C
Captain Compassion
Guest
Venezuela moves against second opposition TV channel
By Brian Ellsworth
Mon May 28, 5:19 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070528/ts_nm/venezuela_television_dc_5
CARACAS (Reuters) - Hours after President Hugo Chavez shut down
Venezuela's main opposition broadcaster, his government demanded an
investigation of news network Globovision on Monday for allegedly
inciting an assassination attempt on the leftist leader.
Chavez took Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, off the air at midnight
on Sunday and replaced it with a state-run channel to promote his
socialist programs. The move sparked international condemnation and
accusations from the opposition that he was undermining democracy in
the OPEC nation.
Protests over the closure of RCTV, Venezuela's oldest private channel,
simmered in several Venezuelan cities on Monday. In some locations,
the police used tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Seizing on the momentum of RCTV's closure, Communications Minister
Willian Lara presented a case to the state prosecutor's office saying
experts hired by the ministry had found that opposition broadcaster
Globovision was inciting assassination attempts on Chavez.
As evidence, he cited Globovision showing footage of an assassination
attempt against Pope John Paul II in 1981 accompanied by the song
"This Does Not Stop Here," sung by Ruben Blades, now Panama's minister
of tourism.
"The conclusion of the specialists ... is that (in this segment) they
are inciting the assassination of the president of Venezuela," Lara
told reporters at the prosecutor's office.
Globovision was not immediately available to respond to the
government's charge, but one of its reporters at the prosecutor's
office said the footage was taken out of context.
The journalist said Globovision had been showing archive footage from
RCTV accompanied by songs with a farewell theme the week before RCTV's
closure.
CHAVEZ EXTENDS CONTROL
At a Caracas news conference, Benoit Hervieu, Americas director at
Reporters Without Borders, said: "Yesterday we saw the takeover of the
principal media critical of President Chavez. ... Besides Globovision,
what television media is left that can criticize the government of
Mister Chavez?"
Chavez's reforms, since he assumed the presidency in 1999, have given
him greater control over the country's judiciary, the military and the
oil sector.
Critics had said an independent media was the only safeguard against
Chavez forging a Cuban-style regime. The closure of RCTV leaves
Globovision as the main media voice opposed to Chavez, but it does not
broadcast nationwide.
Venezuela's opposition media has been widely accused of violating
basic journalistic standards. Chavez accuses both Globovision and RCTV
of backing a bungled 2002 against him.
RCTV ran movies and cartoons when protests by Chavez supporters turned
the tide in Chavez's favor during the 2002 coup. It also joined a
grueling two-month strike that year by showing only anti-Chavez
propaganda and marches for weeks.
--
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 Brian Ellsworth
Mon May 28, 5:19 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070528/ts_nm/venezuela_television_dc_5
CARACAS (Reuters) - Hours after President Hugo Chavez shut down
Venezuela's main opposition broadcaster, his government demanded an
investigation of news network Globovision on Monday for allegedly
inciting an assassination attempt on the leftist leader.
Chavez took Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, off the air at midnight
on Sunday and replaced it with a state-run channel to promote his
socialist programs. The move sparked international condemnation and
accusations from the opposition that he was undermining democracy in
the OPEC nation.
Protests over the closure of RCTV, Venezuela's oldest private channel,
simmered in several Venezuelan cities on Monday. In some locations,
the police used tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Seizing on the momentum of RCTV's closure, Communications Minister
Willian Lara presented a case to the state prosecutor's office saying
experts hired by the ministry had found that opposition broadcaster
Globovision was inciting assassination attempts on Chavez.
As evidence, he cited Globovision showing footage of an assassination
attempt against Pope John Paul II in 1981 accompanied by the song
"This Does Not Stop Here," sung by Ruben Blades, now Panama's minister
of tourism.
"The conclusion of the specialists ... is that (in this segment) they
are inciting the assassination of the president of Venezuela," Lara
told reporters at the prosecutor's office.
Globovision was not immediately available to respond to the
government's charge, but one of its reporters at the prosecutor's
office said the footage was taken out of context.
The journalist said Globovision had been showing archive footage from
RCTV accompanied by songs with a farewell theme the week before RCTV's
closure.
CHAVEZ EXTENDS CONTROL
At a Caracas news conference, Benoit Hervieu, Americas director at
Reporters Without Borders, said: "Yesterday we saw the takeover of the
principal media critical of President Chavez. ... Besides Globovision,
what television media is left that can criticize the government of
Mister Chavez?"
Chavez's reforms, since he assumed the presidency in 1999, have given
him greater control over the country's judiciary, the military and the
oil sector.
Critics had said an independent media was the only safeguard against
Chavez forging a Cuban-style regime. The closure of RCTV leaves
Globovision as the main media voice opposed to Chavez, but it does not
broadcast nationwide.
Venezuela's opposition media has been widely accused of violating
basic journalistic standards. Chavez accuses both Globovision and RCTV
of backing a bungled 2002 against him.
RCTV ran movies and cartoons when protests by Chavez supporters turned
the tide in Chavez's favor during the 2002 coup. It also joined a
grueling two-month strike that year by showing only anti-Chavez
propaganda and marches for weeks.
--
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
