There is no need to surmise as to Chavez’s feelings concerning Venezuela’s media. Simply put, he has made it plain that he has no use for free and open dialogue, no time to worry whether his agenda will be lambasted by the country’s ostensibly free newspapers, television, or radio.
Last fall, for example, Venezuela expelled two activists working for Human Rights Watch, citing their “anti-government activities.” Their report, “A Decade Under Chavez,” is an unreserved critique of the bombastic president. But his attacks have not been limited to the occasional international NGO.
Last fall, Chavez implicated the media in the supposed American plot to overthrow his government, and most recently, Diosdado Cabello, who heads Venezuela’s agency that regulates broadcasting, announced the revocation of 34 radio station licenses as part of an alleged mix up, in which 240 stations failed to update their registrations.
At the same time, however, Chavez has maintained that he supports a free speech and a robust national political debate. Now, after a failed attempt by the Attorney General, Louisa Ortega, to push a law through the National Assembly designed to stop “media crimes,” whatever veil was left covering Chavez’s true intentions has been stripped.
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