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Anti-Chavez channel faces deadline
By FABIOLA SANCHEZ, Associated Press Writer
Wed Aug 1, 2:50 PM ET
CARACAS, Venezuela - An opposition-aligned television channel, already
booted from the airwaves, faced a deadline Wednesday to agree to carry
speeches by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez or be yanked from the
cable lineup.
The country's telecommunications commission gave Radio Caracas
Television, or RCTV, until midnight Wednesday to register as a
national producer, a category that would require it to interrupt its
programming at the government's request to transmit Chavez's speeches.
The new cable channel RCTV International says it disagrees with the
requirement to register as a "national audiovisual producer" and
intends to be an "international channel."
It asked the commission to clarify its rules, saying it appears to be
enforcing them differently now that RCTV is transmitting by cable.
"We're talking about crimes against human rights here," top RCTV
Marcel Granier said on a Wednesday interview program. "They are crimes
for which they're going to have to pay. ... We'll see how far it
goes."
There was no immediate reaction from the telecommunications
commission.
Chavez forced RCTV, the country's oldest private channel, off the air
on May 27 by refusing to renew its broadcast license. He replaced it
with a public-service channel, accusing RCTV of supporting a 2002 coup
that briefly removed him from power and of repeatedly violating
broadcast laws.
The channel began transmitting on cable and satellite on July 16.
Venezuela's Chamber of Subscription Television has urged the
government to extend the deadline and hold talks, but has received no
reaction, chamber president Mar
io Seijas said.
The chamber asked the Supreme Court to intervene Wednesday and block
RCTV from being removed from cable while it clarifies which stations
are national producers, Seijas said.
He said other channels could be affected and they shouldn't have "to
guess if they are obliged to register" or not.
Despite criticism from press freedom groups, Chavez insists freedom of
speech is being respected.
Many of Venezuela's media outlets are still privately owned and
critical of Chavez. But the RCTV case has drawn condemnation from
critics because only one other major channel, Globovision, remains
firmly sided with the opposition.
Chavez's regularly takes over the airwaves for marathon speeches,
requiring channels to carry portions of them in what is known under
Venezuelan law as a "national network."
RCTV said being required to carry such mandatory programming would
make its operations "economically nonviable."
While other nations have similar provisions, few presidents have used
it as often as Chavez
By FABIOLA SANCHEZ, Associated Press Writer
Wed Aug 1, 2:50 PM ET
CARACAS, Venezuela - An opposition-aligned television channel, already
booted from the airwaves, faced a deadline Wednesday to agree to carry
speeches by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez or be yanked from the
cable lineup.
The country's telecommunications commission gave Radio Caracas
Television, or RCTV, until midnight Wednesday to register as a
national producer, a category that would require it to interrupt its
programming at the government's request to transmit Chavez's speeches.
The new cable channel RCTV International says it disagrees with the
requirement to register as a "national audiovisual producer" and
intends to be an "international channel."
It asked the commission to clarify its rules, saying it appears to be
enforcing them differently now that RCTV is transmitting by cable.
"We're talking about crimes against human rights here," top RCTV
Marcel Granier said on a Wednesday interview program. "They are crimes
for which they're going to have to pay. ... We'll see how far it
goes."
There was no immediate reaction from the telecommunications
commission.
Chavez forced RCTV, the country's oldest private channel, off the air
on May 27 by refusing to renew its broadcast license. He replaced it
with a public-service channel, accusing RCTV of supporting a 2002 coup
that briefly removed him from power and of repeatedly violating
broadcast laws.
The channel began transmitting on cable and satellite on July 16.
Venezuela's Chamber of Subscription Television has urged the
government to extend the deadline and hold talks, but has received no
reaction, chamber president Mar
io Seijas said.
The chamber asked the Supreme Court to intervene Wednesday and block
RCTV from being removed from cable while it clarifies which stations
are national producers, Seijas said.
He said other channels could be affected and they shouldn't have "to
guess if they are obliged to register" or not.
Despite criticism from press freedom groups, Chavez insists freedom of
speech is being respected.
Many of Venezuela's media outlets are still privately owned and
critical of Chavez. But the RCTV case has drawn condemnation from
critics because only one other major channel, Globovision, remains
firmly sided with the opposition.
Chavez's regularly takes over the airwaves for marathon speeches,
requiring channels to carry portions of them in what is known under
Venezuelan law as a "national network."
RCTV said being required to carry such mandatory programming would
make its operations "economically nonviable."
While other nations have similar provisions, few presidents have used
it as often as Chavez
