Customer Reviews

The Silence and the Scorpion: The Coup Against Chavez and the Making of Modern Venezuela

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

April 11, 2002 is not just another date in Venezuelan history. This day thousands of people gathered in a civil march to express their discomfort with Hugo Chavez's government. Not everything ended there; up to this year people are still paying the price for expressing their feeling against a President.

The Silence and the Scorpion portraits the events that took place that day. It does so in a fresh and live way. Thanks to the many interviews of people who were in Caracas, in or near the events as they developed, the narrative style in which this book is written can transport the reader to the place where actions took place. Brian A. Nelson writes an impartial chronicle presenting both sides of the story. He thoroughly interviewed, and presents, "chavistas" and "anti-chavistas" so the reader can come to his/her own conclusions on the whole event after reading his work.

Nelson also gives interesting and important background information on Venezuelan history. Fact that is relevant so we, as readers, can know who Hugo Chávez is and what his ideals are based on as the President of Venezuela. It is done in an informative way, it is very far from American Propaganda, as some have called it.

Everything occurs in a time line which is well respected and illustrated by Nelson. The photos can actually help to have a better picture of what people went through in those hours. It is content up to date and with factual information that every person interested in Latin American history and politics should read. It is not written only for the Venezuelan public. Non Venezuelans can get a good educative reading through this narrative.

The Silence and the Scorpion is one of those "hard to put down" books.

I was as part of the rally on April 11 2002 and got my share of tear gases; thanks God I never reached the vicinities of the presidential palace, or maybe I wouldn't be writing this. Some of the facts presented by Nelson favor the government; some favor the opposition, which makes his story credible. I think we will never know exactly what happened that week in Venezuela, however I couldn't find any inconsistencies between Nelson's story and my recollection of the events, so I do believe he made an excellent and sincere effort to find the truth. Everything in the story he tells makes sense to me; indeed, many things for which I could never find a logical explanation about the actions of politicians, generals, etc, now make sense after reading this book. For the record, I am a strong believer in Democracy and in the Social responsibility of the State, to ensure fair and equal opportunities to every citizen (health, education, jobs..); I come from a poor background, and I demonstrated against governments before Chavez's but I never faced the repression and political prosecution I have seen from his regimen. Authoritarian regimes are unacceptable, no matter if they come from the Right or from the Left, they all violate Human Rights.

For once, serious, professional journalism dives into an incredibly murky historical event that most people I know don't really understand, myself included- and I lived it.

Brian Nelson obviously went to incredible lengths in order to research for this work, and does an impressive job of illustrating the motivations of both sides, while remaining impartial in his writing.

What's amazing is that he manages to take those dry, objective facts and tells a great story that keeps you turning pages! There are a few places here or there where the narrator does too good a job of quoting, or emulating, Chavez's speeches. Anyone who's watched an "Alo Presidente" knows what I mean: you hate every second of it but are somehow enthralled into hearing it, just to stand awash in the irritation of it. I imagine that will give foreigners a real glimpse into the Venezuelan experience.

Indeed, for all my friends abroad who have discussed Chavez or Venezuela with me, this is a book I highly recommend.

This book is a great in-depth retelling of an event that is arguably one of the biggest and most controversial in the history of Latin America. I write this review as a native Venezolano who has been looking for the truth about this event since Chavez's regime has covered up most of what has happened to save themselves from being charged for cruel acts against their own people- unarmed people who were marching peacefully towards Miraflores. Nelson gives a great account of this event and seems very unbiased-telling both sides of the story. I truly recommend this book to all.

There is an very fun game which is fun for a group of perhaps 6 called Junta, and it's best if the players all know each other. In the game, the object is to amass as much money in your Swiss bank account as possible before the end. The players represent the President, the VP, the Armed Forces, which can shift, and various elements of society, like students or unions, also play a role. This book was almost like a dramatization of that backstabbing, double dealing, game of shifting alliances.

I was captivated with this excellent account told from multiple perspectives of the April, 2002 coup against the government of Hugo Chavez. It is a real strength that the book doesn't just concern elites, but regular folks who participated in, or suffered through, the events. A compelling social portrait thus emerges with all the different kinds of motivations, interests, and actions in play. In fact, this book is more dramatic than most 'real' political thrillers I have ever encountered.

It's eye-witness account and documentary detail reminded me of William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. That book was criticized for going beyond journalism and advancing controversial theses. For this book, I do wonder what sort of academic reaction there has been, if any, as well as how the book may have been `reviewed' in one way or another by different segments of Venezuelan society, the media, the government, or `ordinary' people.

The notes are worth skimming for additional valuable background and context, including judging the appropriate role of Fidel Castro in the events, and cultural issues like aprovechar.

While there is a valuable introduction which sets the table for the context of the coup, I found it more difficult to understand the uprising in some of its aspects. For example, to an American lawyer, the idea that the President would seek to violate the Constitution by ordering Plan Avila seems fairly damning. On the other hand, maybe the status of the Constitution doesn't hold the same totemic power as it does in the U.S. It's difficult to sort out how some elements supported the Constitution during the crisis, like General Velasco, or whether this was due to self-interest, i.e. to avoid being shipped off as an attache to Spain by Carmona.

Elements of the book seemed fairly clearly anti-Chavez, or against the social movement he represented. Part of the title of the book borrows from a metaphor, calling Chavez a scorpion, which is hardly flattering, or objective. There is a one-star review which lays out some of these particulars. While there is implicit criticism of Chavez's party and the 'techniques' of some of its operatives, I think it's difficult to expect every social reformer to oppose an entrenched oligarchy with the equanimity of a Gandhi, instead of fire with fire. On the whole, there is some struggle with objectivity in this regard, but the author does make a good point that the fluid nature of the events and the shifting political realities makes a commitment to objectivity somewhat problematic.

Finally, the subtitle is the Coup against Chavez and the Making of Modern Venezuela. This is somewhat deceptive. While the events of the coup are set forth in vivid detail, there is actually very little interpretation as to why or how these circumstances are so crucial for the 'making of modern venezuela.' In that sense the book promises more than it delivers--it will be the task of historians to assess the relevance of the coup as a pivotal moment, or not. My feeling is that in retrospect, it will play a role much like the impeachment of President Clinton in the US--a momentous political period, but without lasting consequences to the overarching arc of social development. In that respect about the 'wider meaning,' the book concludes with an apt, but unsatisfying African proverb, "When two elephants fight, the grass gets trampled."

Silence and the Scorpion is an excellent book for those interested in modern Venezuela, as well as for political scientists studying the process of 'regime change' in general. Or for Junta players.

I have never been to Venezuela and I know little about Venezuelan history. However, after reading this book, I feel like I know a little more. It was an easy and productive read.

The first half of the book takes place on one fateful day in April 2002, when a protest rose up against the Chavez regime. The story focuses exclusively on individual injuries (both physical and psychic) of those "against" and "for" Chavez. These individual stories are told from the jarring perspective of his/hers/and oh, now back to Juan's cousin.... so it reads a bit like a choppy magazine article.

While these individuals' stories were interesting for a while, there are only so many ways to describe bullet holes, tear-stained faces, and trips in an ambulance. I found myself wondering, halfway through the book, "is the whole book going to be like this?" If so, I was ready to put it down. I peeked ahead. In fact, about forty percent of the way in, the book turns into a more cohesive narrative of history in the making, told from an aerial view. Though most writers do better with the specific, this particular author was actually at his best in assimilating larger perspectives, competing motives, and relaying history contextualized in the present.

In short, I would recommend it.

For those who live, or have an interest, in Venezuela, this is a remarkably well-written and accurate account of the extraordinary events of April 11-14, 2002 that saw the President resign, only to be restored to office 48 hours later.
For those who have never heard of Venezuela, this is a thumping, page turner of a tale.
On April 11, 2002, some 800,000 Venezuelans marched towards Venezuela's presidential palace, calling for the resignation of their president, Hugo Chávez. Over the next 24 hours, nineteen of them were assassinated, the president retired from office and an acting president was appointed in his place. Within the next two days, however, Mr. Chávez was restored to the presidency and the acting president taken into custody.
Nelson has done his homework, including both extensive interviews and careful analysis of the print and broadcast media reports, including testimony to Venezuela's legislature by many of the participants
He also had the good sense to tell the stories of the different participants from their points of view. The result is an objective and gripping account of the dramatic events of April 11-14, 2002.
The author of this mini-review was struck by the hugely different interpretations of the book expressed in the reviews already posted on Amazon's web page, including two particularly long-winded reviews that question the book's accuracy and objectivity.
Those reviews are off the mark. The author of this mini-review participated in the march and has done considerable research of his own in to the events covered in this book. As such, he can certify the accuracy of Nelson's rendition, as well as expressing his admiration for Nelson's remarkably even-handed telling of a highly controversial series of events.

El libro es una descripción en extremo detallada de los sucesos del 11 al 13 de Abril del 2002, escrito, a mi manera de pensar, en forma independiente. Lo recomiendo por la cantidad de detalles que, por lo menos yo, desconocía antes de leer este libro. Es importante aclarar que la primera mitad del libro parece ser más de los mismo, material conocido por todos, sin embargo, más adelante la cosa se pone buena!

Que lástima el resultado final! Que oportunidad perdida! Bueno, no hay mal que dure 100 años .....

I have to recognize that knowing the author had declared he was Chavista before and after the coup I was expecting another blatant propagandistic garbage like "The revolution will not be televised". But I have to admit that Brian Nelson surpassed all my expectations with this book. Not only because of the breath of his research but because of the conscious effort to depict the feelings, thoughts and beliefs of both camps. It shows the divisiveness, violent and intolerant views of members of both the pro-Chavez and opposition groups at the moment and the struggling of many of the actors to be true to their democratic values. It also makes an effort to explain why all this happened in Venezuela, without falling in the trap of over simplistic explanations so commonly used by foreigners. It also gave me pieces of the puzzle I did not have about what happened those agonizing days. Some of the accounts are really eye-openers. It is a great explanation of why those who call it power vacuum are right, and the ones who say it was a coup are also right. But also shows very clearly who has more to hide and has done everything in their power to prevent the truth being widely known. I would recommend this book to anyone trying to understand why after 13th years of this failed revolution Chaves is still the president of Venezuela.

The Silence and the Scorpion is a non-fiction book by Brian Nelson that analyzes the three days when Chávez was ousted and then restored into power in April 2002.

Because Venezuela is so politically polarized around Chávez, I believe this sort of book could only have been written by a foreigner. A political book is never unbiased, but a Venezuelan would probably have a harder time not only in letting each side tell its story, but even in gaining interview access to relevant actors on both sides of the conflict.

The book interweaves the interviewee's voices and personal interpretations from the author, to tell the story as it unfolds. You can really get a feeling of the thoughts, motivations and emotions that went through chavistas and non-chavistas alike during those days and even beyond.

Even though I lived in Venezuela at the time and participated in the march that briefly ended the presidency of Chávez, I was really only an extra in a cast of millions, and through the book I have gained new insight into some of the stuff that was going on behind the scenes. It also brought back into focus a lot of events and characters that my lousy memory had already blurred.

The book shows that there was a coup d'etat, although not in the classical military style. When the military high command appeared on TV to announce to the country that they were no longer recognizing the president, it was based on the following:

* the president had given instructions to use the military against its own people
* the president had bypassed the head of the army, which is unconstitutional
* the National Guard and government militias had been shooting at unarmed civilians

The real coup d'etat was implemented by a small group of businessmen and politicians, who gave the presidency to Pedro Carmona Estanga and bypassed the constitution in all regards (dissolving the National Assembly, removing all government positions, even eliminating the Constitution itself, etc.). Obviously this could not have happened withouth the support of the military. However, as quickly as the high command spoke out against Chávez, when Carmona and his group bypassed the Constitution, it also took away its support of the new government.

So yes, the military was very much involved in ousting and also in restoring Chávez back into power, but yet it was not a classical military coup, or else they would have installed a transitional (or permanent) military Junta. This was not the case. Also, as the book cleverly exposes, it was not a premeditated organized coup, or else there would not have been so much caos and confusion within the opposition and the military once Chávez was ousted. Clearly no one was really in control.

What followed after Chávez was restored into power was a multimillion-dollar campaign by the government to shed its responsibility of the civilian casualties on April 11. The government was also very clever in turning Carmona and his clique of businessmen into the poster-boys of the entire opposition, even though the movement was formed by a heterogenous mix of Venezuelan society. Also, the government has stopped all investigations regarding the shooting of civilians. The National Guard troops that killed civilians were never brought to justice, the presence of snipers was never investigated and remains a mystery to this day, and the government militias who shot at civilians were even given honour medals.

There is a quote in the book from Raúl Isaías Baduel, which I think summarizes in a nutshell Venezuela's dilemma. Baduel is the general who led the mission to rescue Chávez, who was later named Defense Minister and who ironically is presently in jail for disagreeing with Chávez. In an op-ed for the New York Times, he wrote: "Venezuelans, from every social stratum, are responsible for the institutional decay that we are witnessing. The elite never understood - and still fail to understand - the need to include, in every sense, the millions who have been kept at the margins of the decision-making process because of their poverty. At the same time, President Chávez led the poor to believe that they are finally being included in a governmental model that will reduce poverty and inequality. In reality, rhe very opposite is true."

Nelson's book should be read by all Venezuelans and by anyone who wants to have a deeper understanding, not only of the events that occurred during those three days in April, but of the forces that shape modern Venezuela. In light of the recent events taking place in Venezuela, this book could not be more relevant to understand what is really going on.