Chavez cuts off TV station to silence dissent
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VENEZUELA'S oldest private television station has gone off the air as thousands protested against the decision that did away with the popular opposition-aligned channel.
Fireworks exploded across Caracas as crowds of supporters of President Hugo Chavez celebrated his decision not to renew the licence for Radio Caracas Television. Instead he awarded the licence to a new public service station.
The studios of RCTV — the sole opposition-aligned TV station with nationwide reach — were filled with teary-eyed actors who embraced and shouted "freedom!" before going off the air at midnight yesterday.
The actors bowed their heads in prayer as a presenter declared: "Long live Venezuela! We will return soon." Then the national anthem was played and the screen turned black.
Within seconds, it was replaced with the insignia of TVES, the new state-funded channel.
Mr Chavez said he was democratising the airwaves by turning a "coup-mongering" network's signal over for public use. His opponents condemned the shutdown of RCTV as an assault on free speech and a blow to democracy.
Police broke up one opposition protest and later clashed with protesters who set fire to rubbish heaps in affluent eastern Caracas. Police said some protesters fired shots, and others threw rocks and bottles. Police said 11 officers were injured.
Television stars at RCTV hosted an emotional on-air goodbye mixed with denunciations of the Government. "We are living an injustice," said Eyla Adrian, a 35-year-old presenter, her eyes welling with tears.
RCTV's top executive, Marcel Granier, said Mr Chavez's decision "marks a turn towards totalitarianism".
The socialist President and his supporters accuse RCTV of supporting a failed 2002 coup, violating broadcast laws and showing programs with excessive violence and sexual content.
In 2002, RCTV and other private channels broadcast opposition calls for protests to overthrow Mr Chavez while giving scant coverage to his return to power.
Andres Izarra, who now heads the state-financed channel Telesur, said he quit his job as a newsroom manager at RCTV because he was disgusted with the way "everything was censored" during the coup.
"The order was 'zero Chavismo on the screen'. Nothing related to Chavez, his allies, his congressmen, members of his party," Mr Izarra said. "When I hear the owners of RCTV talk about freedom of expression, it seems to me a great hypocrisy."
As midnight approached, red-clad government supporters gathered around giant screens in a Caracas plaza to watch the new channel's first transmission. Some danced to the classic salsa tune Todo tiene su final — Everything Has Its End.
The new channel, TVES, began its transmission with an orchestra playing the national anthem.
RCTV, founded in 1953, was Venezuela's oldest private TV station and was regularly the top channel in viewer ratings. But Mr Chavez called its soap operas "pure poison" that promoted capitalism.
Mr Granier called his station's shutdown a flagrant abuse of power by Mr Chavez.
"He's losing more than he thinks he's gaining. He's losing international recognition and he's losing the respect of his people," Mr Granier said, while hundreds of protesters massed outside the station chanting, "No to the shutdown!"
·
VENEZUELA'S oldest private television station has gone off the air as thousands protested against the decision that did away with the popular opposition-aligned channel.
Fireworks exploded across Caracas as crowds of supporters of President Hugo Chavez celebrated his decision not to renew the licence for Radio Caracas Television. Instead he awarded the licence to a new public service station.
The studios of RCTV — the sole opposition-aligned TV station with nationwide reach — were filled with teary-eyed actors who embraced and shouted "freedom!" before going off the air at midnight yesterday.
The actors bowed their heads in prayer as a presenter declared: "Long live Venezuela! We will return soon." Then the national anthem was played and the screen turned black.
Within seconds, it was replaced with the insignia of TVES, the new state-funded channel.
Mr Chavez said he was democratising the airwaves by turning a "coup-mongering" network's signal over for public use. His opponents condemned the shutdown of RCTV as an assault on free speech and a blow to democracy.
Police broke up one opposition protest and later clashed with protesters who set fire to rubbish heaps in affluent eastern Caracas. Police said some protesters fired shots, and others threw rocks and bottles. Police said 11 officers were injured.
Television stars at RCTV hosted an emotional on-air goodbye mixed with denunciations of the Government. "We are living an injustice," said Eyla Adrian, a 35-year-old presenter, her eyes welling with tears.
RCTV's top executive, Marcel Granier, said Mr Chavez's decision "marks a turn towards totalitarianism".
The socialist President and his supporters accuse RCTV of supporting a failed 2002 coup, violating broadcast laws and showing programs with excessive violence and sexual content.
In 2002, RCTV and other private channels broadcast opposition calls for protests to overthrow Mr Chavez while giving scant coverage to his return to power.
Andres Izarra, who now heads the state-financed channel Telesur, said he quit his job as a newsroom manager at RCTV because he was disgusted with the way "everything was censored" during the coup.
"The order was 'zero Chavismo on the screen'. Nothing related to Chavez, his allies, his congressmen, members of his party," Mr Izarra said. "When I hear the owners of RCTV talk about freedom of expression, it seems to me a great hypocrisy."
As midnight approached, red-clad government supporters gathered around giant screens in a Caracas plaza to watch the new channel's first transmission. Some danced to the classic salsa tune Todo tiene su final — Everything Has Its End.
The new channel, TVES, began its transmission with an orchestra playing the national anthem.
RCTV, founded in 1953, was Venezuela's oldest private TV station and was regularly the top channel in viewer ratings. But Mr Chavez called its soap operas "pure poison" that promoted capitalism.
Mr Granier called his station's shutdown a flagrant abuse of power by Mr Chavez.
"He's losing more than he thinks he's gaining. He's losing international recognition and he's losing the respect of his people," Mr Granier said, while hundreds of protesters massed outside the station chanting, "No to the shutdown!"
