Gonzalo Lira

Gonzalo Lira
Born	29 February 1968 Burbank, US
Died	12 January 2024 (Age 55) Kharkiv, Ukraine
Interests	• Volodymyr Zelensky • Igor Kolomoisky
Interest of	Sergey Korotkikh
Chilean–American novelist and film director residing in the Ukraine who was arrested twice by the SBU.

Gonzalo Lira López was a Chilean–American novelist and film director who resided in Ukraine, formerly known by the pseudonym 'Coach Red Pill'.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Gonzalo Lira earned internet notoriety as a war blogger. His analysis of the Russian military operation and harsh criticisms of the Ukrainian government from within Ukrainian territory instantly transformed him into a top target of Kiev’s often rabid band of online supporters.

On 1 May 2023, Ukrainian state security agents arrested Lira for the second time in just over a year. On 12 January 2024, the US State Department reported that Gonzalo Lira had died in prison in Ukraine:

"We can confirm the death of a US citizen in Ukraine. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss," a representative of the Department of State told a TASS correspondent in response to a request to comment on the information that Lira died in jail.

"We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment."

Background

Son of Gonzalo Lira Valdés and María Isabel López Hess, Gonzalo Lira grew up in the San Fernando Valley, New York, Miami and also in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He completed his studies at Colegio Saint George's College in Santiago de Chile.

In 1997, Gonzalo Lira published the book Tomáh Errázurih. After settling in Manhattan in 1998, Lira wrote, produced and directed a comedic short film, "So Kinky". In 2002, he wrote the book "Acrobat" which was made into a movie by Miramax. That same year, Lira returned to Chile and began producing and writing in Spanish. In 2006 Lira co-wrote, produced and directed "Catalina's Kidnapping" , called in Chile "Secuestro".

Between 2010 and 2012, Gonzalo Lira published economic analysis on his blog, he made a forecast about the hyperinflation that threatened the US dollar. In 2017 he was active on social media, especially YouTube, under the name 'Coach Red Pill'.

In Ukraine

At the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Gonzalo Lira was in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, from where he expressed his assessment of what was happening on his YouTube channel, dissenting markedly from the point of view of the Western media. In particular, he said that “although Ukraine may win the propaganda war, Russia wins the real war by capturing territory. Already 15% of the territory of Ukraine is under the control of the Russian army.

One of his videos was shown cropped in a Russian television program without Lira's authorisation and making it appear pro-Russian, which caused him to be expelled from the Premier Palace Hotel in Kiev. ​Gonzalo Lira wanted to return to Kharkov with his family, which he did after the incident. Lira has been critical of the government of Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky.

On 17 April 2022, George Galloway announced on his television program MOATS that an interview with Gonzalo Lira scheduled for that edition could not be carried out due to his presumed disappearance in Ukraine. Friends and relatives of Lira confirmed that they had lost contact with him since April 15, a disappearance confirmed by the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Truth about Zelensky

Days before, on March 26, Lira had tweeted the following:

Do you want to know the truth about the Zelensky regime? Google these names:

Vladimir Struk

Denis Kirev

Mikhail and Alexander Kononovich

Nestor Shufrych

Yan Taksyur

Dmitry Djangirov

Elena Berezhnaya

If you haven't heard from me in 12 hours or more, put my name on this list. Gonzalo Lira.

Interviewer

Scott Ritter and The Battle of the Donbass

In early April 2022, Scott Ritter was interviewed by Gonzalo Lira and explained how he thought the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine is likely to play out.

Interviewee

On 24 April 2022, in a wide-ranging interview with Richard Medhurst, Gonzalo Lira spoke about the situation in Ukraine where he expected the Russians to complete the Donbass encirclement within 4-6 weeks and the resultant cauldron to lead to the death or surrender of 60,000 NATO-trained battle-hardened Ukrainian soldiers. The Russians would then move on to Mykolaiv, to Kharkov and perhaps to Lviv.

According to Lira, the battle for Mariupol was won 2 weeks ago. He suspected that there must be someone very special hiding with troops of the Azov Battalion, holed up in the Mariupol steel works, and suggested it could be US Lieutenant General and Commander NATO Allied Land Command Roger Cloutier. Earlier, on 11 April 2022, NATO issued a denial:

“These claims are completely false. Lieutenant General Cloutier’s last visit to Ukraine was in July 2021 to conduct Land Staff Talks in Kyiv in order to strengthen NATO’s partnership with Ukraine’s brave and capable forces.”

Gonzalo Lira also talked about the Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky's relations with the actor/president Volodymyr Zelensky, Victoria Nuland and Hunter Biden. He condemned the continued incarceration of Julian Assange and described as "usurious" the interest rates paid on student loans, which he said were being bundled and sold as bonds on the stock market.

Arrest by the SBU

From 15 April 2022 Lira went missing from his home in Kharkov and by 20th April there were concerning reports of his likely capture and killing by Ukrainian forces.

On the 22nd there was a short interview with him, which was recorded by Alex Christoforou (The Duran), to say that he had been arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) but is in good health. Lira was told he is not allowed to leave the area, and is not allowed to use his Telegram channel anymore. He continued his social media presence on a new Youtube account.

Re-arrested

In May 2023 Lira was re-arrested in Kharkiv, and Ukrainian authorities charged him with the alleged crime of justifying “Russia’s armed aggression” and disseminating “fakes about the war in Ukraine.” If convicted of these crimes, he faces 13 years in prison.

Lira’s father, 80-year-old Gonzalo Lira Sr., doubts his son will ever be released:

“At present they are preparing a kangaroo court. Zelensky and his thugs do not fight for democracy and freedom, they fight to keep themselves in power with the blessings of Biden.”

Censorship

His English-language article on Wikipedia is nominated for deletion; it has been nominated at least twice. His Twitter account was deleted twice.

This page imported content from Wikipedia on 19 April 2022.
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