the CIA backing for the would-be coup, but anyway).

Chavez has become the new Castro - the right wing just <i>can't stand</i> that he's actually popular with his own people, who they insist are being oppressed and exploited left and right.  The idea that a leader could be "imperfect" and yet STILL be widely considered an improvement over a US-backed government, scares the shit out of them.

Your article is partly right,communication is very important,but:

I was 16 years old in time of revolution in Iran in 1979.We did not have no email,no facebook,no cell phone.But we were every where every day. In matter of moments people used to gather for mass demonstrations.We were able to bring a system like Iran's monarchy(Shah) to their knees. Unfortunately when you get used to certain commodities ,it is hard to think to accomplish certain agendas in other ways. Do not give too much credit to technology . Power that humans ubtain can be overwhelming with facebook or without facebook.

In comparison to today's options and possible outcomes, we were doing pretty well with Iran in the early 1950's. But, when Mossadeq's parliament nationalized oil, we embarked on a program of hostile policies. Each time we were confronted with a problem, our militaristic solutions created new problems, and we were left with increasingly horrible options. Today, we continue to escalate, despite the history of suffering we have caused in Iran and Iraq -- with the Shah, Saddam, arming both sides of the Iran Iraq war, the first Gulf war, the sanctions, another war, the depleted uranium, and etc.

The pathology of the coup attempt in Venezuela was nothing new. The idea that getting rid of Chavez would somehow make things better is similar to our government's thinking about Mossadeq back in 1953. But these coups and other provocations by the U.S. make things worse.  I can imagine, 50 years down the line, a Venezuela run by religious hardliners edging for a nuclear showdown with the U.S. if our government were so foolish as to follow the Iran playbook.

check axis of logic. I bought my opy there along with other DVDs pertaining to the failed golpe de estado in 2002.

thank you for posting the film. i had never seen it and was quite moved by it and learned a lot from it. i knew the basics of the coup attempt, but the film really put a human face on it that was really refreshing.

i think my favorite moment is when one of the palace guards starts whooping and cheering along with the crowd on the other side of the fence -- with a big grin on his face. amazing the courage of those guards, most of whom looked quite young, to organize themselves and retake the palace.

the realization on the faces of the coup leaders when they are told they will continue to enjoy the rights of citizens...one wonders if they have a scrap of self awareness to realize that they would do the opposite to their opponents since they clearly don't believe in due process and the constitution....those folks all should have been jailed -- they broke the law. and yet their evil opponent...did not jail them.

The news that US citizens hear, see and read daily comes from 4 or 5 sources. It is the responsibility of those sources to protect the "system" that butters their bread.  Anybody that takes what the US media says, which is in every corner of the world, is being brain washed.  Billions upon bilions are spent by the media and its sponsers to cultivate your tastes and thinking and create the  "perfect " believer.  Now go educate yourself and turn on Jerry Springer!

After watching the video, there definitely are some interesting parallels with Iran. Perhaps the CIA, just as Chavez alleges, is behind the massive protests in Iran. Intersting to note the paramilitaries who are firing on just about everyone too.

I have seen too much of this FIRST HAND, having lived in South America and Mexico. It is high time we support sovereignty and dignity for all countries of the world, and stop installing puppets who serve our own interests.

My comments are not in total praise for either leader of Iran nor Venezuela, both have serious human rights abuse allegations. Nevertheless, the should be praised for pushing the idea that THEY are in charge of their nation's destiny and not "the unseen hand" manipulated by the greedy oligarchs.