Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is threatening to close Venezuela’s top anti-government television station in his latest push to weaken the opposition and build a socialist state.
Chavez has already moved against his opponents this year with measures that include stripping control of half of Caracas from the capital’s newly elected mayor and opening corruption investigations against several leaders.
Media-savvy Chavez, known for hours-long speeches often broadcast on all terrestrial channels, now has his critics’ main remaining channel, Globovision, in his sights as his government is reviewing licenses of all private stations.
PHOTO: AFP
Globovision’s closure would draw international criticism but be popular with Chavez’s hardcore supporters. Opposition outrage at such a move would unlikely extend to the wider population, only a small part of which watches the channel.
“Nobody in Venezuela should be surprised if the state takes decisions about certain media companies that are practicing terrorism in our country,” Chavez said last week during a visit to Argentina.
Two years ago he refused to renew the license of the nation’s favorite network RCTV, implicated in a brief coup against him in 2002. International watchdogs said that decision attacked the freedom of expression.
Thousands of students marched on Wednesday in Caracas, some carrying banners bearing Globovision’s logo.
Known for its vehemently anti-government stance, Globovision is accused by Chavez and his supporters of fomenting civil unrest. Most recently the government took exception to its coverage of an earthquake.
Globovision is a small station dedicated to news. It may still broadcast on cable if it loses its terrestrial license. As a mainstay of opposition politics, its closure would be a symbolic blow even though Chavez’s critics will still have access to the OPEC nation’s main newspapers and radio stations.
Less politicized private stations that show soaps, gameshows and more balanced news have the highest ratings and are far more popular than government-run networks.
Chavez has made several threats to Globovision and its owner Alberto Ravell in recent days. On his widely watched weekly television show last week, he said that the “lunatic” Ravell and Globovision would “be finished, or I’m not called Hugo Chavez.”
One media group, owned by mogul Gustavo Cisneros, has softened its former anti-government tone since the coup, but Globovision rarely backs away from a fight with Chavez and is favored by opposition politicians to get their message out.
“Venezuela’s first media terrorist is President Chavez, who every day verbally attacks any sector of the country that does not agree with him,” Ravell said on Tuesday.
RCTV, which lost its terrestrial license two years ago, and Globovision both gave airspace to army officers involved in a short-lived coup against Chavez in 2002.
The decision meant Venezuela’s favorite TV channel, source of highly watched soap operas, disappeared from the airwaves, sparking protests and contributing to Chavez’s defeat in a referendum that would have given him broad new powers.
But the move barely dented Chavez’s long-term popularity and he again enjoys approval ratings above 60 percent despite oil income falling by a half so far this year.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS