Venezuela: Where Debate And Argument Come To Die
Who Can Be A Fan Of "The Bolivarian Revolution" Anymore?
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Featured Stories | Foreign Affairs — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Remember what is at stake in the upcoming presidential elections in Venezuela (read on):
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez backed the possibility of holding a national referendum, if he's re-elected, on whether to shut down private television stations that he has accused of subversive activities.
Chavez's comments late Thursday came amid rising tensions between the government and the country's largely opposition-aligned private media ahead of Sunday's vote.
Chavez was asked in a televised interview if he would consider asking the nation whether the government should block certain channels from renewing their broadcast licenses next year.
"That is perfectly possible," Chavez said. "It's perfectly possible that the country gives its opinion, including for how long."
Chavez also said he regretted not having shut down the country's major private broadcasters right after a short-lived 2002 coup against him, citing four in particular: Globovision, Venevision, RCTV and Televen.
Chavez has clashed with the country's private television and radio networks, which are often highly critical of his government and have favored the opposition in recent years.
During the coup, several TV channels chose to broadcast cartoons and movies instead of his return to power by loyalists in the military amid a popular uprising. Many media outlets also supported a devastating 2003 strike that failed to unseat Chavez.
In the run-up to Sunday's vote, Chavez has warned that he may refuse to renew their licenses, accusing them of fomenting conspiracies against his government, and also said he's ready to shut down any that try to disrupt the election.
On Thursday, he threatened to immediately shut down any outlet that defies electoral rules prohibiting exit polls and other unofficial counts from being reported until after the National Electoral Council issues its preliminary bulletin.
"You can be sure that they will be closed for breaching the law," he said.
For someone who seems to be headed for a victory in the upcoming presidential elections, Chavez certainly appears to be acting paranoid and suspicious, doesn't he? Maybe it is because he realizes that underneath all of the efforts on the part of his government to validate his regime by hook or by crook, a substantial portion of the Venezuelan people oppose Chavez and think little of his policies and his efforts to create and foster a Mao-level cult of personality. The media remains the one arena where the Venezuelan people can voice their protests against Chavez's policies and his self-aggrandizing power grabs. And now, he wants to shut down the private sector of the media to prevent the Venezuelan people from doing just that.
This is what dictatorship looks like. This is what a loss of freedom looks like. I know that there are a great many people in political and punditry circles who style themselves champions of liberty at home and abroad. It would be nice if from time to time we heard words of protests pass from their lips concerning the actions of the Chavez regime.