Bolivarian Youth Press Charges

If someone got in your face and said "maricón" and then hit you, would you press charges?

Radio Mambi, in the afternoon, reported that the Bolivarian Youth was holding a protest at the City of Miami Police Department. This was not the case. They, and many other supporters, marched to the police department to file formal charges against members of Vigilia Mambisa. [Video available here, courtesy of CBS4 News.]

This evening, both Telemundo51 and Noticias23 (Univision) report that members of the Bolivarian Youth formally pressed charges for being attacked on Jan. 19th, at a pro-Luis Posada Carriles demonstration.

Miguel Saavedra, of Vigilia Mambisa, insists that he and his members were provoked by the Bolivarian Youth, and laments about what happened. Saavedra also insists that the Bolivarian Youth did not have a permit for public demonstration.

Mike Martinez, of the Bolivarian Youth, says that these points are irrelevant to the charges, and that their right to publicly protest were violated. The Bolivarian Youth filed charges with their attorney by their side, Jack Lieberman of the Peace and Justice Network.

The City of Miami police department will now conduct investigations and decide if criminal charges will be placed on Vigilia Mambisa members.

It doesn't look good for Saavedra, and others. There is plenty of evidence against them.

[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

Bias at 11

Bias - "to influence in a particular, typically unfair direction"

Analysis of three television news reports on January 19, 2006, at 11pm. The story covered was the January 19 demonstration at the Bay of Pigs memorial calling for the release of Luis Posada Carriles, which was planned from noon to 6pm.

None of the reporters stated that the members of the Bolivarian Youth (counter-demonstrators) were attacked, even after the video clearly shows that they were. Instead, the reporters used words like "feet start flying" and "the screaming and hitting... became the main story" to imply that BOTH sides engaged in violence. This is inaccurate. None of the reporters make efforts to identify those that initiated the attack.

THREE STORIES

That evening, I noticed only three local stations had produced a story for the 11pm news concerning the demonstration: Noticias23(Univision), CBS4 News, and Telemundo51. It looks like NBC6, WSVN7(FOX), and Local10(ABC) news did not cover the story, it does not appear on their respective websites. I did not check to see if MegaTV or America Teve covered the demonstration that evening, but their websites do not show the story.

NOTICIAS 23 (Univision)

Gloria Ordaz reports with a basic description of a peaceful protest which is then disrupted by violence. Ordaz includes the video of the attack (same video from CBS4) but doesn't identify who attacked, and does not include narration during the video. Ordaz interviews Miguel Saavedra, leader of Vigilia Mambisa, for his side of the story. Saavedra says: "they [counter-demonstrators] offended us... they provoked us." Ordaz also interviews local activist Ramon Saul Sanchez, member of the Movimiento Democracia, who appropriately describes the attack: "This is what occurs in Cuba."

TELEMUNDO 51

Claudinne Caro spends more time on the "peaceful" demonstration and Carriles, and briefly mentions the attack. She also does not identify the attackers, but even more, she does not include the video of the attack as part of her story. Instead, like Ordaz, Caro gets a description of events from Miguel Saavedra. Saavedra says that a fight did take place, but doesn't say who started. Interestingly, Saavedra's recollections are suspicious. He says that the counter-demonstrators held up a sign that said "abajo terrorismo, abajo Posada Carriles, terrorista" (down with terrorism, down with Posada Carriles, terrorist). The sign actually said: "Terroristas a la Carcel" (Terrorists go to jail). I suspect Saavedra was too angry to care what the sign really meant, or was trying to justify his own violent actions.

CBS4

Evan Bacon also begins with a standard description of a peaceful demonstration interrupted by violence. Bacon includes the video of the attack, in which Bacon provides narration and identifies Saavedra as part of the violence, but never identifies who started the fight. Oddly, Bacon DOES use the word "attack"(twice!), BUT for his online story, not for broadcast. Online, Bacon reports: "the Posada supporters... started attacking" and "the Posada demonstrators... began attacking." The 11pm story and the online story are of very different tones.

None of the three 11pm stories use the word "attack", or identify who initiated the fight, despite the fact that there is video evidence showing who did. Two reports use Miguel Saavedra's description of events, and make no effort to get an opposing viewpoint from several eyewitnesses. All stories inaccurately describe the violence with ambiguity, suggesting equal violence from both sides. Yet another lesson of local media bias concerning the issue of Cuba.

The issue of Cuba is perhaps the most influential and controversial in South Florida. The local media should be reporting, to their best efforts, any story that may have a large impact on the community. The case of Luis Posada Carriles should be covered intensely for reasons that he may be released some day, in spite of international condemnation of his history. The social consequences could be grave, locally, nationally and internationally.

Concerning Carriles, the local media, to my recollection, have not interviewed any serious source that clearly labels Luis Posada Carriles as a terrorist. Local reporters only skim the evidence, and prefer interviews with Carriles supporters.

Concerning the Bolivarian Youth, yesterday on MY33 news and today in the Miami Herald, they finally are being identified as the victims of the attack. Why weren't they identified as victims on the 19th, at 11pm after the video had already circulated?

Why did Ordaz and Caro settle on ONE side of the story? Isn't this a break with basic journalist principles?

Why were reporters, at 11pm, describing the fight with ambiguity? Why did Evan Bacon use the word "attack" online instead?

For those familiar with the political environment here in South Florida, the answer to these questions may be obvious.

Local reporters need to be more courageous.

Eyes Now on Vigilia Mambisa

Aldo Nahed, for the Miami Herald, is reporting that the Bolivarian Youth is planning to file charges on Miguel Saavedra, leader of Vigilia Mambisa, and others involved on the attack this past Friday (January 19th, 2006).

Now we wait to see if any of the Cuban-American leadership condemns the actions of Saavedra and Vigilia Mambisa.

A member of the Bolivarian Youth, Micheal Martinez, has also posted his side of what happened. He says "As we rode away, we realized how much our freedoms were kicked, punched, shoved and spat upon by this unruly mob of fascists. "

Also, check the Miami Herald link, which has two additional links: one to the unedited video of the attack and a Sunday story by MY33, courtesy of CBS4 News. Kudos to CBS4 and the Miami Herald for following up the story.

Finally, for those who are interested in who the Bolivarian Youth are, you can check their website or read a November 2006 article from FIU's student paper, the Beacon.

Only in Miami

In Miami, the case of Luis Posada Carriles is controversial. Let me try to explain why.

Yesterday, the infamous Orlando Bosch, co-conspirator with Luis Posada Carriles, wrote an op-ed piece for El Nuevo Herald. He wrote an entire piece on how Luis Posada Carriles is being held in federal prison for no other reason than US fear of the backlash from Cuba and Venezuela. This argument seems to be the most popular at the moment for pro-Carriles advocates, but it is a false argument. Check an earlier post for the reason why.

Anyway, Bosch highlighted an interesting parallel about his case and Carriles'. Bosch mentioned that he himself was held in federal detention after he arrived into the US in 1988, for reasons of national security (it was known then that Bosch was suspected of terrorism). Yet, unlike Luis Posada Carriles, Orlando Bosch was set free on July of 1990, after 29 months in prison. There's an important point of distinction here.

Those who have done their homework know the players that pulled the political strings to release Bosch. In 1990, with suspicious coincidence, the Cuban-American political leadership had strong ties to the administration, this time with Papa Bush. And, Jeb Bush was the key link in the eventual release. A 2001 government list titled "Examples of Controversial Pardons by Previous Presidents" written by the Committee on Government Reform for the U.S. House of Representatives, stated that:

"In 1990, the Bush Justice Department granted a parole to Orlando Bosch after being lobbied by Jeb Bush, the son of the President."

So why can't the same strings be pulled for Carriles?

THE "WAR ON TERROR"

If not for Baby Bush's so-called "War on Terror", Luis Posada Carriles would most likely be a free man.

As I stated before, the hesitancy of the US administration to free Carriles originates largely from the 2005 Ibero-American Summit in Salamanca, where the 19 nations of the Latin region stood together, calling for the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela. The hypocrisy of the US "War on Terror" was showing. Following this event, the US cannot release Carriles into the streets without significant backlash from a region which is already a concern. That's the reality.

So, now the US indicts Carriles for some petty crime of fraud (I agree with Carriles' lawyer, Eduardo Soto, on this point) and buy themselves some time. Hopefully, it is only until more serious evidence is uncovered in the investigations in New Jersey for money transfers to Carriles in 1997, used for the hotel bombings of that year.

Yet here in Miami, the Cuban-American political leadership is still quite adamant for Carriles' release, as it was for Bosch's release. The general population in Miami-Dade county also shares a sympathetic bond on the issue of Cuba, where Cuban-Americans make up about 50% of Hispanics, and have a firm grip on local politics. This powerful position in the community influences the local media, and allows them to paint Carriles with broad brush strokes, where all criminal evidence towards Carriles is ignored or diluted to the point of irrelevance and annoyance. Thus, Carriles is a patriot, and Armando Perez-Roura can praise his past activities as righteous and noble on his radio station, which is one of the most powerful AM stations, transmitting at 50,000 watts everyday, and one of the most listened to.

And, that's why on July 31, 2006, George W. Bush, while visiting Miami, only gave TWO broadcast interviews on his trip: one for FoxNews (surprise) and one for Radio Mambi.

Luis Posada Carriles came THIS close to being a free man.

That's Miami for you.

The Attack on the Bolivarian Youth

Yesterday, several anti-Castro groups planned a demonstration at the Bay of Pigs memorial on Calle Ocho, from noon to six. They specifically gathered to protest the recent indictments of Luis Posada Carriles, and to call for his immediate release. The day for the demonstration was repeatedly publicized on Radio Mambi by its regular callers (of which they have many). Oddly enough, the date and time for the protest was also publicized in the Miami Herald, the day before in a related article [not online].

As the demonstration began, a group of counter-demonstrators also showed up. Now, its important to state that there was only ONE video of the events that happened: that of WFOR CBS4 news, who also provide an unedited version online. After having seen the video and read several news reports of the incident, there were three anti-Posada protesters who were attacked by about another three to four pro-Posada protesters. The only provocation here was supposed chanting and holding up a large sign, that was later ripped up by the pro-Posada crowd. The anti-Posada group was attacked and chased away and have so far not filed any complaints to the police.

From the pictures and videos, the group that was attacked were members of the Bolivarian Youth and the attackers were members of Vigilia Mambisa, headed by Miguel Saavedra. The Miami New Times had a pretty good summary of Vigilia Mambisa in 2000 where they wrote that "[s]ome disapprove of Mambisa's street-theater tactics, labeling them emotional rather than practical... Other critics allege he and his band are paid provocateurs."

I have seen the Bolivarian Youth before when they had another counter-demonstration at the Orange Bowl for the Venezuelan Presidential election. There was video for that demonstration too, which also came close to becoming violent. They are a very politically active group who support many national and international causes.

I don't think anyone would want to characterize these two groups as violent, rather it seems that their deep differences on many issues requires a much more tolerant attitude.

Yet, only in Miami, where there is virtually little tolerance on the issue of Cuba, can such events occur. I place a lot of blame on the local media for their blind obedience and intimidation to the powerful Cuban-American political leadership, which continues to defend Luis Posada Carriles. The reports (so far) have not even made any attempt to contact the Bolivarian Youth, who were chased away before they could say anything to the media, and the incident is described as a "scuffle" or "clash", when in reality it was an attack.

Now, here's a way to make a judgment about some of the sentiments of the those who say that anti-Castro groups are generally peaceful and saintly. The video clearly shows the head of Vigilia Mambisa, Miguel Saavedra, chasing and hitting (at one point with his megaphone) a retreating member of the Bolivarian Youth.

Will Saavedra, or Vigilia Mambisa, be publicly condemned for their actions? Will anyone from the Cuban-American leadership (who know Saaverdra well) come out publicly to condemn his attack on the Bolivarian Youth?

Time will tell. Yet, I think some of us know what is likely to happen.

The Radio Mambi Spin

That day (Jan. 19, 2007) Radio Mambi had a reporter scheduled to make a live report from the demonstration at the Bay of Pigs memorial on Calle Ocho. Their afternoon news program called "El Grande del Mediodia" went live on the scene just as the attack had ended. Its a good lesson to see how they reported the situation.

They had many sound bites of pro-Posada people saying that the counter-demonstrators didn't deserve to be there and that they were shouting pro-Bin Laden chants. Most likely (but not reported anywhere) the Bolivarian Youth were shouting "Bin Laden" in reference to descriptions made by the Venezuelan government calling Luis Posada Carriles "the Osama bin Laden of Latin America."

By 5pm, when Radio Mambi does another news program called "El Grande de las 5", they had a much more elaborate report about the incident. They said that the counter-demonstrators (the Bolivarian Youth) had caused "una provocacion" (a provocation) and went on to describe them as "dialogueros" (those who want a dialogue with the Cuban government) and as a group that "trabajan y sirven el gobierno Castrista" (works for and serves the Castro government).

This is a lesson on how propaganda works. Radio Mambi doesn't specify how the counter-demonstrators engaged in "provocation." Listeners are to fill in the gap and assume that
the violence was justified.

Radio Mambi vilifies and slanders a group that they obviously do not care to identify. It is best for the listener to assume that the counter-demonstrators got what they deserve. I doubt the members of the Bolivarian Youth work for the Castro government, but Radio Mambi wouldn't care to bring any evidence, and obviously being called a "dialoguero" is a label used to distract from the main issue: that the Bolivarian Youth was attacked.

This is Radio Mambi. Always a lesson on how NOT to report the news.

The Pride of Perez Roura

Today's Miami Herald reports that the patriot/terrorist, Luis Posada Carriles, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Texas (finally). Anyway, Radio Mambi's general director Armando Perez Roura found this decision as an "abuso"(abuse) and quoted Carriles' lawyer, Eduardo Soto, saying that the charges are "absurdo"(absurd). Furthermore, Radio Mambi's morning show, "La Noticia y Usted/En Caliente," had a spokesperson from the "formerly" militant Cuban-American exile group Alpha 66, stating their full condemnation of the recent indictment.

In the Mambi morning show, Enrique Encinosa, one of the three hosts of the political talk program, said that the decision of the grand jury, and its absurdity, lies in an earlier US statement pointing out that releasing Carriles from prison would pose a problem with foreign relations. Afterwards, Encinosa equated this decision with the likes of being coerced by Libya or some other unfavorable nation. But this is not the case.

International pressure DID and continues to play a part in this case, but it does not originate from ONE country, like Encinosa's inaccurate example.

In October of 2005, at the 15th Ibero-American Summit, virtually ALL the countries from the Latin region condemned US policy towards Cuba, specifically asking that Luis Posada Carriles be tried and extradited to Venezuela. That's 19 nations, not one.

I will produce in the future the statements made by Alpha 66 this morning.

For now, I will leave you with what Armando Perez Roura had to say about Luis Posada Carriles, and another defendant (Santiago Alvarez) who was indicted yesterday.

[From December 22, 2006 - La Noticia y Usted/En Caliente (Morning Show)]

Armando Perez Roura:

"...we have compatriots whom we love and admire much, in the prisons of the United States. I want to tell you what I told Santiago [Alvarez] and Luis [Posada Carriles] yesterday, so the message can be heard by all, absolutely all of those who are suffering in prison for trying to and using their courage to, in all senses, liberate Cuba:

"We are proud of you, we are proud of you. [Or: We have pride because of you.]

"You are the reserve [military or reservoir of good will] that we have, so that one day not far, we can return without bowed heads before a regime that has destroyed our motherland."