Chavez closes opposition TV station; thousands protest

[homesick_american 1]

Venezuela needs to get rid of this guy...quick.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/05/...test/index.html

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Venezuelan police on Sunday used water cannons and what appeared to be tear gas to break up thousands of demonstrators protesting the government's decision to close the country's most-watched television station.

The protest began in front of National Telecommunications Commission headquarters after members of the National Guard seized broadcast equipment, including antennas, the result of a Supreme Court order on Friday.

Police told The Associated Press that at least four officers were slightly injured after some of the protesters threw rocks and bottles.

After police stopped using the water cannons, the crowd regrouped, and video of the scene showed a peaceful mood, with people waving flags and chanting as night fell.

Inside the studios of Radio Caracas Television, employees cried and chanted

"Freedom!" on camera, AP reported.

"We are living an injustice," presenter Eyla Adrian said, according to AP. "I wish that tonight would never come."

President Hugo Chavez announced in January that the government would not renew the broadcast license for the station, long an outlet for opposition parties.

Chavez has accused the station of supporting the failed 2002 coup against him and violating broadcast laws.

He called the station's soap operas "pure poison" that promote capitalism, according to AP.

RCTV, which has been broadcasting for 53 years, is slated to be off the air at midnight. It will be replaced by a state-run station.

"To refuse to grant a new license for the most popular and oldest television channel in the country because the government disagrees with the editorial or political views of this channel, which are obviously critical to Chavez, is a case of censorship," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of Human Rights Watch.

"We have arrived at totalitarianism," said Marcel Granier, president of Empresas 1BC, which owns RCTV.

"We will reorganize and continue working. One is beginning a fight -- not violent, but active, very active."

Granier accused Chavez of being "afraid of free thought, of opinion, of criticism."

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution condemning the decision to shut down the station.

[Nagishkaw 510]

He is what you get when you cross a ####### with a potatoe.

[Mirorgate 0]

He is what you get when you cross a ####### with a potatoe.

Damn! that can't be good

[Nagishkaw 510]

a dictator

[homesick_american 1]

Who else saw Maria Conchita Alonso naming names on Fox today? She was saying that Danny Glover and someone else were actually working with Hugo Chavez. #######?

[GaryC 7]

Who else saw Maria Conchita Alonso naming names on Fox today? She was saying that Danny Glover and someone else were actually working with Hugo Chavez. #######?

There are several people that think Chavez is something to be encouraged. Cindy Shehan and Harry Bellefonte are two that spring to mind.

[homesick_american 1]

Who else saw Maria Conchita Alonso naming names on Fox today? She was saying that Danny Glover and someone else were actually working with Hugo Chavez. #######?

There are several people that think Chavez is something to be encouraged. Cindy Shehan and Harry Bellefonte are two that spring to mind.

Yeah, she mentioned them too now that I recall.

Hugo Chavez is going to be another Fidel Castro. I just love how they completely ignore his coup attempts in the 1990s. I dated a Venezuelan in college and his brother-in-law, who was at the time a major in the Venezuelan army, saw a lot of action during one of the attempts. My ex-bf told me that the official body counts were far, far, far below the number of people actually killed. He said that Hugo Chavez was a b*stard and that he feared the day that Chavez would eventually control Venezuela. He warned that he would keep trying, and would take the country by force if he had to.

I don't want to brag or anything, but I learned about Hugo Chavez way back in 1994, and I've been saying he was a b*stard ever since. My old college bf had to return to Maracaibo in 1996 and I last heard from him in 2000. I really hope he has managed to get out of there.

[LaGreenEyes 0]

We watched the closing of RCTV last night live, there were lots of tears then the screen went black. At 12:01 AM Caracas time some dippy socialist propaganda and the new logo TVES came on. Televisa de VEnezuela Socialismo or something like that. My husband says that this all reminds him of when Noriega was in power in Panama. He was like 15 or 16 when the USA invaded and Noriega fell. All these people "applauding" in the streets the closing of RCTV etc....they are being told by employers, etc that they'd better be seen in the streets for Chavez or else. It's very sad. My best friend in Trinidad says that Venezuelans are arriving there weekly by the hundreds, and it's just getting worse. I really wonder what the state of that nation will be in 10 years.

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

I can just see all these Chavez supporters sitting around agreeing that George Bush is the devil each time he falls father down the black hole of lying and corruption.

[homesick_american 1]

We watched the closing of RCTV last night live, there were lots of tears then the screen went black. At 12:01 AM Caracas time some dippy socialist propaganda and the new logo TVES came on. Televisa de VEnezuela Socialismo or something like that. My husband says that this all reminds him of when Noriega was in power in Panama. He was like 15 or 16 when the USA invaded and Noriega fell. All these people "applauding" in the streets the closing of RCTV etc....they are being told by employers, etc that they'd better be seen in the streets for Chavez or else. It's very sad. My best friend in Trinidad says that Venezuelans are arriving there weekly by the hundreds, and it's just getting worse. I really wonder what the state of that nation will be in 10 years.

Probably a lot worse than it was in the 1980s, and it was pretty stinky in the 1980s. We should have REALLY thrown out Chavez and made it stick when we had the chance. What we should do is just take him out now, while the country still has a chance, instead of letting Chavez get too entrenched.

I can just see all these Chavez supporters sitting around agreeing that George Bush is the devil each time he falls father down the black hole of lying and corruption.

To me, they're both lying sonsofbitches. However, I think Chavez is WORSE and I am certainly no fan of Bush.

[mRx 16]

He is what you get when you cross a ####### with a potatoe.

I get it, dicktator. haha

[peejay 327]

The funny thing is that we aid and abett Chavez every day by sending him so much $$$ to feed our oil addiction. Venezuela is #5 of the top 15 we import oil from. Just under Saudi Arabia. Oil sluts have strange bedfellows. I'm so ashamed.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petrole...ent/import.html

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Who else saw Maria Conchita Alonso naming names on Fox today? She was saying that Danny Glover and someone else were actually working with Hugo Chavez. #######?

There are several people that think Chavez is something to be encouraged. Cindy Shehan and Harry Bellefonte are two that spring to mind.

I've a feeling that any affinity between those people and Chavez is likely only superficial - and arises out of the fact that they idolise anyone who hates GWB. They're probably ignorant of his record.

[homesick_american 1]

Who else saw Maria Conchita Alonso naming names on Fox today? She was saying that Danny Glover and someone else were actually working with Hugo Chavez. #######?

There are several people that think Chavez is something to be encouraged. Cindy Shehan and Harry Bellefonte are two that spring to mind.

I've a feeling that any affinity between those people and Chavez is likely only superficial - and arises out of the fact that they idolise anyone who hates GWB. They're probably ignorant of his record.

That's no excuse. You shouldn't get in bed with someone like that without at least reading his f*cking Wikipedia entry.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Who else saw Maria Conchita Alonso naming names on Fox today? She was saying that Danny Glover and someone else were actually working with Hugo Chavez. #######?

There are several people that think Chavez is something to be encouraged. Cindy Shehan and Harry Bellefonte are two that spring to mind.

I've a feeling that any affinity between those people and Chavez is likely only superficial - and arises out of the fact that they idolise anyone who hates GWB. They're probably ignorant of his record.

That's no excuse. You shouldn't get in bed with someone like that without at least reading his f*cking Wikipedia entry.

Ignorance generally isn't considered an excuse - for anything.

Though the fact that celebrities sign themselves up to support dubious causes and ideas isn't exactly new. Did you ever see that Brass Eye skit on "Cake"? You can probably find it on Youtube.