9 years after 11A. The previous afternoon, I had sent my passport to the Military House because on the 12th I would be traveling with Chávez to Costa Rica on the newly acquired presidential plane. The day arrived on the 11th: I was at the Quinto Día editorial office when, at 9 a.m., I received a call from a friend in the Vice Presidency informing me that the opposition was estimating the number of casualties that would occur when the oil workers’ march reached Miraflores. The plan was to storm the palace. I called JVR and asked about the official strategy, and with his calm accent, he told me they would execute Plan Ávila. I then assumed the presidential trip would be canceled and sent for my passport at the Military House. Shortly after, it became public that Chávez would not be going to Costa Rica, and rumors of his resignation began to circulate. Noon arrived, and I had finished writing my column, but the uncertainty made me rethink it and write to the President about the tragic consequences his resignation could have. After finishing, I went to Miraflores, where government supporters had been stationed for days. I can’t recall exactly, but it was about 10 minutes to 3 in the afternoon when gunfire rained down in downtown Caracas. Almost immediately, I learned of Jorge Tortoza’s death. Ten years earlier, Jorge had narrowly escaped being shot while we were covering the events of the 27N on Sucre Avenue. On this 11A, I stayed in Llaguno until late afternoon when I left for Radio Venezuela to host my program “Las Verdades de Miguel”; I believe I was one of the first to publicly talk about the coup. I knew of the conspiracy because a couple of months earlier, I met with a friend who is a colonel and warned me about what was coming (read my editorial from 6/1/2002 on pages 8 and 9). I later wrote about the feelings and dissatisfaction within the FAN and informed that the coup would take place on March 11, and that opposition leaders were aware of it. The coup did not happen that day, but a month later unfolded exactly as I had anticipated. After finishing my show on the night of 11A, a mob awaited me outside the KLM building, but thanks to the doorman, I managed to slip out unnoticed. The details of 11A were finalized a week earlier in Margarita during a meeting led by John Raphael (former president of the old Venezuelan Development Corporation). Pedro Carmona was also present at that conclave. Like Santiago Nassar in “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” everyone in Venezuela knew Chávez would be overthrown except him. Some members of the revolutionary government (still in office today) were even compromised; one of Chávez’s closest ministers kept Luis Miquilena informed about all Chávez’s moves. The editorial by Eleazar Díaz Rangel the following day justifying the coup still stings. EDR’s pen sought the same effect that the dagger which killed Juancho Gómez achieved in a Miraflores room on June 30, 1923. Not everything has been told about those days in April 2002. The “holy alliance” resulted in at least two silent counter-coups in just 48 hours. Today, as in the lyrics of the bolero sung by Felipe Pirela, history repeats itself.
TSUNAMI. The Walid Makled case is causing unease in the military sector. Meanwhile, from Miraflores, they suggest a lower profile for Luis Acosta Carlez (there is full confidence, and they have enough evidence of his innocence); the idea that Mata Figueroa would be sent to an embassy is gaining traction; his statements about the WM case sparked a fire (considered a message to García). In our country, there’s no firing squad, but the question remains: Who will embody the local version of General Arnaldo Ochoa Sánchez? I wonder: is the intention of Walid Makled’s protectors to weaken the morale of Venezuela’s barracks?
CHANGES. General Carlos Mata Figueroa will be appointed ambassador to Spain. Unless there is a last-minute change, General Henry Rangel Silva seems set to replace him as Minister of Defense. Admiral Diego Molero Bellavia will be the commander-in-chief of the Bolivarian Navy, and a cousin of Marisabel Rodríguez (former partner of Chávez) will ascend to the command of the Aviation.
DRUG CARTELS. Several months ago, we reported that WM would not be extradited to Venezuela and anticipated that Washington would intensify efforts to have him sent north; however, after analyzing the clever diplomacy of Colombia, anything can happen. Colombia has staged a scenario where they kill two birds with one stone: on one hand, they depict Venezuela as leading in the drug trade, while on the other, they wash their hands, denying their role as the top exporter of narcotics. According to Nariño’s diplomacy, Venezuela invented drugs. Santos and Obama appear as puppeteers, while Walid Makled plays the role of a puppet. It’s noteworthy how Colombia has facilitated the means for American networks to interview the inmate at will. It wouldn’t be surprising if the questions for these meetings were designed by the CIA. Washington has cared little that Caracas, without a legal process, has extradited drug traffickers wanted by its government; therefore, the US State Department does not consider Venezuela interested in combating drug trafficking. As a result, the USA will continue to portray us as a country indifferent to drug cartels. This case would merely seem like a public relations exercise against the Venezuelan government if there weren’t an explicit intent behind it to remove Chávez at all costs. The Noriega option finds a favorable climate in the weaknesses of Venezuelan diplomacy, often filled with outdated and pamphleteering discourses.
FRAUD. A financial scandal looms at the renowned Hospital Clínicas Caracas. Alberto Finol and Humberto Petricca are involved.
FICTIONS? “I’m not interested in politics.” With that statement, Bárbara Palacios ended an interview with CNN on January 23. However, after contacting some bankers residing in Miami, she did a complete turnaround, directing her criticism at the Venezuelan government. Barbarita (as her close friends call her) is considering running as a candidate on December 2, 2012. She wouldn’t be the first beauty queen to dream of Miraflores; Irene Sáez previously tried unsuccessfully. Crowned in 1986 as the world’s most beautiful woman, Palacios is now a businesswoman in Miami. There, she has established close ties with anti-Chávez currents. Recently, she launched her book “The Beauty of Knowing How to Live,” dedicating it to the political prisoners of Venezuela.
TYRANT. The press chief of the National Assembly has a reputation that would make even the tyrant Aguirre envious, the same one who wiped entire towns from the island of Margarita in 1561. Fernando Soto Rojas is aware of the many accusations against him.
DRAGONS. Something smells fishy at CVG Internacional. The story goes: after handling the Dragon vehicles case for the Army, this modest employee of Mercantil became a wealthy financier. When investigated, he sought support from a friend (a former employee of a publishing group); he wanted him to contact a television host (also a former employee of that group). This intermediary had little success with General Héctor Reyes Quevedo. The replacements in the force arrived, and the replacement succumbed to the mediator’s influence, ordering the case to be shelved. Later, that same businessman joined the “management team,” teaming up with two other former employees of the editorial block, now hired as senior executives at CVG Internacional (a dependency created for government purchases without going through Cadivi, contacting directly with the BCV). Business is done under the direction of top management. The individual has about twenty companies registered abroad, and he uses his companies for each purchase. The modus operandi is to present three companies from the group in the three required quotes. Interestingly, the mentioned contractor is the same one who sold a large number of Land Rovers to MIJ while Lucas Rincón was minister. Most of those units broke down (the financial loss was significant).
TRUCK DRIVER. With more shame than glory, the exile of once-powerful union leader Carlos Ortega unfolds in Lima. Abandoned to his fate, he lives in a neighborhood in Lima and survives working as a truck driver’s assistant, washing cars on weekends to earn some extra soles. His situation contrasts sharply with a saying attributed to an Adeco union leader who, upon returning from exile in 1958, exclaimed: “Next time we won’t return clean to exile.”
HEALTH. There were many speculations when Isaías Rodríguez was not included in the TSJ; however, the true truth is that the prosecutor declined his aspiration for health reasons. From this page, I wish him a speedy recovery.