C
Captain Compassion
Guest
Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela
By FABIOLA SANCHEZ 05.28.07, 2:30 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/28/ap3763178.html
AP - National Guard troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday
into a crowd of protesters angry over a decision by President Hugo
Chavez that forced a critical television station off the air.
University students blocked one lane of a major highway hours after
Radio Caracas Television ceased broadcasting at midnight and was
replaced with a new state-funded channel. Chavez had refused to renew
RCTV's broadcast license, accusing it of "subversive" activities and
of backing a 2002 coup against him.
Two students were injured by rubber bullets and a third was hit with a
tear gas canister, said Ana Teresa Yepez, an administrator at Caracas'
Metropolitan University. She said about 20 protesters were treated for
inhaling tear gas.
The new public channel, TVES, launched its transmissions with artists
singing pro-Chavez music, then carried an exercise program and a talk
show, interspersed with government ads proclaiming, "Now Venezuela
belongs to everyone."
Crowds of students demonstrated across Caracas, saying they fear for
the future of free speech.
"I plan to keep protesting because we're Venezuelans and it's our
right," said Valentina Ramos, 17, a Metropolitan University student
who was hit in the head with a tear gas canister and received
stitches.
She said the protest was peaceful, but National Guard troops said they
acted after students hurled rocks and sticks. Police said 11 officers
were injured in separate protests on Sunday that were broken up with
water cannon and tear gas.
Thousands of government supporters reveled in the streets as they
watched the midnight changeover on large TV screens, seeing RCTV's
signal go black and then be replaced by a TVES logo. Others launched
fireworks and danced in the streets.
Inside the studios of RCTV - the sole opposition-aligned TV station
with nationwide reach - disheartened actors and comedians wept and
embraced in the final minutes on the air.
They bowed their heads in prayer, and presenter Nelson Bustamante
declared: "Long live Venezuela! We will return soon."
The socialist president says he is democratizing the airwaves by
turning the network's signal over to public use.
Germany, which holds the European Union presidency, expressed concern
that Venezuela let RCTV's license expire "without holding an open
competition for the successor license." It said the EU expects that
Venezuela will uphold freedom of speech and "support pluralism."
Founded in 1953, RCTV regularly topped viewer ratings with its talk
shows, sports, soap operas and comedy programs. But Chavez accused the
network of helping to incite a failed coup in 2002, violating
broadcast laws and "poisoning" Venezuelans with programming that
promoted capitalism. RCTV's managers deny wrongdoing.
The government promises TVES will be more diverse, buying 70 percent
of its content from independent Venezuelan producers.
"We've come here to start a new television with the true face of the
people, the face that was hidden, the face that they didn't allow us
to show," said Roman Chalbaud, a pro-Chavez filmmaker appointed by the
government to TVES' board of directors.
TVES received $4 million in startup funds from the government, but
officials say it also may seek commercial advertising.
Most Venezuelan news media are in private hands, including many
newspapers and radio stations that remain critical of Chavez. But the
only major surviving opposition-sided TV channel is Globovision, which
is not seen in all parts of the country.
--
There may come a time when the CO2 police will wander the earth telling
the poor and the dispossed how many dung chips they can put on their
cook fires. -- Captain Compassion.
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
Celibacy in healthy human beings is a form of
insanity. -- Captain Compassion
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
By FABIOLA SANCHEZ 05.28.07, 2:30 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/05/28/ap3763178.html
AP - National Guard troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday
into a crowd of protesters angry over a decision by President Hugo
Chavez that forced a critical television station off the air.
University students blocked one lane of a major highway hours after
Radio Caracas Television ceased broadcasting at midnight and was
replaced with a new state-funded channel. Chavez had refused to renew
RCTV's broadcast license, accusing it of "subversive" activities and
of backing a 2002 coup against him.
Two students were injured by rubber bullets and a third was hit with a
tear gas canister, said Ana Teresa Yepez, an administrator at Caracas'
Metropolitan University. She said about 20 protesters were treated for
inhaling tear gas.
The new public channel, TVES, launched its transmissions with artists
singing pro-Chavez music, then carried an exercise program and a talk
show, interspersed with government ads proclaiming, "Now Venezuela
belongs to everyone."
Crowds of students demonstrated across Caracas, saying they fear for
the future of free speech.
"I plan to keep protesting because we're Venezuelans and it's our
right," said Valentina Ramos, 17, a Metropolitan University student
who was hit in the head with a tear gas canister and received
stitches.
She said the protest was peaceful, but National Guard troops said they
acted after students hurled rocks and sticks. Police said 11 officers
were injured in separate protests on Sunday that were broken up with
water cannon and tear gas.
Thousands of government supporters reveled in the streets as they
watched the midnight changeover on large TV screens, seeing RCTV's
signal go black and then be replaced by a TVES logo. Others launched
fireworks and danced in the streets.
Inside the studios of RCTV - the sole opposition-aligned TV station
with nationwide reach - disheartened actors and comedians wept and
embraced in the final minutes on the air.
They bowed their heads in prayer, and presenter Nelson Bustamante
declared: "Long live Venezuela! We will return soon."
The socialist president says he is democratizing the airwaves by
turning the network's signal over to public use.
Germany, which holds the European Union presidency, expressed concern
that Venezuela let RCTV's license expire "without holding an open
competition for the successor license." It said the EU expects that
Venezuela will uphold freedom of speech and "support pluralism."
Founded in 1953, RCTV regularly topped viewer ratings with its talk
shows, sports, soap operas and comedy programs. But Chavez accused the
network of helping to incite a failed coup in 2002, violating
broadcast laws and "poisoning" Venezuelans with programming that
promoted capitalism. RCTV's managers deny wrongdoing.
The government promises TVES will be more diverse, buying 70 percent
of its content from independent Venezuelan producers.
"We've come here to start a new television with the true face of the
people, the face that was hidden, the face that they didn't allow us
to show," said Roman Chalbaud, a pro-Chavez filmmaker appointed by the
government to TVES' board of directors.
TVES received $4 million in startup funds from the government, but
officials say it also may seek commercial advertising.
Most Venezuelan news media are in private hands, including many
newspapers and radio stations that remain critical of Chavez. But the
only major surviving opposition-sided TV channel is Globovision, which
is not seen in all parts of the country.
--
There may come a time when the CO2 police will wander the earth telling
the poor and the dispossed how many dung chips they can put on their
cook fires. -- Captain Compassion.
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
Celibacy in healthy human beings is a form of
insanity. -- Captain Compassion
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
