Philadelphia — On January 29, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger presented an award from the Inter-American Economic Council to Gustavo Cisneros, a Venezuelan billionaire identified by Newsweek and Venezuelan publications as one of the protagonists and financiers of the April 11, 2002, coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The IAEC is associated with the Organization of American States. In publicity for the ceremony, the council described Cisneros as being someone who, "consistently sought to create an environment where business and government can work together in meaningful ways for the betterment of society".
It went on: "The council seeks to create a forum in which effective policy making is made by the public and private sectors working together. Mr Cisneros' life's work parallels the council's mission."
Cisneros is also credited with being a driving force behind the December 2002 nationwide lock-out and sabotage of the oil industry, which drove the Venezuelan economy into the ground by causing a historical drop of 27% in the country's GDP in the first trimester of 2003.
Cisneros is the owner of AOL, Coca-Cola, DirecTV and Pizza Hut in Latin America, Univision in the US, and Venezuela's biggest TV network Venevision.
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, according to declassified documents, headed the CIA operation to overthrow Chilean democratically-elected President Salvador Allende in 1973, will be in charge of awarding fellow coup plotter Cisneros.
The decision to give the award to Cisneros was condemned by the US-based NGO Global Strike for Women. "It is women in particular who elected and have overwhelmingly defended Chavez", a press release stated, "and women from the poorest areas who have most to gain from and have been most involved in the economic and social reforms Venezuela is undertaking to tackle poverty and corruption despite constant coup and assassination attempts from the likes of Cisneros."
From Green Left Weekly, February 11, 2004.
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