Venezuela's Electronic News — www.vheadline.com

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VHeadline.com commentarist Charles Hardy writes: When I was a little boy, I loved to climb trees. Sitting high above the world on a warm summer's afternoon was an ideal place for relaxing reflection. Even a child needs moments of peace and solitude.

So when I heard my younger sister call my name and enter the backyard, I didn't respond. I didn't move. I just waited.

When she was directly under me, I spit on her head. She touched it, let out a groan and ran into the house telling our mother than a bird had just pooped on her.

My moment of meditation having been broken, I decided to come down from the tree rapidly, entered the house innocently and simply asked, “Were you calling me?” I happily let the bird take the blame.

I also liked to whittle on wood. We had three wood-burning stoves and so there was never a lack of supplies. Others might carve initials into trees, but I never felt the need to so express myself.

However, the day arrived when I did want to make a more lasting impression. I decided to carve initials into one of the bricks of our home. I knew that would be frowned upon so I was very careful in my work. In order not to be discovered, I made sure that I carved an older sister's initials instead of my own. Unfortunately, that time my trickery didn't work. She discovered the carving and reported it to my parents.

When my childhood ended, these childish attempts at deception also terminated. But I have since come to realize that they are still commonplace in matters such as war, politics and business.

The stories came to mind because of the Sunday, September 26 edition of the Venezuelan newspaper ULTIMAS NOTICIAS. Two-thirds of the front page was dedicated to accusing one of the guerrilla groups of Colombia, the FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), for the recent killing of a civilian involved an oil exploration expedition and five Venezuelan military.

Inside the paper, there were four pages on the topic. I read the articles three times and found very little information to warrant the front-page headline: “A Group of the FARC involved in the massacre” (”Grupo de las Farc implicado en massacre”).

In general the articles seem to be well-written and based on first hand information. But nowhere do the articles prove that it was the FARC that was responsible. They report what the right-wing paramilitary members say. (Two thirds of a page is given to this interview). They point out that military uniforms were found in the house from where the firing supposedly took place. A letter with a FARC letterhead was found in the house as well as some 7.62 cartridges. The article says that these are utilized by the “AK” which the FARC supposedly uses.

However, none of these details proves the FARC's culpability.

The “military” uniforms? In 1988, when Venezuelan military killed fourteen innocent fishermen at Amparo, one was supposedly dressed with a uniform of the FARC.

The 7.62 cartridges? Other weapons use these also. But even if they were for the AK-47, it has been estimated that possibly 100 million (yes, 100 million!) AK-47s have been produced. In its October 8 issue, ULTIMAS NOTICIAS reported that the anti-Chavez Junta Patriotica Venezolana (the Venezuelan Patriotic Union), which is aided by the anti-Castro forces in Miami, is receiving training in the use of the AK-47.

And the letterhead? I was surprised that the initials “F-A-R-C” were not carved into the walls of the house itself or at least on some of the trees surrounding the place. Maybe a sign above the door saying, “Welcome to a FARC encampment,” would have been a good idea also.

And yet, my problem is not so much with the article. It is with the presentation. I cannot say that the massacre was not performed by the FARC.

ULTIMAS NOTICIAS cannot prove that it was the FARC … but the front page clearly gives that impression. Inside there's a short piece with the headline: “The FARC denies having attacked” (La FARC Niega Haber Atacado). That could have been a suitable front page title. Or “Paramilitaries accuse the FARC” would also have been acceptable.

The headline that did appear was not only sensational but also deceptive.

The two days following the article's publication ULTIMAS NOTICIAS carried more articles by the same author, Jorge Chavez Morales. None did anything to change my opinion. Interviews were held with members of the Colombian paramilitaries (AUC) who blamed everything on the FARC … but that is like getting an unbiased opinion about Senator Kerry from US President Bush.

A letter to the editor was published expressing the same basic concern that I am voicing here. Morales replied and defended himself by saying that he knows more than what he is telling, but wanted to preserve the lives of those talking to him and to not interfere in the investigations taking place.

Sorry, I'm not impressed … everything he presented in his articles gives the reader the impression that the AUC is the group that inspires fear in the local people … not the FARC … and that members of the AUC were his main sources of contact.

So, who could have done the killing and why?

Here are just a few of the possibilities that come to my mind:

The FARC?

The ELN (The National Liberation Army)?

The FBL (The Bolivarian Forces of Liberation)?

Maybe a small group felt threatened. By whom?

The paramilitaries?

The Venezuelan Armed Forces?

By anyone whom they felt might be endangering their lives.

The AUC? The right-wing paramilitary group maybe wanted to place blame on the FARC so as to get more contracts for providing protection in the area or to firm up some contracts that were already in the working.

The Junta Patriotica Venezolana from Florida? Why not? Wouldn't this fit right in with their goals to embarrass and get rid of Chavez and other “communists?”

The Colombian Government? For forty years they have not been able to control the guerilla movement and they are not doing a very good job with the paramilitaries either. This is in spite of help from the US government including hundreds of US military and “civilian advisors” (a euphemism for mercenaries). Colombia would like to get Venezuela more involved in the conflict to help them in their failed efforts even though Venezuela is doing more about the matter than Colombia is. The editor of ULTIMAS NOTICIAS, Eleazar Diaz Rangel has pointed out that Venezuela already has three times more troops along the Venezuelan-Colombian border than Colombia does.

The Venezuelan military? Don't forget that it was Venezuelan troops that were involved in the massacre of the fisherman at Amparo and the 1989 massacre in Caracas. It was Venezuelan Generals and Admirals that were involved in the April 2002 coup. And there are many in the Armed Forces who were trained at the School of the Americans (now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) in Fort Benning (Georgia, USA) until Chavez stopped sending them there within the past year.

The US Government? The CIA could have been working with any of the above groups or with some other group. Of course they would like to see the FARC be blamed and the Venezuelan government involved because they were on Venezuelan territory.

You see, just let your mind loose and you, too, can probably find a list as long as you would like and with a limitless list of possibilities for the action.

Many people did not read the article … but many more people saw the front page and the contents of the headline. My question is why did the newspaper act in this manner? No other principal Caracas daily had similar emphasis.

One possible answer: to sell more Sunday newspapers.

ULTIMAS NOTICIAS recently has been running ads showing how their readership dramatically increased the past year. This edition also announced two programs that have a tendency to encourage people to continue to buy the paper. One is a book about how to use the Internet .. it will be published in supplements. If you want the whole book you will have to purchase the paper 34 times. Another is a book on mathematics … it, too, will appear in supplements … 22 additional purchases will be necessary.

The paper also included an album for children to fill with stamps about “The Wonderful Universe.” These stamps will be found in a magazine that the newspaper publishes for children every Tuesday. Prizes will be given weekly to children who buy the magazine and enter the newspaper's contests. It will be necessary to purchase the magazine until November 30 to fill the album.

Another reason for such a front page could have been to attract readers from the right-wing and from the upper classes where ULTIMAS NOTICIAS has less readers. As was mentioned, no other principal daily dealt with the subject in the same way. If a person bought the newspaper they would have discovered that the right-wing Julio Borges has a full page each Sunday. And if they continued to buy it for a few more days, they would have found that opposition politicians such as Antonio Ledezma, William Ojeda and Pompeyo Marquez have weekly columns in the paper.

I am not writing these reflections in order to defend the FARC. I do not understand the situation in Colombia sufficiently to do that. But I do know enough about journalism to say that ULTIMAS NOTICIAS seems to have fallen into the same malpractice that has characterized EL NACIONAL and EL UNIVERSAL for the past few years.

Newspapers have a responsibility, not only to provide information, but also to present it responsibly. Headlines should be based on the content of articles.

Relationships between Venezuela and Colombia are touchy … they merit responsible treatment in the press so as to not aggravate the situation even more.

So, even though the report gives interesting details about the expedition and the activities of armed groups in the area, sorry, I have to give ULTIMAS NOTICIAS a “D-” on their report card this time.

Charlie

A native of Cheyenne, Wyoming (USA), VHeadline.com
columnist Charles Hardy has many years experience

as an international correspondent in Venezuela.
You may email him at: mailto:hardyce2@yahoo.com
In addition to his VHeadline editorials, you may find other writings of Charles Hardy at www.cowboyincaracas.com/
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