Venezuela begins shutdown of 34 radio stations
 

UPDATE 2-Venezuela begins shutdown of 34 radio stations

http://www.reuters.com/article/bonds...46551720090801

"...."We haven't closed any radio stations, we've applied the law," Chavez said on state television. "We've recovered a bunch of stations that were outside the law, that now belong to the people and not the bourgeoisie."........"

And the American Press Cheers.

And, Zero wants to be just like him when he grows up.

Ouch! I guess the truth hurts.

At the time of this post, Google News does not have a single item about this story. None of the 24 items in it’s World News section deal with Venezuela. After BHO’s siding with Castro and Hugo Chavez on the issue of Honduran rights and sovereignty, Venezuela’s suppression of its own media is an embarrassment to the World’s President. The leader of the free world would condemn Chavez in the strongest possible terms, but that’s not Obama.

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?Arti...tegoryId=10718

Chavez Closes Down Broadcasters in War Against Venezuela Media

By Jeremy Morgan
Latin American Herald Tribune staff

….Some stations announced that they would continue on the Internet, which the government is likely to find much more difficult to control. That said, the number of households equipped with computers and access to the Internet in Venezuela is relatively small – and more or less non-existent among the poorer classes who make up the ballast of Chávez’s power base.

….International human rights organizations were also appalled. "What we are witnessing is the most comprehensive assault on free speech in Venezuela since Chavez came to power," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "With the exception of Cuba, Venezuela is the only country in the region that shows such flagrant disregard for universal standards of freedom of expression."

A polling company did a snap survey and claimed that 84% of its sample had been against shutting down broadcasters. Within the total, it added, 67% of the president’s own supporters or chavistas felt the same way.

I am to assume that that sight does not have either an 'Americas' or South Ameican section... I did not have a problem locating it on Al Jazeera

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/am...741167236.html

I'm waiting for the Community Organizer of the United States of America to stand with Chavez and give him "his" full support concerning this issue (Freedom).

I’m glad that al Jazeera is covering it. As of this moment, there is nothing about it in Google News Canada English version’s World news items. It is in their Venezuela version, but not in the Mexico version. There’s plenty about it if you do a search, but Google’s editors are keeping it out of the headlines. This story cannot help BHO’s poll numbers, which Google news had much to say about yesterday.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...sUDmAD99QE5M80

Fox news has a story on it
 

Fox news has a story on it.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,536185,00.html

"......Chavez said previously that the revoked licenses could be given to broadcasters who share his socialist vision........."

If he says "could" do you think it means "will"?

As much as I am looking forward to going to Afghanistan for my next deployment, I would rather liberate Venezuela. Too bad BHO has no interest in keeping LATAM free from tyranny.

x/S

Well, if you wish to bring Socialism to Democratic countrys, I am sure The Community Organizer would be happy to oblige.:munchin

"Well, if you wish to bring Socialism to Democratic countrys, I am sure The Community Organizer would be happy to oblige."

Kind of my point.

x/S

LOL

armymom1228, you need to keep up!

Forgive me TS,... I am pedaling as fast as I can.. you know us old women.. hotflashes, blonde and senior moments........................:p

It's a Google News headline now!
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...P5-nwD99RN4CG1

34 radio stations forced off air in Venezuela

By FABIOLA SANCHEZ (AP) – 1 hour ago
CARACAS, Venezuela — Radio hosts hung their heads as their FM station was forced off the airwaves along with 33 other broadcasters targeted by President Hugo Chavez's government in what critics say is a campaign to muzzle his foes.

For the first time in decades, CNB 102.3 FM fell silent over the weekend after Venezuela's telecommunications regulators revoked some of the 34 stations' licenses and refused to renew others.

But CNB challenged the government action within hours by starting to transmit programming over the Internet. Sportscaster Juan Carlos Rutilo told his online listeners: "Today freedom of expression is being restricted. ... Today you have one less option."

Media groups and human rights activists note more than 200 other stations are under investigation for allegedly not being properly licensed and accuse Venezuela's leftist leader of pursuing a widening crackdown to silence dissent.

In a similar step, one of Chavez's leftist allies, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, announced Monday that "many" radio and TV frequencies will revert to the state over what he called irregularities in their licenses. He gave no specifics.

A majority of the stations affected in Venezuela aired criticisms of the government, though they were not overtly anti-Chavez and much of their programming ranged from American rock to salsa and traditional Venezuelan music....

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...ion-armed-raid

Venezuelan TV station is stormed by supporters of Hugo Chavez

Rory Carroll in Caracas
The Guardian, Tuesday 4 August 2009
Dozens of militant supporters of President Hugo Chavez stormed an opposition TV station yesterday in an escalation of Venezuela's "media war".

Around 30 activists with red berets forced their way into the Caracas headquarters of Globovision, lobbed tear gas and threatened staff with handguns.

The raid came amid a government crackdown on critics of Chavez's socialist revolution, a campaign which human rights groups have condemned as an attack on free speech. In recent days the government has revoked the licences of dozens of radio stations and proposed a law which would jail people deemed guilty of "media crimes" for up to four years.

Footage aired on Globovision showed activists from the UPV, a radical left-wing party which backs the president and dresses in quasi-military gear, arriving on motorbikes and rushing on foot into the station.

The intruders, led by a prominent "Chavista" named Lina Ron, waved banners and reportedly injured a guard and a police officer while tear gas seeped through the complex.

Chavez has repeatedly assailed Globovision – the South American country's last opposition TV network – as an instrument of oligarchs and US imperialists who are waging "media terrorism".

However, the government swiftly distanced itself from the raid. "We condemn this attack energetically and reject this type of violent action against Globovision," said the interior minister, Tareck El Aissami. "We don't accept that violence is the instrument to solve our differences."

Network executives rejected the condemnation as hollow. "I can only think [the attack] was an order from Miraflores," said Guillermo Zuloaga, in reference to the presidential palace. The government has named Globovision as its main target in a "media war" to rebut what it says is a campaign of lies and smears against the revolution. Authorities last month fined Globovision $2m for back taxes and officials have twice raided its president's property, saying he illegally resold cars and broke environmental regulations by keeping stuffed animals.

The government also opened an investigation against the channel for "inciting panic" after it reported on a small earthquake recently which affected Caracas....

CNB 102.3 FM

http://radiotime.com/station/s_14016/CNB_1023.aspx

So how can Hugo stop the internet? All one needs is a laptop and a wifi connection. It is going to get real interesting. When will the people have enough???