Comrade-Z
31st December 2006, 06:06
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6215815.stm
Chavez to shut down opposition TV
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said he will not renew the licence for the country's second largest TV channel which he says expires in March 2007.
In an address to troops, Mr Chavez said he would not tolerate media outlets working towards a coup against him.
Radio Caracas Television, which is aligned with the opposition, supported a strike against Mr Chavez in 2003.
But the TV's head said there must be some mistake as its licence was not up for renewal in the near future.
Marcel Granier also vowed to fight against the president's plans in Venezuela's courts and on the international stage.
The BBC's Greg Morsbach in Caracas says Mr Chavez has repeatedly threatened to take the TV off the air but has never given a date.
The move could help silence some of his critics in the media who have been a thorn in his side for several years, he says.
Mr Chavez, who was returned to power by a wide margin on 3 December, said Mr Granier was mistaken in believing "that concession is eternal".
"It runs out in March. So it's better that you go and prepare your suitcase and look around for what you're going to do in March," he said during a televised speech to soldiers at a military academy in Caracas.
"There will be no new operating licence for this coupist TV channel called RCTV. The operating licence is over... So go and turn off the equipment," Mr Chavez said.
'Violation of freedom'
Mr Chavez said the channel was "at the service of coups against the people, against the nation, against national independence, against the dignity of the republic".
The channel is among a number of private TV and radio networks that in recent years have strongly criticized Mr Chavez' government and favoured the opposition.
Many media outlets, including RCTV, supported a bungled coup in 2002 and a devastating general strike in 2003 that failed to unseat the president.
The press freedom campaign group, Reporters Without Borders, said the proposed move would be a grave violation of freedom of expression in Venezuela.
RCTV is one of the country's oldest channels and began broadcasting in 1953.
This is just nonsense, for several reasons:
*BBC and Reporters Without Borders are howling with outrage, even though what Chavez is doing is EXTREMELY tame by normal standards. For instance, if there was an attempted coup d'état against the president of the U.S., and a major media outlet supported the coup, but then the coup failed...heads would be rolling. That media outlet would be shut down by CIA operatives in a moment. In fact, it's a modest sign of tolerance for dissent that Chavez has waited as long as he has to do this.
*This is not some indymedia type of media outlet. It's a station of the most despicably pro-ruling class type. It's demise does not signal the demise of media freedom and access for the majority of the population, just for that portion of the population that expects to have a virtual monopoly on media access due to its economic clout. RCTV is losing its station? Boo-fucking-hoo. What about my TV station? Oh wait, I'm not rich enough to have significant media access in the first place. It is absurd to talk as if Chavez is killing freedom of the press because the awful truth of the matter is that no real freedom of the press existed in the first place, nor can any real freedom of the press exist as long as capitalism exists and as long as your amount media access depends on what you own.
Finally, I suppose I should make this clear: I am not a cheerleader for Chavez. In my mind, Chavez is a left-capitalist politician who is unlikely to significantly alter the foundations of Venezuela society, barring a huge amount of pressure from below. All the same, it infuriates me to see capitalist media like the BBC indignantly spewing such hypocrisy and horseshit, when all the while they are up to the shoulders in the same shit themselves.
Chavez to shut down opposition TV
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said he will not renew the licence for the country's second largest TV channel which he says expires in March 2007.
In an address to troops, Mr Chavez said he would not tolerate media outlets working towards a coup against him.
Radio Caracas Television, which is aligned with the opposition, supported a strike against Mr Chavez in 2003.
But the TV's head said there must be some mistake as its licence was not up for renewal in the near future.
Marcel Granier also vowed to fight against the president's plans in Venezuela's courts and on the international stage.
The BBC's Greg Morsbach in Caracas says Mr Chavez has repeatedly threatened to take the TV off the air but has never given a date.
The move could help silence some of his critics in the media who have been a thorn in his side for several years, he says.
Mr Chavez, who was returned to power by a wide margin on 3 December, said Mr Granier was mistaken in believing "that concession is eternal".
"It runs out in March. So it's better that you go and prepare your suitcase and look around for what you're going to do in March," he said during a televised speech to soldiers at a military academy in Caracas.
"There will be no new operating licence for this coupist TV channel called RCTV. The operating licence is over... So go and turn off the equipment," Mr Chavez said.
'Violation of freedom'
Mr Chavez said the channel was "at the service of coups against the people, against the nation, against national independence, against the dignity of the republic".
The channel is among a number of private TV and radio networks that in recent years have strongly criticized Mr Chavez' government and favoured the opposition.
Many media outlets, including RCTV, supported a bungled coup in 2002 and a devastating general strike in 2003 that failed to unseat the president.
The press freedom campaign group, Reporters Without Borders, said the proposed move would be a grave violation of freedom of expression in Venezuela.
RCTV is one of the country's oldest channels and began broadcasting in 1953.
This is just nonsense, for several reasons:
*BBC and Reporters Without Borders are howling with outrage, even though what Chavez is doing is EXTREMELY tame by normal standards. For instance, if there was an attempted coup d'état against the president of the U.S., and a major media outlet supported the coup, but then the coup failed...heads would be rolling. That media outlet would be shut down by CIA operatives in a moment. In fact, it's a modest sign of tolerance for dissent that Chavez has waited as long as he has to do this.
*This is not some indymedia type of media outlet. It's a station of the most despicably pro-ruling class type. It's demise does not signal the demise of media freedom and access for the majority of the population, just for that portion of the population that expects to have a virtual monopoly on media access due to its economic clout. RCTV is losing its station? Boo-fucking-hoo. What about my TV station? Oh wait, I'm not rich enough to have significant media access in the first place. It is absurd to talk as if Chavez is killing freedom of the press because the awful truth of the matter is that no real freedom of the press existed in the first place, nor can any real freedom of the press exist as long as capitalism exists and as long as your amount media access depends on what you own.
Finally, I suppose I should make this clear: I am not a cheerleader for Chavez. In my mind, Chavez is a left-capitalist politician who is unlikely to significantly alter the foundations of Venezuela society, barring a huge amount of pressure from below. All the same, it infuriates me to see capitalist media like the BBC indignantly spewing such hypocrisy and horseshit, when all the while they are up to the shoulders in the same shit themselves.