In the aftermath of Hugo Chavez’s death, I was moved to re-watch The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, the brilliant documentary of the failed U.S.-backed coup directed against him and his democratically elected administration. Of course you can’t rent or buy this documentary in the United States, but luckily you can watch it on YouTube here. 

This documentary is superbly written, with an elegance and economy that is near perfection. The scene selection and pacing are also exceptional, making the documentary very pleasurable and easy to watch, despite its difficult content. But it also benefits from the incredible and unique circumstances which gave rise to it, in which an Irish film crew (who were doing a documentary on Chavez and his policies) just happened to be in the Presidential Palace when the coup took place. What you see in this film is what a coup actually looks like in real life, and together with skillfully edited selections of television footage, you get a near total picture of what transpired. This allows the viewer to take in the forces at work, their motives and methods, and in the end really appreciate what a shining moment for democracy was the defeat of this U.S.-backed coup d’etat. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is in every way an outstanding documentary.

It very sad that people in the United States are so propagandized about Chavez that they will never be able to appreciate all that he accomplished. He postulated and put into action an alternate future for capitalism, one based in participatory democracy and focused on the collective welfare of average people, rather than on the profits of the obscenely rich (the U.S. model of democracy, at least since Bretton Woods was dismantled.) He inspired and facilitated democratic uprisings in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Ecuador, which led to the rejection of the harmful neo-liberal policies forced on them by the IMF. And he forged the beginnings of Latin American integration, which would allow South America to make up its own mind about its policies and its future, independent of the self-interested wishes of the United States. In a world largely bereft of constructive vision for humanity’s future, Chavez was one of the few beacons of light.

Now that he’s gone, I predict the United States will move very quickly to destroy everything good that has been accomplished in Venezuela, and put some form of the old guard back in power. We Americans are already being prepared for this eventuality, with all the news reports of a “deeply divided Venezuela.” Yeah, it’s deeply divided exactly the way the United States is “deeply divided” – the millionaires and billionaires are dissatisfied because they don’t own everything. 

I encourage everyone to watch The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. It’s only an hour and 10 minutes, free on You Tube, and you will be very happy that you did.