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The Silence and the Scorpion: The Coup Against Chávez and the Making of Modern Venezuela. By Brian A. Nelson. New York: Nation Books, 2009. Pp. xv, 355. Illustrations. Maps. Appendix. Glossary. Notes. Index. $26.95 cloth.
Brian Nelson first went to Venezuela in 1989 as a high school exchange student. In 2002, with his MFA degree in hand, he began this project in Caracas under the aegis of a FuIbright Award in creative writing. He classifies his book as a work of "narrative nonfiction and investigative reporting" (p. 296) and focuses on the tragedy of those who died or were wounded during die events surrounding die golpe against President Hugo Chavez in April 2002. Nelson succeeds admirably in presenting a gripping narrative, but his low standards in investigative reporting make the book extremely one-sided and unreliable.
It is difficult to give an objective account of the events that Nelson describes. On April 11, 2002, a huge march, ostensibly peaceful, diverged from its authorized route and surged toward Miraflores, the presidential palace, with the avowed goal of ousting President Hugo Chavez. Near Miraflores, the marchers encountered the Metropolitan Police, the National Guard, and Chavez supporters. The Metropolitan Police and the National Guard should have maintained order and protected die palace, but many among them sympathized with the opposition. Tear gas was launched, rocks were thrown, shots were fired, many were wounded, and 19 people were killed, both chavistas and opponents. In die ensuing chaos, army commanders disobeyed Chavez's order to move into the streets, forcibly took him to an undisclosed location, and tried to get him to resign. On April 12, businessman Pedro Carmona assumed die presidency, dismissed the National Assembly and die Supreme Court, abolished the Constitution, and appointed a cabinet that...