AFP notes that Venezuelan president and would-be dictator, (T)Hugo Chavez is coming under a lot of criticism for his closure of independent televisions network RCTV. Not that any of that criticism will bother him.
After 54 years on the air, RCTV went black at midnight Sunday after the government refused to renew its license. It was promptly replaced by TVes, a state-backed "Socialist" station.
On Monday morning, hundreds of university students protested against the network's closure under a sizable police presence.
One of the country's leading dailies, El Nacional, denounced the "end of pluralism in Venezuela," and slammed the government's growing "information monopoly."
Archbishop Baltasar Porras Cardoso slammed Chavez's "sectarianism" and compared him to Hitler, Mussolini and Cuban leader Fidel Castro — who is a close friend of the left-wing Venezuelan president.
"Every day, the sectarianism of this government narrows the room for maneuver of those who don't agree with it completely," the Venezuelan Catholic cleric wrote in Brazilian daily O Estado de Sao Paulo.
The EU's German presidency Monday said it was concerned the government had let the license for Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) expire "without holding an open competition" for a successor station.
"The European Union believes it is important to recall the promises made by the Venezuelan authorities regarding an open competition and a tender process for that same license," a statement from the presidency said.
"Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential elements of democracy. The European Union expects therefore that… Venezuela will uphold these freedoms."
Several international organizations supporting press freedom have also slammed the move.
Do not think this cannot happen here in this country, either. The left is very vocal about how they are being "silenced" – they go on national television to say so. But they are also pushing hard for a "fairness doctrine" where they get to silence voices that disagree with them.
