Hugo “Boss” returns Venezuela’s airwaves to the people
Once again, Chavez shows private multinational corporations who's Boss.
The new public channel, TVES, launched its transmissions early Monday with artists singing pro-Chavez music, then carried an exercise program and a talk show, interspersed with government ads proclaiming, "Now Venezuela belongs to everyone."Thousands of government supporters reveled in the streets as they watched the midnight changeover on large TV screens, seeing RCTV's signal go black and then be replaced by a TVES logo. Others launched fireworks and danced in the streets.
Inside the studios of RCTV — the sole opposition-aligned TV station with nationwide reach — disheartened actors and comedians wept and embraced in the final minutes on the air.
Chavez says he is democratizing the airwaves by turning the network's signal over to public use.
The socialist president accused the network of helping to incite a failed coup in 2002, violating broadcast laws and "poisoning" Venezuelans with programming that promoted capitalism. RCTV's managers deny wrongdoing.
Founded in 1953, RCTV was the nation's oldest private channel and regularly topped viewer ratings with its talk shows, sports, soap operas and comedy programs.
Some protesters on Monday blocked roads with rocks and burning trash, saying they fear for the future of free speech. Police used tear gas to break up at least two protests, and were seen handcuffing and detaining one man.
The group Reporters Without Borders called for international condemnation of the RCTV decision as "a major setback to democracy and pluralism."
Robert Menard, the Paris-based group's secretary-general, called the measure Chavez's "first serious international political error."
By corporate standards, every move that takes away corporate power is considered "a mistake."
For the people, however, it's a victory.
The World Radio and TV Handbook, the 'bible' of the broadcasting world, lists at least a dozen private TV networks in Venezuela, only one of which has been denied a license renewal.
Imagine for a moment (and I know it takes a lot of imagination) that a network like CBS decided to play a key role in an armed coup to depose The Shrub, or say Channel 4 in the UK decided to actively support a similar coup to oust The Bliar. How long would either network survive after the attempted coup? Would they be allowed to continue broadcasting until their licenses expired? I don't think so.
Chavez has shown particular restraint in dealing with a hostile TV network that played a pivotal role in a failed coup to remove him shortly after he was elected by a huge majority of the Venezuelan electorate.