[For the record, the young Marx began his career as a journalist with several articles blasting censorship by the state. For details, see the first volume of Hal Draper's magnum opus, Karl Marx' Theory of Revolution. So it's fair to say there is a precedent for Marxist opposition to censorship by a bourgeois government, like the Chávez administration, which has 10 years in power devoted to preserving the bourgeois state machine, with the highest inflation rate in Latin America (according to some sources, a really punishing 40%) and zero power for the working class. -- YM]
Venezuela shuts down 34 radio stations and television channels
LEMONDE.FR with AP and AFP Aug 1 09 21:12 hours • Updated Aug 1 09 21:40 hours
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' government has cancelled the licenses of 34 radio stations and television channels, officially because of administrative reasons, while warning 200 other stations that their broadcasts were also threatened, restarting the controversy over recent attacks ["atteints"] on freedom of expression in the country.
The targeted ["visées"] radio and television stations suspended their broadcasts on Saturday, August 1, and some hundreds of people immeidately gathered at their headquartes in protest. "No to censorship," "People, open your eyes, it's a dictatorship," proclaimed the placards in front of the Caracas headquarters of the CNB group of radio stations, one of the suspended media that was critical of the Venezuelan President.
Organizations defending human rights are accusing President Chávez of tightening his control over the media in order to stifle any dissident voice. "We are witnessing the biggest operation of restricting freedom of expression ever set up in Venezuela, without precedent in the democratic period," declared Carlos Correa, Director of the NGO defending freedom of expression, Espacio Público.
"Media crimes"
These "administrative" closings are taking place just as the government is preparing a series of reforms aiming, according to the government, at "democratizing" a still very concentrated sector. This new law punishing "media crimes," to which the Spanish daily El País is devoting a dossier, should be adopted before the end of the year. This new legislation would punish the owners of radio stations, television networks and newspapers accused of having tried to "sow panic," or, again, having "disturbed the social order." Media that "falsify information with a view to spreading a wrong perception of the facts," are also in the [government's] line of sight.
Private-sector media feel that these reforms would result in strengthening the state's influence on information, a concern that Venezuela's top prosecutor, Sra. Luisa Ortega, who on Thursday insisted that freedom of expression in Venezuela must be "limited," is not seeking to dispel....
Venezuela shuts down 34 radio stations and television channels
LEMONDE.FR with AP and AFP Aug 1 09 21:12 hours • Updated Aug 1 09 21:40 hours
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' government has cancelled the licenses of 34 radio stations and television channels, officially because of administrative reasons, while warning 200 other stations that their broadcasts were also threatened, restarting the controversy over recent attacks ["atteints"] on freedom of expression in the country.
The targeted ["visées"] radio and television stations suspended their broadcasts on Saturday, August 1, and some hundreds of people immeidately gathered at their headquartes in protest. "No to censorship," "People, open your eyes, it's a dictatorship," proclaimed the placards in front of the Caracas headquarters of the CNB group of radio stations, one of the suspended media that was critical of the Venezuelan President.
Organizations defending human rights are accusing President Chávez of tightening his control over the media in order to stifle any dissident voice. "We are witnessing the biggest operation of restricting freedom of expression ever set up in Venezuela, without precedent in the democratic period," declared Carlos Correa, Director of the NGO defending freedom of expression, Espacio Público.
"Media crimes"
These "administrative" closings are taking place just as the government is preparing a series of reforms aiming, according to the government, at "democratizing" a still very concentrated sector. This new law punishing "media crimes," to which the Spanish daily El País is devoting a dossier, should be adopted before the end of the year. This new legislation would punish the owners of radio stations, television networks and newspapers accused of having tried to "sow panic," or, again, having "disturbed the social order." Media that "falsify information with a view to spreading a wrong perception of the facts," are also in the [government's] line of sight.
Private-sector media feel that these reforms would result in strengthening the state's influence on information, a concern that Venezuela's top prosecutor, Sra. Luisa Ortega, who on Thursday insisted that freedom of expression in Venezuela must be "limited," is not seeking to dispel....
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