Is Chavez a dictator? Isn't he closing a TV station (RCTV- Radio Caracas Television) that is against his politics?

This video and fact sheet explain why RCTV is not getting its license to broadcast over the airwaves renewed in Venezuela. Practically every country on earth including the US regards the radio spectrum as public property owned by the government, and whoever uses it uses it with government permission. Ask Howard Stern if you can say whatever you want over the airwaves.

Press Freedoms in
Venezuela:

The Case of RCTV

Overview

In late 2006, the
Venezuelan government announced that it would not renew a 20-year license to
Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) to continue broadcasting on public airwaves.
Cable or satellite broadcasts however, would still be available for the
station’s use. Though the decision has faced criticism by some who say it is a
move to restrict press freedoms, most governments have the constitutional right
to make decisions on such licensing, a mandate that the U.S government also
enjoys with the U.S. media. In fact,
RCTV’s non-renewal does not violate legal norms in Venezuela, nor does it
significantly alter the balance of power in Venezuela's vociferous, opposition-affiliated
and privately-owned media. The decision
is not an isolated government action, but forms part of a larger policy program
for democratizing Venezuela's airwaves.

The Grounds for Non-Renewal

Throughout the years, RCTV
has demonstrated extremely poor business conduct and its frequent legal
infringements comprise the most important reasons for the non-renewal
decision. An editorial in the Houston Chronicle asserts that
"it's doubtful [RCTV's] actions would last more than a few minutes with
the FCC [in the U.S.]."[i]

In fact, RCTV has often
faced legal sanctions for its poor practices, and indeed has been closed or
fined numerous times by various administrations, including President Chavez's
most recent predecessors. This most
recent decision is not an isolated case, but is the first opportunity the
government has had to reconsider its licensing since the 20-year contract
began.

RCTV's Legal Offenses

1976	Closed for 3 days	Tendentious news coverage
1980	Closed for 36 hours	Sensationalist programming
1981	Closed for 24 hours	Airing pornographic scenes
1989	Closed for 24 hours	Airing advertisements for cigarettes
1991	Programming suspended	Program "La Escuelita" suspended

The television station is
also in default for tax payments spanning a three year period.[ii]

Most importantly though,
in 2002, RCTV ran ads encouraging the public to take to the streets and
overthrow the democratically elected president. Once the president was forcefully removed from office and an
interim government installed, the station continued colluding with the coup
government by conducting a news blackout and egregiously misleading the public
about important events occurring in the country. In fact, it is public knowledge that one of the managing
producer’s of Venezuela's highest-rated newscast, the RCTV program El
Observador, testified before the Venezuelan National Assembly that he had
received very clear instructions on the day of the coup from RCTV's owner,
Marcel Granier. On April 11 and the
following day that there should be "No information on Chávez, his
followers, his ministers, and all others that could in any way be related to
him."[iii] Instead the station reported that President
Chavez had resigned. Similarly, two
days later when poor masses of Venezuelans poured into the streets demanding
their president’s return, which occurred a few hours later, RCTV was silent and
aired only cartoons. [iv] A presidential guard at the palace
during those days overheard a group of media executives, including the
president of RCTV, at the palace to meet with the newly installed president,
saying “We can’t guarantee you the loyalty of the army, but we can promise you
the support of the media.”[v]

The Legal Right not to Renew

The government of
Venezuela, like most others throughout the globe, has the constitutional right
to make decisions regarding all public broadcasting. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) controls
licensing and programming, and has regularly denied license renewals based on
public interest standards established in 1960.

A recent report by a
Spanish journalist looking at radio and TV station closures, revocations, and
non-renewals found that in 21 countries including the U.S. and Europe, there
have been 236 closures, revocations, and non-renewals in the last few decades.[vi] And out of the U.S. cases, not only have
there been non-renewals but there have been outright revocations of licenses by
the FCC. In 1969 a Memphis television station, also an NBC affiliate, had its
broadcasting license revoked for racial discrimination in its programming; in
1981 WLNS-TV was charged with being very selective in the hour it assigned for
political figures and had its license revoked; and in 1999 Trinity Broadcasting
Miami TV received a revocation. Fines
have also been issued to major televisions stations for airing inappropriate
scenes and programming. CBS was
recently fined 3.6 million for airing scenes with nudity that could easily be
considered pornographic and the WB television station has faced a similar fate.[vii]

Similarly, in Venezuela,
the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information grants and regulates access
to the broadcast spectrum in accordance with the Organic Law of
Telecommunications contained in constitutional Article 156 and is the body
responsible for compliance.

Democratization of the Airwaves

The decision not to renew
RCTV's broadcasting license will allow for a broader democratization of
Venezuela's airwaves, offering access to the broadcast spectrum. RCTV has long had a disproportionate
influence in the Venezuelan media by maintaining the most powerful broadcasting
signal in the country for more than 50 years and is currently one of two
private channels that together claim 70% of all TV revenues each year. RCTV's non-renewal will allow for a
redistribution of the airwaves, and may be used to provide community
programming and public television, allowing new voices and views to be heard in
Venezuela.

Revenue shares of television
companies in 2006

The Opposition and Freedom of Expression

With President Chavez's
landslide electoral victory as an alternative to the two major political
parties in 1998, the privately-owned media in Venezuela assumed the role of the
traditional political parties, and became an outlet for them to challenge and derail
the actions of the newly elected President.[viii] The fact that the media – which is majority
privately owned – is closely associated with the opposition is undisputed and
may shed light on why the government’s decision not to renew RCTV’s license is
currently being criticized.

In 2002, Human Rights
Watch found that, "Far from providing fair and accurate reporting, the
media by and large seek to provoke popular discontent and outrage in support of
the hard-line opposition." [ix] Several journalists have even noted, "the five main privately owned channels—Venevisión,
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), Globovisión, Televen and CMT—and nine out of
the 10 major national newspapers, including El Universal, El Nacional, Tal
Cual, El Impulso, El Nuevo País and El Mundo, have taken over the role of the traditional political parties, which
were damaged by the president’s electoral victories. Their monopoly on
information has put them in a strong position. They give the opposition
support, only rarely reporting government statements and never mentioning its
large majority…Their investigations, interviews and commentaries all pursue the
same objective: to undermine the legitimacy of the government and to destroy
the president’s popular support…the media is still directly encouraging
dissident elements to overthrow the democratically elected president – if
necessary by force…”[x]

The Venezuelan private
media, then, plays a controversial role in the political life of that country,
but human rights organizations cite no deterioration of freedom of expression.[xi] In fact, the Venezuelan government has respected
and defended civil liberties, including freedom of expression and freedom of
the press. The decision not to renew a
broadcasting license that has run its course simply does not qualify as an
infringement on press freedoms.

Media Ownership in Venezuela

Television Of 81 stations	… 79 (97%) are privately owned
Radio Of 709 stations	… 706 (99%) are privately owned
Newspapers Of 118 companies	… 118 (100%) are privately owned

---

[i] "Chavez
as Castro? It's not that simple in
Venezuela," Houston Chronicle,
February 7, 2007.

[ii] "RCTV
ha sido el canal más sancionado en Venezuela," Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias, March 29, 2007.

[iii]
“Venezuela’s Media Coup” by Naomi Klein, The Nation, February 13, 2003.

[iv] Eva
Golinger, "The Media War Against the People: A Case Study of Media
Concentration and Power in Venezuela," in Olivia Burlingame Goumbri, ed., The Venezuela Reader: The Building of a
People's Democracy (EPICA, 2005).

[v] Coup and Counter-Coup from The Economist
Global Agenda, April 16, 2002.

[vi] “Venezuela:
On the non-renewal of RCTV's open signal broadcasting license” by J. David
Carracedo, Axis of Logic, March 31, 2007, http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_24223.shtml

[vii] Ibid.

[viii] Golinger,
p. 91.

[ix]
"Venezuela's Political Crisis," Human
Rights News, Human Rights Watch, October 9, 2002.

[x] Maurice
Lemonine, Le Monde Diplomatique,
August 2002.

[xi] Maurice
Lemonine, "How Hate Media Incited the Coup Against the President," in
Gregory Wilpert, ed., Coup Against Chavez
in Venezuela (Fondación Venezolana para la Justicia
Global, 2003), p. 158.

US Congressman Jose Serrano calls Posada a "known terrorist".

From the Los Angeles Times-

"Pressure grows to prosecute Cuban exile

MIAMI — Three months before the 1976 midair explosion of a Cuban plane off the coast of Barbados, CIA covert operative Luis Posada Carriles cabled his U.S. minders...

..."After learning that Mr. Luis Posada Carriles, a known terrorist, was released from U.S. custody and allowed to reside in the U.S. as a free man, I have become very concerned about our ability to protect our nation," U.S. Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Wednesday.

Extradition sought

The Caracas government asked for the extradition of Posada soon after he arrived in Florida in March 2005 on a shrimp boat owned by wealthy Cuban American developer Santiago Alvarez, now serving time for weapons violations "

Of course the United States Government is in no posotion to lecture anyone about terrorism, especially as long as it protects Posada Carriles. The United States Government is no no position to expect a friendly Venezuela, or a Venezuela that respnds to US concerns, while Carriles if a free man under the protection of the US Government.

People live in Venezuela.

Sofia at her baptism.

My wife Marbella, me and our Godchild Sofia in San Joaquin,
Carabobo, Venezuela.



Sofia partying.


Our kids at an amusement park in Carabobo.

There are plenty or other pictures from my wife's and my voyage to her homeland, Venezuela.

26 million people more or less live in Venezuela. The majority has spoken through election and plebiscite over and over that they approve of the government led by President Hugo Chavez. I am doing this blog in part to stress to my country's people that Venezuela is a nation of human beings who have a right to decide their own fate and who is to lead them and for how long he is to lead them. My country has a history of bothering and killing people like the people of Venezuela- I wish we'd stop doing these things in Iraq and Afghanistan, like we did in Vietnam and Nicaragua and not start doing them in Venezuela or anyplace else.

Venezuela's oil belongs to the people who live there and is not "our oil supply." After our country helped a group of renegades kidnap the elected President Hugo Chavez, after our country gave aid and comfort to an economic sabotage/ oil strike and lockout replete with terrorism against people who wanted to work - a sabotage that set Venezuela back a decade or more in terms of its economy- Venezuela is reasonably shopping around for other customers for its oil. Also it has taken over the control of its oil fields, its telecommunications, and its electrical system. These are reasonable actions any government might want to take. The government there has made sure that the oil wealth is shared by the entire country's people, and not just a few rich and foreigners. The government has said that a television station that helped orchestrate a violent overthrow of the government that was reversed by the people and patriotic soldiers and that broadcasts advertisement for prostitution over the airwaves that belong to the people must stop broadcasting once its license expires. This is more than reasonable. Had the owner of this television station, RCTV done these things here in the US he would be in prison and his property sold off at auction by the government.

What the United States ought to do is apologize to Venezuela for interfering and threatening and ask to start a new chapter in our relationship. We ought to comply with Venezuela's request that is supported by most world public opinion to extradite Posada Carriles so that he can face trial in the terrorist bombing of a civilian airliner and mass murder.

Most Venezuelan people harbor no ill will towards the ordinary people of the United States and in fact they admire many things about our country.

Perhaps the next president will have the common sense and intelligence to take these simple steps.

US Wants Posada Carriles to shut up about CIA In Court

The US government has filed a motion in US court to put a gag order on Luis Posada Carriles
in his upcoming May 11th court date on his relationship with the CIA..


Luis Posada Carrieles - The Declassified Record


http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB153/index.htm

Well it's history now. Posada Carriles is a free man in the United States of America. How can the people of Venezuela regard this as anything but a very hostile stance and an implicit threat?

The coupsters' poopster wants to know

Miguel Octavio runs a blog he calls "The Devil's Excrement". Now I'd probably like this guy if I ever met him.
Politically though he's full of poop and still defends the coup.

He dared me to prove that General Rinky Dink Romero, (aka "This guy") was connected with the CIA. Here is the answer I tried to post on his blog. Sometimes I get these notices that my messages are forbidden, then they show up later. For safekeeping and because I did such a damned good job answering him I'm putting it here.

Eugene: Still waiting for you to provide the factual connection between the CIA and this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elxfUyFq3H8

Put up or shut up!

Miguel Octavio • 5/6/07; 7:48:13 AM #

Miguel sorry I missed your challenge. I figured the old thread was closed. Thanks for bringing it to me here.

http://venezuelafoia.info/cia1.html

http://venezuelafoia.info/ciaa4.html

http://venezuelafoia.info/ciab3.html

http://venezuelafoia.info/ciac3.html

http://venezuelafoia.info/ciad4.html

The above documents are CIA documents predate the Carmona disaster that they released under the Freedom Of Information Act. They are highly redacted by CIA but they show CIA awareness that a coup was coming, and that the coupsters were awaiting a pretext. I'd love to see the stuff that's cut out. Maybe my grandchildren will.
http://venezuelafoia.info/ciaspot.html
There was no coup say some oppositionists. Well the CIA calls the overthrow of Carmona a countercoup.
http://venezuelafoia.info/ciae3.html
There's more but you have your rules about lengthy posts.

April 17- Here they're (CIA)looking for the OAS to pull their chestnuts out of the fire.
Everyone who knew anything knew the CIA was knee deep in it.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,688071,00.html
Venezuela coup linked to Bush team


Specialists in the 'dirty wars' of the Eighties encouraged the plotters who tried to topple President Chavez

Observer Worldview

Ed Vulliamy in New York
Sunday April 21, 2002
The Observer


The failed coup in Venezuela was closely tied to senior officials in the US government, The Observer has established. They have long histories in the 'dirty wars' of the 1980s, and links to death squads working in Central America at that time.
Washington's involvement in the turbulent events that briefly removed left-wing leader Hugo Chavez from power last weekend resurrects fears about US ambitions in the hemisphere...
Miguel-
Who said I have to prove that each and every coupster met with the CIA pre coup and took money from them? Did I ever say that each and every coupster met with the CIA and took money from them? General Rinky Dink Romero was a coupster. Did he personally meet with the CIA and take money from them? Perhaps his priest knows...

Heck, it's possible they never even met with you nor paid you a farthing.

Considering the bloody hisory of the Estadounidenses involved it would mean that the coupsters were ready to see lots of Venezuelan blood get spilled, that's the way these guys have operated before in Latin America. No reason to expect anything different in Venezuela. Not in 2002 and not in 2008.

http://www.counterpunch.org/blum0414.html

Rudolf, or Rudolph or Rudy or Rudi Giuliani Jumps On The Anti-Venezuela Bandwagon (So, What Else Is New?)

That long time showboater R. Giuliani, the man who put New York City's Emergency nerve center in the main known target for "terrorism" (The World Trade Center) and then ordered that kerosene be stored in that building against the advice of his Fire Department, (Seven World Trade Center), the man who did not want to spend money so that his Fire Department and Police Department could communicate with each other via radio, the man who gave the world Bernard Kerik, his one time body guard and driver, convict , Giuliani police commissioner, (and what else?) to be in charge of the United States' Homeland Security, the man who could not beat Hillary Clinton in his own city, the man who announced his divorce and adulterous affair on television so that his children and could suffer public humiliation, ,the man who says he slept on the sofa in a homosexual supporter's home after his wife kicked him out, the man who never met a politcal fence he wouldn't first try to straddle is now (after taking money from Venezuela) talking about a Venezuelan threat to the United States of America.

What a joke! If the United States' people were not so easily tricked it would be funny. Giuliani, to be even considered a Presidential candidate of any seriousness is all the proof anyone needs that the American people can be tricked, tricked and tricked again.

http://www.thebrooklynrail.org/books/april05/control.html

"Hindsight is 20-20, as Giuliani has intoned since leaving office and building a multi-million dollar consulting business. But one wonders what the pugnacious Giuliani would be saying if a rival had been mayor on 9/11. What if anyone but the self-involved Giuliani had built a highly publicized multi-million dollar emergency command post near a known terrorist target? What if after being warned for years that New York City was subject to sudden attack, that person never upgraded the fire department’s communication equipment or devised a citywide evacuation plan? What if that person had installed a 6,000-gallon diesel fuel tank at 7 World Trade Center, which became the only steel-reinforced high-rise to fall in a fire? Would Giuliani be saying that in placing large tanks of diesel fuel at 7 World Trade Center, that person had destroyed his own bunker and helped to bring an entire building down?"

Los Angeles Police Violently Attack Peaceful Protest by Immigrant Workers And Their Supporters.

On May First Los Angeles Police attacked a peaceful demonstration that was calling for legal rights for the immigrant workforce of the United States of America. The police violently attacked, blaming a small group of provocateurs and dupes of provatateurs who were separate from the main body of peaceful protesters.






The United States relies on a large workforce mainly from Mexico and Central America. This workforce has no legal rights that the police are bound to respect. Most of these Mexicans live on land that was seized from Mexico by the US to begin with.

LA cops are US cops

Half the people in the US cheer the cops. People of the world must be aware of the nature of the beast.