CNN's coverage of the Ecuador attempted coup causes the resignation of CNN's reporter in Ecuador

Rodolfo Muñoz

Amazingly, you haven't been fed this story up there in the homogenized, filtered world of EngLang news, have you? It turns out that the CNN journalist on site at the September 30th attempted coup in Ecuador has resigned from the company due to the way in which that news channel reported his story.

Here follows a full translation of this Spanish language report on the resignation of Rodolfo Muñoz (it has to be translated, because there aren't any EngLang reporters in LatAm that think this newsworthy... strange that innit?). IKN thanks the legwork of reader 'MR' on the translation, which is a good one. Read on and find out that even the people reporting what happened on September 30th in Quito, Ecuador disagree with the editorial line of the TV channels that tried to make out it was some sort of non-event. Or in other words: Yes, you're being lied to. Get used to it.

CNN's Version on the Ecuador Coup Provokes Resignation of its Reporter 

The Ecuadoran journalist stated that he decided to resign from CNN that very Sept. 30 because the US TV channel’s viewpoint on the circumstances that day in his country differed from what he observed as he covered the events which pointed to the fact that a coup d’etat was taking place. Muñoz also noted that there is evidence that killing President Rafael Correa was a goal.

The former CNN correspondent in Ecuador, Rodolfo Muñoz, explained on Tuesday that his resignation from the US news channel was due to the viewpoint that it had on the attempted coup d’etat in his country, which differed from what he observed as he covered the events.

"That same night on Sept. 30 I determined that it was no longer in my interest to continue doing that sort of work, a distinct slant from what was happening in my country; in the end I found that the option was gone, the conflicting viewpoints is what changed without a doubt and that’s where it ended,” the reporter said to the press in his country about his resignation from CNN, after covering the attempted coup d’etat in Ecuador.

In a press release that Muñoz put out on Tuesday announcing his decision,the journalist affirmed that the role of a reporter is that of mediator and not that of agent or protagonist in the events.

"Throughout my career, I learned and taught that the reporter’s role in any news event, be it simple or complex, is only that of mediator, not that of agent or protagonist. I learned that we mediators cannot await newsworthy outcomes according to our own particular desires, preferences, phobias and prejudices.

He added that the information that communicators transmit, in particular that to audiences in other countries, must allow for the possibility of two different views of the events.

"I always knew that all information, especially if it is directed to a foreign audience, one that does not know the particularities of a country other than their own, should be shown at the very least from two distinct perspectives ", he expressed in the statement.

They Wanted to Kill Correa

During an interview given to teleSUR on Tuesday, the Ecuadoran journalist reiterated that there is proof that they intended to kill President Correa during the putsch on Sept. 30.

''A ton of ‘broadsheets’ showed up on the internet (...) above all a version which circulated worried me (...)  some in the media were stating that nothing had happened (...) there is proof that they wanted to kill the president'', he asserted.

A group of police seized by force last Sept. 30 the First Regiment in Quito in protest, supposedly, against the refusal to veto the Public Service Act which proposes eliminating bonuses and promotions that are paid out in yearly salaries.

Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, was in the insurgency’s focal point to attempt dialogue, but was obliged to withdraw on account of the violent actions which were taking place in the area.

In the face of this, Correa denounced the fact that the violent police protests occurring in Quito formed part of an attempt at a coup d’etat which had been in preparation for months on the part of the opposition and had called on the police force that serves the country to revolt.

During the coup attempt, the Ecuadoran president remained for 12 hours held involuntarily in the police hospital where later he was rescued in a joint operation of the military and units from the Special Operations Group of the police.
After the attempt, some recordings from the central police radio dispatch revealed that rebelling agents were inciting the killing of the leader and were affirming that they would not allow him to leave the hospital, where he had sought safety after being attacked, as long as he refused to repeal the law.

After the events, the Ecuadoran leader in various occasions has declared that they tried to assassinate him during the putsch to overthrow him.

"We were able to make it to the emergency in an armoured car. When we set out in the car and we began to leave, a shower of bullets hit the President’s car, seeking to kill the President", Correa stated to teleSUR about the moment in which he was rescued from the health center.

Yeah, it was him alright

A lesson for all the 24 year olds out there who think they're hard.

Don't mess with the ultra-rights. It must have been 117 days of excitement and "real live war games" for Dwyer, hanging with fascist Croat war veterans....

Dwyer listed as Eduardo Rozca Flores' friend on Facebook

.... training with live rounds, wearing green, feeling important, driving imported BMWs, wowing the local girls, feted by the UJC and plotting deep plots. He must have loved it all, right up to the moment before that photo happened.

All rather sad, really. R.I.P, Michael Dwyer.

UPDATE: Listen up anonymous posters and mailers both known and unknown:

1) The picture stays. Those that spend their life watching reality shows and unaware of reality need a wake up call. This is not a game. These people were plotting to destabilize Bolivia and got what they deserved, period. Don't like it? Hard luck.

2) I said it's "sad" for many reasons. After speaking with a couple of people on the ground in Bolivia my best guess that he was a young man living his own fantasy and way, way over his head. Anyone else out there think they're hard but run a Bebo page? Gimme a break.....

3) But it's also sad that the hatemailers (yep sure, come over to the house anytime and meet my dog) can't see a few basic facts, not least of which being that we're talking foreign nationals with far right wing connections in an area of Bolivia that tried to start a coup d'etat last year carrying guns and explosives, in itself totally illegal.

4) But the saddest part of all is the way that people think they can still change South America this way. You can't so go home now if you think that way. And stay home. And shut the fuck up cos you don't have the slightest clue of what you're talking about.

5) And yes, they're exit wounds. Which means he was almost certainly running away when the Bolivian armed forces shot him. Welcome to the world of rough justice. I don't feel sorry for what happened to the guy, I feel sad for the guy. There's a big difference.

6) For the forseeable future, any comments not from regular readers and all mails from people unknown will be deleted without being read, so feel free to waste your time.


UPDATE: Find out more about the people who funded the mercenaries by clicking here

Is this the Irish would-be assassin of Evo Morales?

Sure fits. Thanks to some quick work by reader RM, check out this Bebo page on a certain Michael Dwyer.

Let's check the points in common

1) Is Irish

2) Loves guns and fancies himself as a sniper

3) Is definitely in South America and according to messages left by friends is in Bolivia

4) Has Bruce Willis's "The Jackal" as the answer to his "What kind of Assassin are You?" profile box

5) Thinks he's hard

6) Member of an Irish battlefield simulation club

Sure looks like a possible to me. Has anyone seen this man mooching round Santa Cruz recently? Well sure looks that way, as this photo from his Bebo album has him placed in the eastern Bolivia area 116 days ago.

UPDATE: I've been told that Bebo has now pulled his page, but I took a swipe of it yesterday and saved it on my PC. Here's a link to the PDF copy. I've removed the comments from friends out of respect for third parties but the rest is how it was. For your information, several newspaper journalists have been mailing and asking questions on this story, including Irish, US and world media. I haven't told them a thing of use and they get the same treatment as the people that really matter, i.e. the grassroots readers.

UPDATE: Yep, it was him alright.

Police Foil Assassination Attempt on Evo Morales, Kill Three of the Gang, Arrest Two

Police raided a hotel in Santa Cruz (where else?) this morning and confronted a group of five heavy armed terrorists (guns, bombs etc). In the ensuing shoot-out, three of the suspects were killed. Two of the dead Hungarian nationals and one Bolivian. The other two, apparently one Irish national and one Romanian, were arrested and taken to La Paz. However there are conflicting reports of the groups' nationalities, with Croatia also mentioned. A large quantity of explosives and arms were also confiscated by Bolivia police.

Evo Morales said today (and I quote): "I'm not mistaken in saying that last Sunday the days of Evo Morales might have been counted. The results of todays operation coincide with the preliminary reports we have regarding this group of European and Bolivian terrorists and mercenaries."

According to police reports relayed by Evo in a press conference, the group was targeting Evo Morales, Vice President Alvaro García Linera and Minister Juan Ramón Quintana. Unsurprisingly the racist fascist shits and Evohaters are already looking stupid and calling it all a hoax, with the Prefect of Santa Cruz (where else?) calling it all a put-on and a show. Hey, remember that Facebook group?

UPDATE: Here's Reuters EngLang with the story

UPDATE 2: We now have confirmation of the names and nationalities of the would-be assassins. I don't know if the spelling is exact on the names but they're taken directly from this ABI report:

Mayarosi Ariad, (Rumania) Dead
Duayer Michel Martin (Ireland) Dead (SEE LATEST POST)
Jorge Hurtado Flores (Bolivia) Dead

Mario Tadik (Bolivia) Arrested
Iedad Toazo (Hungary) Arrested

Apparently the firefight on the 4th floor of the Hotel Las Américas, Santa Cruz, went on for around 30 minutes. Police conficated foru pistols, a rifle, a shotgun, ammunition and explosives, including high powered C-4 explosive and sophisticated detonators. These guys were no muppets, but they should have got down.

FINAL UPDATE: Nice job by Bina of putting today's timeline and the latest developments all together in one place. Check it out on this link.

Facebook bans the EvoHaters, AP puts the story out

Looks like we just cleaned up Facebook a little bit. Nice to see Associated Press giving the story airtime, too. Nice job reporting them to FB, lillie :-) I think we can mark this one down as a small victory. Thanks MG. Here's the original post this morning.

Now let's see if the social network group Hi5 that runs the anti-Evo Morales group here (and has a certain Hony Pierola as a member) will do the same as Facebook. And by the way, why not check out Hony's page on Hi5...and if you're ever in Fairfax VA drop by and see him.

"Hi Hony I'm home!"
Hony Pierola (for it is he)

PS: It's also getting reported all over the place in Spanish, too.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

January 27, 2009 - 7:49pm

By FRANK BAJAK
AP Technology Writer

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The social-networking site Facebook removed a group on Tuesday whose title advocated raising money so a gunman could be hired to "liquidate" Bolivia's leftist president, Evo Morales.

The Spanish-language group, created in August, had 8,069 members and had drawn the attention of at least one outraged blogger as of Tuesday, when The Associated Press alerted Facebook about it.

Called "Global collection to hire a sharpshooter to liquidate Evo Morales," the group's first description line stated, "We need to get the money to inspire someone to do it."

Its 20-year-old Bolivian creator, Hony Pierola, denied any malice. He told the AP he started the group "to laugh a little and wouldn't be so stupid as to do it with serious intentions."

However, many of the group's 497 postings were hateful, violating Facebook's terms of use, which ban threatening violence or expressing hatred.

One posting, dated Aug. 10, suggested Morales be "tortured and made to suffer, like he's doing indirectly to many Bolivian people." The vast majority of group members were well under 30, based on the birthdates and photos they posted.

The first Indian president of South America's poorest country, Morales has been a divisive figure as he drives a socialist agenda. On Sunday, Bolivia's voters approved a new constitution that seeks to empower the country's long-suppressed Indian majority.

Government officials were in a meeting with Morales on Tuesday afternoon and not available for comment.

A Facebook spokeswoman, Jaime Schopflin, said Pierola's group clearly violated the company's terms of use, and that the site was removed within 90 minutes of AP's call. She said she did not know whether anyone had previously alerted the 700-employee company to its existence.

Schopflin acknowledged the challenge of enforcing user terms amid skyrocketing growth; Facebook's users have more than doubled over the past year to 150 million, most outside the United States.

"We do have a multilingual staff. We are trying to scale right now," she said by telephone from the 5-year-old company's headquarters in Palo Alto, California. "These things, once they are reported, we remove them immediately."

The accounts of repeat violators are disabled, Schopflin added. Pierola's account remained active Tuesday.

In an e-mail exchange, Pierola was unapologetic and made clear his deep distaste for Morales, telling the AP that "in my honest opinion as a human I think it's not his fault he's such an imbecile."

"I hope he doesn't do stupid things and that Bolivia doesn't turn into a communist state," he said.

Facebook will let anybody in these days

For example, check out Bolivian student Hony Piérola's idea of a voluntary organization

Click to enlarge

Here's how the translation starts:

"World Collection to Contract a Sharpshooter to Liquidate Evo Morales"

"We have to raise the money to get someone to do it.

When this group gets to the quantity of more or less 1,000 people, I will then send a message to find out if there is a volunteer amongst all of us. Then we all agree to fix a good price so that the individual liquidates the subject..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Now, call me an old-fashioned fuddyduddy if you like, but plotting to kill Heads of State kinda strikes me as a little bit naughty. So if you'd like to tell Hony Piérola what you think of him, just send him a mail at hpierola@hotmail.com

Or maybe you'd prefer to pass his personal details on to the Bolivian authorities. After all, the Constitution now enshrines the country as a pacifist state. I think it wouldn't be a bad idea for somebody with a uniform to pop round to Hony's shack and have a quiet word with him, don't you?

Thank you MG for passing this one on.

USA denies Chávez assassination plot

If you're a media dude in the LatAm of today and you want to create your own personal false polemic that grabs a corner of the limelight, here's a rough guide. Follow the bouncing ball, people:

1) Start some wild rumour that attacks the Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, or just pick up on the latest BS being chattered around the ruling class bars and restaurants in Caracas/Maracaibo.

2) Collar some government lackey as they leave office at the end of the day, or at a cocktail reception or in the local McDonalds or wherever.

3) Ask him/her if there is any truth in the rumour that yada yada...

4) Diligently note the response

5) Bingo! You got yourself a headline.

And also note that, far from being jealous, other media dudes will be happy to feed off your BS and run stories such as "According to a report in the Daily Blabber, Venezuela rejected all yada yada blah blah.....". So imagine for a second if that kind of trash journalism was allowed to happen in "the serious countries". You'd quickly get headlines such as "USA Denies Chávez Assassination Plot" or "The UK Denies Insurgency Campaign in Bolivia" or "Sarkozy Insider Denies Presidential Cocaine Habit" or whatever.

This note was brought to you by the following sponsors:

"International Herald Tribune", "Venezuela Denies Iran-Syria Missile Report"

"El Universal", "Venezuela Denies Prescence of FARC Bosses In Country"

"Reuters", "Venezuela Denies Mulls Changes To Forex Rate System"

"Associated Press", "Venezuela Denies Report That Chávez Invited Russia To Open Military Base In Venezuela"

There are another 10,000 or so of these; just Google "Venezuela denies" and see what happens for yourself.