Bloomberg NEws wrote:
Chavez Threatens Second TV Shutdown as Protests Mount
By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Alex Kennedy
May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to shut down the country's last opposition television station as students took to the streets for a third day protesting what they say is a crackdown on free speech.
Chavez said he had ``no fear'' of criticism he might face for closing Caracas-based Globovision, a 24-hour news channel that he accused of trying to instigate his assassination. The threat follows the May 27 shutdown of Radio Caracas Television, Venezuela's most-watched TV network.
``They're trying to light the streets on fire and justify violence,'' Chavez said in a televised speech to supporters broadcast from Vargas state. ``I call on the people in the slums to be alert to defend the revolution.''
The three days of rallies and disorder in Caracas and other major cities mark the longest stretch of anti-Chavez demonstrations since March 2004, when opposition-led protests demanding a vote to recall Chavez left nine dead. Clashes across Venezuela between the police and marchers injured at least 25 yesterday, El Nacional newspaper said.
The yield on the 2019 government bond, known as TICC, jumped 6 basis points to 4.88 percent, the highest since March 26, according to Econoinvest Casa de Bolsa CA prices. The price dropped 0.6 to 103.30 cents on the dollar.
University students gathered in eastern Caracas while Chavez supporters rallied downtown to back the closure of Radio Caracas TV.
Accusations
Communications and Information Minister William Lara yesterday, adding new pressure on non-state television networks in Venezuela, asked the attorney-general for a probe of foreign and local media for allegedly inciting violence.
``Chavez has just gone too far this time,'' Ruben Briceno, 22, a Central University of Venezuela student majoring in social work, said in an interview. ``First it was the shutdown of Radio Caracas. What will come next?''
Supporters of Chavez accused opposition parties of organizing the protests in a bid to overthrow Chavez, National Assembly Vice President Roberto Hernandez said.
Interior and Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said state intelligence and police services were prepared to quell any plan to destabilize politics in the country.
``What the opposition is trying to do is not appropriate,'' Hernandez told reporters in Caracas. ``They will not succeed in weakening this government.''
Barricades
Chavez's government accuses RCTV executives of using the network to help incite a coup that ousted him from office for two days in 2002.
While RCTV filled the airwaves with coverage of his ouster, it reportedly ran cartoon shows once Chavez was restored to office, declining to report his government's return to power.
Globovision television station showed students putting up barricades on the streets of El Junquito, a town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Caracas. Another group temporarily blocked traffic at some points of the Prados del Este highway in Caracas, creating logjams, it said.
Groups of Radio Caracas TV supporters are planning to hold a demonstration in front of the Organization of American States' local offices.
The police deployed 3,000 officers to protect the surroundings of the OAS offices and will be reinforced by an additional 700 later today, Globovision reported, citing a police commander who declined to give his name.
RCTV's shutdown, coupled with planned probes against Time Warner Inc.'s Cable News Network and Globovision, will intensify scrutiny by regional governments and international groups of Venezuela's approach to free speech, Miguel Henrique Otero, editor-president of Caracas-based El Nacional, the nation's second-most read newspaper, said in an interview yesterday.
By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Alex Kennedy
May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to shut down the country's last opposition television station as students took to the streets for a third day protesting what they say is a crackdown on free speech.
Chavez said he had ``no fear'' of criticism he might face for closing Caracas-based Globovision, a 24-hour news channel that he accused of trying to instigate his assassination. The threat follows the May 27 shutdown of Radio Caracas Television, Venezuela's most-watched TV network.
``They're trying to light the streets on fire and justify violence,'' Chavez said in a televised speech to supporters broadcast from Vargas state. ``I call on the people in the slums to be alert to defend the revolution.''
The three days of rallies and disorder in Caracas and other major cities mark the longest stretch of anti-Chavez demonstrations since March 2004, when opposition-led protests demanding a vote to recall Chavez left nine dead. Clashes across Venezuela between the police and marchers injured at least 25 yesterday, El Nacional newspaper said.
The yield on the 2019 government bond, known as TICC, jumped 6 basis points to 4.88 percent, the highest since March 26, according to Econoinvest Casa de Bolsa CA prices. The price dropped 0.6 to 103.30 cents on the dollar.
University students gathered in eastern Caracas while Chavez supporters rallied downtown to back the closure of Radio Caracas TV.
Accusations
Communications and Information Minister William Lara yesterday, adding new pressure on non-state television networks in Venezuela, asked the attorney-general for a probe of foreign and local media for allegedly inciting violence.
``Chavez has just gone too far this time,'' Ruben Briceno, 22, a Central University of Venezuela student majoring in social work, said in an interview. ``First it was the shutdown of Radio Caracas. What will come next?''
Supporters of Chavez accused opposition parties of organizing the protests in a bid to overthrow Chavez, National Assembly Vice President Roberto Hernandez said.
Interior and Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said state intelligence and police services were prepared to quell any plan to destabilize politics in the country.
``What the opposition is trying to do is not appropriate,'' Hernandez told reporters in Caracas. ``They will not succeed in weakening this government.''
Barricades
Chavez's government accuses RCTV executives of using the network to help incite a coup that ousted him from office for two days in 2002.
While RCTV filled the airwaves with coverage of his ouster, it reportedly ran cartoon shows once Chavez was restored to office, declining to report his government's return to power.
Globovision television station showed students putting up barricades on the streets of El Junquito, a town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Caracas. Another group temporarily blocked traffic at some points of the Prados del Este highway in Caracas, creating logjams, it said.
Groups of Radio Caracas TV supporters are planning to hold a demonstration in front of the Organization of American States' local offices.
The police deployed 3,000 officers to protect the surroundings of the OAS offices and will be reinforced by an additional 700 later today, Globovision reported, citing a police commander who declined to give his name.
RCTV's shutdown, coupled with planned probes against Time Warner Inc.'s Cable News Network and Globovision, will intensify scrutiny by regional governments and international groups of Venezuela's approach to free speech, Miguel Henrique Otero, editor-president of Caracas-based El Nacional, the nation's second-most read newspaper, said in an interview yesterday.
The Venezuelan Napoleon marches forth.
I know some nice Venezuelan people and I fear for their relatives safety as the centralization of power and abolishment of opposition that is going on today in Venezuela is following historical steps similiar to the establishment of a dictatorship.
Edited, May 29th 2007 3:55pm by fhrugby
