RCTV: Dictatorship, Chavez style

Over the protests of Venezuelans, Hugo Chavez has silenced RCTV. Reuters photo

At last, and sadly for those who believe in Democracy and who have been trying to alert the world of the dangers of the Hugo Chávez Regime, Venezuela is now a dictatorship. If someone had any doubts, the closing of RCTV is enough proof of the intolerance of the Chávez government.

Although the news has received worldwide condemnation from the European Parliament, the Chilean Congress, press freedom groups, the US and leaders from many countries who have urged Chávez to reverse the closure, their plea fell on deaf ears because, as he himself declared just recently: "It’s over…Say what they say, do what they do, howl where they want, the license will not be renewed."1 [More]Although it has become a hot topic of the international press, US TV stations and the media in general have demonstrated poor coverage of the Venezuelan situation.

What has really surprised many observers is Brazil’s response. Even though Lula has been an ally of Hugo Chávez for a long time, that didn’t stop the Brazilian Senate from condemning Venezuela’s refusal to renew the license of RCTV. Chávez responded by saying that the institution was acting as a "parrot" of the U.S. Congress and added it would be easier for Brazil to return to rule as a Portuguese colony than for his government to renew the RCTV license. Lula ordered Brazilian diplomatic officials to summon Venezuela’s ambassador to explain the Venezuelan leader’s comments. The presidents of Brazil ‘s lower house and Senate both issued statements condemning Chávez’s declarations. "The presidency of the Chamber of Deputies declares vehement repudiation of the capricious and irresponsible declarations of the president of Venezuela, which don’t befit the stature required of a head of state," said lower house chairman Arlindo Chinaglia.2

Since having obtained the power to rule by decree, Chávez has nationalized telecommunications and electricity companies, taken over oil fields developed by multinationals, and formed a single pro-regime political party. However for Venezuelans, the loss of RCTV was the greatest shock of all. In order to further Chávez’s quest for total control, it was no surprise that he decided to go after the media. For 53 years, RCTV has been part of Venezuela’s culture, offering the public, comedies, soap operas, and game shows. But on May 27 th, Chávez sent in troops to seize RCTV’s broadcast equipment. The TV channel has been replaced on the airwaves with pro-Chávez programming run by a state-funded network called "Venezuelan Social Television."

Many believe that power has become so centralized in Venezuela that there are no checks and balances and the executive controls the Congress, the Supreme Court, the electoral commission, and the military. RCTV and Globovisión, in a way, did the job these institutions failed to do, publicly denouncing the wrongdoings of Chávez’s regime and that is why one was shut down and the other has been threatened with closure if it doesn’t stop covering the demonstrations.

Aware of the controversy the closing of RCTV would create, the Venezuelan Government made an all out effort to tell their absurd side of the story arguing that they were not closing the TV channel, they were just not renewing the license and that they made the decision based on RCTV’s support of the April 2002 "Coup." (The Supreme Court ruled that what occurred was not a coup). The reality is that Chávez doesn’t want any opposition and RCTV represented that.

Protests against the move continue to grow and expand across Venezuela, with students and others taking to the streets in many cities . Independent press agencies have reported that there are thousands of demonstrators, while the government has minimized the number count. The police have acted with extreme violence and there is information that many protesters have been jailed and many others have been injured.

Hugo Chávez seems unmoved by the concerns voiced by international press freedom groups that liberty of expression is under attack in his country. In fact, the Chávez regime has launched an investigation of another broadcaster, Globovisión , accusing it of using subliminal messages to incite an assassination attempt on the president. Chávez called Globovisión an enemy of the state, attacking its coverage of the protests against RCTV’s closure. "Enemies of the homeland, particularly those behind the scenes, I will give you a name: Globovisión. Greetings, gentlemen of Globovisión, you should watch where you are going," Mr. Chavez said. "I recommend you take a tranquilizer and get into gear, because if not, I am going to do what is necessary." CNN is also under scrutiny.3 Chávez doesn’t want the media to report or cover the protests and will stop at nothing to achieve that.

It seems RCTV is not going down quietly. It has found a way to continue its daily broadcasts, on YouTube . Although the station is officially off the air, CNN’s Harris Whitbeck said its news department continues to operate on reduced staffing, and the three daily hour-long installments of the newscast "El Observador" are uploaded onto YouTube by RCTV’s Web department. In addition, RCTV’s Colombia-based affiliate, Caracol, has agreed to transmit the evening installment of "El Observador" over its international signal. The program, which will run at midnight, could reach about 800,000 people in Venezuela. Although this is drastically reduced from RCTV’s previous audience, its continued presence is a sign of hope for the staff. "We’re just doing our job as journalists," said an employee of RCTV. "As long as somebody is seeing us, we consider what we are doing to be valid."4

Not far away, Ecuador and Bolivia are following the ideas of their mentors Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez with regards to the press and have already announced their plans. Morales proposed creating a tribunal to oversee the operations of privately owned press and broadcast outlets and Mr. Correa announced over the weekend that he would order a review of the broadcasting licenses of opposition news channels in his country. "The main adversaries of my presidency, of my government, are certain communications media," Mr. Morales said at the Fifth World Conference of Artists and Intellectuals in Defense of Humanity, a Venezuelan-backed group supporting "the process of change in Latin America." Meanwhile, Mr. Correa issued a statement saying that "radio and TV frequencies have been granted in ways that are frequently dark and it’s time to analyze the matter." He accused owners of major news outlets of using political influence to get their broadcasting licenses and using the press "to defend private interests that are often corrupt." He also announced legal action against Ecuador’s opposition newspaper "La Hora".5

Freedom of expression and freedom of information are fundamental rights of human beings and they are under attack in Venezuela, and possibly in Bolivia and Ecuador. It appears that Chávez is trying to suppress any possible outlet for further opposition. Unfortunately, without an independent media that is able to report what is going on, the opposition will most likely be silenced, and their ability to oppose Chávez and his ever tightening grip on power will become ever more dangerous.

Once the curtain falls on freedom of speech, the outside world will lack the necessary information to protect those who have the courage to stand up against this growing tyranny.

Notes

1 Chávez silences critical TV station – and robs the people of their soaps. May 23, 2007. The Guardian.

2 Senado brasileño repudia declaraciones de Chávez. June, 2007. El Universal.

3 La oposición venezolana pide un referéndum sobre el cierre de RCTV y los estudiantes vuelven a la calle. May 30, 2007. El Pa í s.

4 Silenced Venezuelan TV station moves to YouTube. June 3 rd, 2007. CNN.

5 Morales dice que los medios son su "primer adversario." May 25, 2007. La Prensa.