Obituary - Rafael Cabrices,defender of Puente Llaguno, dies 60

In the early hours of August 30th 2005, Rafael Cabrices died in the military hospital in San Martin, Caracas, of a massive heart attack. Cabrices came to public attention on April 11th 2002 during the coup d´état when he was filmed firing his 9mm pistol from Llaguno Bridge overlooking the Avendia Baralt allegedly at the “peaceful opposition march” diverted by Carlos Ortega and his fellow conspirators to Miraflores Palace in order to remove Chavez from power. It was the images filmed by a crew of the opposition channel Venevision with a voice-over that provided the “evidence” to accuse Chavez of massacring his own people, and justify the traitorous generals’ pronouncements not to recognize the Chavez government and hence consummate the coup.

The Venevision footage never showed the march in the Avenida Baralt, since it never took that route, but the images with the voice-over saying that the march was being fired on went round the world, effectively condemning the defenders (gunmen, in the opposition media) by “trial by television”. The reporter, Luis Alfonso Fernandez of Venevision, won the Journalism Prize from the King of Spain for filming the “Massacre of Caracas” and duly accepted the prize in person in Madrid – a plaque and US$6,000 - even though he knew that the march never passed through the Avenida Baralt. Nothing need be said about the gutter ethics of this individual.

It has been conclusively proven by video evidence available from Globovision and the live conversation between the anchor, Carla Angola and reporter Del Valle Canelon who stated, that the people on the bridge were firing at the Metropolitan Police and their armored vehicles, and not the opposition march. Globovision hid this video tape for more than a year, meaning that Cabrices and the others spent 11 months in custody when they were in fact innocent. At the trial, where the defenders of Llaguno Bridge were subsequently cleared, and when questioned in court about why the video was shelved, Canelon said that “there were many pressures on her (not to reveal the existence of the video)”

In addition, the excellent documentary by Cuban film maker, Angel Palacios, Llaguno Bridge – Keys of a Massacre (“Puente Llaguno - claves de un massacre”, which can be downloaded free of charge from www.venezuelaenvideos.com) also proves beyond any of a shadow of doubt that Cabrices, Peñalver, Atencio and Rivera were defending the bridge and their comrades from the attack of the Metropolitan Police which was using high powered weapons, including HK machine guns, against a civilian population, to open the path to Miraflores Palace. The then Lord Mayor of Caracas, Alfredo Peña, is in hiding presumably in Miami or Uruguay after giving the orders to the commanders of the Metropolitan Police to massacre the Bolivarians: The three commanders who gave the orders on that day are on now trial.

Watching images of Cabrices’ wake this morning, there was obvious deep emotion at the loss of this revolutionary leader and many people interviewed pointed out that if it had not been for the courage of Cabrices and his fellow defenders of Llaguno Bridge on that fateful day, they may not have even survived as the Metropolitan Police would have just continued the massacre.

Commander Lina Ron, another social revolutionary working in the Caracas barrios, said shortly after the arrest of Cabrices and his comrades that: “they were defending the revolution”. This quote was used over and over again by the commercial media to discredit both Ron and the four defenders as being “violent”, but eventually the truth came out at the trial which ended in late 2003. They were defending themselves and their comrades and not massacring anyone, since at that time the Metropolitan Police has lost all vestige of serving the public or imposing law and order. They were killing innocent civilians, in broad daylight and being filmed doing it. After being proven innocent of all charges relating to the defense of Llaguno Bridge, Rafael Cabrices dedicated himself full time to sowing the revolution in his Caracas parish, El Paraiso. He helped organize an Endogenous Development Center named “11th of April” in the parish to propel changes forward and benefit the local population by creating employment, social organization and self esteem. In El Paraiso, Cabrices heeded the call by President Chavez to form civil-military groups to defend the revolution and was training 140 volunteers weekdays and at weekends in this urban environment. A BBC report published on July 1st gives more details about this, and is worth reading with the required pinch of salt.

I met Rafael Cabrices only once, in September 2003 when he was invited to the “Constitution and Peace Forum” held weekly at the Chacaito Theater in Caracas run by now Vice Minister of the Interior, Augusto Montiel. What struck me most of all was the discourse Cabrices gave from the platform when he showed that his revolutionary ideas were well founded ideologically, that he had fully grasped the ideas of the new socialism of the 21st century even before it was proposed by President Chavez and his ongoing criticism of Venezuelan commercial media, that still show the Venevision footage of the Llaguno Bridge episode as if this were in any way true. Even in one of his last television appearances on Mario Silva’s excellent media critique program The Razor Blade (“La Hojilla”)on July 1tth this year, Cabrices maintained his warning against the Venezuelan private media accusing them of still trying to create matrixes of opinion to create the conditions for another coup or US intervention. This warning should always be in the back of our minds.

The loss of Rafael Cabrices at the age of 60 years is painful both for his family and his comrades fighting for the dignity of the local population in El Paraiso. However, his name will not be forgotten by anyone, nationwide, involved in the Bolivarian revolutionary process since Rafael Cabrices led by example, hardened by the conviction of defending and promoting the collective good of the historically excluded in Venezuelan society.

For many who knew Rafael Cabrices personally, he was a leader, comrade, revolutionary, combatant, brother, father and friend, 110% committed to the ideals of Bolivar’s dream of a united Latin America. I am certain that his comrades, after digesting this unfortunate loss, will continue on the revolutionary path of reaching the goal as represented by the Libertador’s continental wide vision. His name could well be immortalized by changing the name Endogenous Development Center where he dedicated the last years of his life serving his fellow Venezuelans, from “April 11th” to “Nucleo Endógeno Rafael Cabrices”.

Cabrices – your name and example will never be forgotten. You are now part of Venezuelan history and your courageous actions on April 11th 2002 were more than justified in defense of your fellow human beings and Bolivarian comrades.

Carlos Herrera
carlos@venezuelasolidarity.org.uk