Hugo Chavez is working hard to shut down the last remaining opposition media:
TO CRITICS who call him an autocrat, Venezuela’s leftist president, Hugo Chávez, responds by pointing to a largely uncensored opposition media. Yet it is an argument that is wearing thin. Mr Chávez recently vowed to curb what he sees as the excesses of Globovisión, a 24-hour news channel that is his main bugbear. Closing it down may be the only way to do so.
Globovisión is the last remaining national channel that is critical of the government. It was one of four such channels that during Venezuela’s political conflict of 2002-04, to varying degrees, egged on an opposition that was determined to oust Mr Chávez. Two have since capitulated, firing controversial talk-show hosts and adjusting their news coverage. In 2007 the government’s broadcasting regulator refused to renew the licence of the fourth—Radio Caracas Televisión, which is now subscription-only. . .
The president recently ordered mayors and state governors to provide him with a “map of the media war”, showing which regional outlets are “in the hands of the oligarchy”. Last month he instructed not just his ministers but also several nominally autonomous state bodies to move against Globovisión. Within days, the channel and its main owner faced a legal assault.
