The
Closing of a Radio Caracas Television
AP/Fernando Llano
A
journalist supporter of television station Radio Caracas Television,
RCTV, holds up a sign that reads in Spanish 'Not
to silence'
during protest in Caracas, May, 2007.
By
Venezuela
Today
The closing
of RCTV was announced by Chávez with five
months of anticipation. On December 28, uniformed as a commander
parachute, in an event of military nature, he informed that
the channel would disappear from the radio electric space: “I
have already drafted the measure, we will not tolerate insurgent
media that attempt against the revolution…no means of
communication may be against the people”. On Friday,
May 18, he acknowledged that a world battled had unfolded against
the suspension of the channel, “but the only way in which
the concession will not be over is if on Sunday, May 27, at
midnight, Hugo Chávez is no longer President of Venezuela”.
At the exact moment pointed out by Chávez, on midnight
of Sunday, May 27, RCTV disappeared from the screen of channel
2, which had been assigned to such channel 53 years back. In
the previous days, commercial TV channels had to broadcast,
in compliance with the TV and Radio Law (Content Law), the
same commercials broadcasted by the government justifying the
measure.
The world
battle against the closing of RCTV, referenced by Chávez, included the OAS, the Interamerican Press Society,
the International Radio Association, Journalists without Frontiers,
The International Press Institute, the European Parliament,
the United States Senate, Latin American parliamentarians,
means of communications from a major part of the planet, organizations
in charge of human rights and freedom of expression, political
personalities of the most various latitudes, including important
strategic allies, such as Brazil and Argentina, whose governments
prevented a support decree requested to MERCOSUR by the Venezuelan
Chancellor. President Lula, on Tuesday, May 29, denied to comment
on the decision but sent an implicit message: “Democracy
allows the means to say whatever they seem best, in the moment
they seem best, and be judged by the only competent judge:
the listeners, the TV audience and the readers”.
Chávez made reference to the other battle, of national
character. On May 29, he said “A process of destabilization
is underway, and I want to warn Globovisión to measure
its steps, the same medicine for RCTV will be administered
if it continues to incite to violence”. Globovisión,
a news channel, is the only TV station that dares to report
the student demonstrations that have taken the streets protesting
over the closing of RCTV and claiming for freedom. He added
that the warning was also for radio stations and printed means
that “distort the information”. Hours later, the
Minister of Justice announced the detention of hundreds of
students that protested and stated to have instructed the police
and military forces to prevent street unrest. Antonio Pasquali,
former UNESCO officer and an emblematic service TV figure,
denounced that the channel placed in Channel 2 is another channel,
to the service of Chávez. “What we have is a transition
to an open and hard dictatorship”.
ONE COLOR MEDIATIC SCENERY
The polls
coincide in that 80% of Venezuelans is not in agreement with
the closing and the analysts consider that this is about
a challenge on the part of Chávez towards the public
opinion, with a very high political cost. Venezuela and the
closing of RCTV was a highlighted new in the main Europe newspapers.
The Presidency of the European Union issued a declaration attesting
to the concern for the RCTV case, and the most important European
means coincide in the censure of the measure. In Latin America,
the only paper that applauded the measure was Granma, the organ
of the Cuban Communist Party, that saluted the suspension of
the license to make use of the frequency now in the hands of
the Government, as Chávez´s lucky hit, which will
now be to the service of the people.
Before
taking RCTV out of the air, Chávez dedicated,
for several days, to make long talks in national TV chains.
Sometimes he did it so that the screens of RCTV could not show,
live, the street protest demonstrations or the condemnatory
declarations on the part of institutions and relevant figures
of the country and abroad. All together, it was a speech that
amounted to 40 hours. From the verbal rubbish, it is indispensable
to extract what we consider essential: “Do not forget,
he insisted, that Hugo Chávez is a soldier at the service
of the Revolution”. He affirmed that Marx and Lenin,
inspired in the Clausewitz doctrine, taught that revolutionaries
must have very clear strategic goals, assuming the risk of
audacious tactical movements. “The current battle is
for media power”. He affirmed that the private property
of the major means of communications is the obstacle that difficulties
the deepening of the revolution. The means of the oligarchy
are the enemy to be confronted and that within the exercise
of the right of the State to deny the concession to an insurgent
channel, the revolution is moving forward towards the strategic
objective of assuming media hegemony. “We are defeating
the old ideology…the hegemony of the oligarchy dies and
the peoples hegemony is born”. Chávez, in an unusual
manner, made use of annotations to explain Gramsci´s
Thesis, which have allowed him, as he affirmed, to find the
correct path in the current stage of the revolution. He explained
that the dominant classes have had control of the educational
system and the means of communication, reason why the old system
has not yet died and why the new one is still not born. He
explained that the conquered media hegemony will allow the
destruction of the venomous capitalist ideology and will impose
ethical and cultural values of the Bolivarian Socialism. The
State is the owner of the radio electric spectrum and now we
are going to exercise the right to guarantee that the message
of the media corresponds to the interests of the people. My
government, he said, will adjust its agenda to the creation
of a new man, with new cultural values, with a new mentality.
The Academic,
Marcelino Bisbal dedicated to investigate the media situation,
affirms that a one color mediatic scenery
has been created. The government has 7 TV channels and has
subdued all the rest, except for Globovisión, to a strict
self censure. It has two powerful radio circuits, it finances
thousands of community stations, sponsors the alternative media
handled by political activists (145 radio stations and 18 local
TV stations), more than one hundred WEB pages. “Venezuelans
will not have information TV channels that differ from the
point of view and opinion of power”. Manuel Rosales,
the unitary candidate for the opposition in the past elections,
proposed to call for a consultation referendum so that the
people may decide regarding the concession for RCTV.
A NEW SCENERY
New actors
appear in the Venezuelan scenery. For the first time, in
eight years, it is the students and youth who spontaneously
take the streets to protest against Chávez. A new weapon
appears in their hands, cellular phones. They are repressed
by the military and by police, leaving a count of injured and
detained. Official sources acknowledged that on May 29, 97
protest focuses took place. The groups´ leaders exchange
text messages to locate police platoons and therefore be able
to elude them. The magnitude of the demonstration in the City
of Caracas was informed by the Government: 182 detained young
ones. Also new actors, the stars in entertainment shows, the
ones that portray the characters whose acting in the screen
emotionally communicate with millions of TV viewers whose passion
is soap operas. Their farewell tears on Sunday, May 27 and
their disappearance in the soap operas of major audience have
impacted the popular sectors, whose only distraction were the
soap operas, the comedy or competition shows like “Who
wants to be a millionaire” , which placed the audience
rating of RCTV in 90%. The message of idol-artists have re
claimed the concrete value of human rights. “Freedom” is
no longer an abstraction, to become a daily necessity. “Why
am I being taken away of my liberty to watch my favorite soap
opera? Why I am being taken away of the liberty to go to a
TV channel and denounce the problems of my neighborhood? “Why
am I being taken away of my right to protest peacefully? The
journalists ask themselves “What is the purpose of this
profession if to work we will need to become pro Chávez
followers? For the ordinary Venezuelan, “liberty” now
enters the agenda of their material necessities.
Within
the new actors, one is highlighted: Marcel Granier, the director
of RCTV, who has affronted Chávez with
courage and intelligence. Upon the threat to close the channel,
he declared that this was an act of harassment and that the
TV station would not modify its editing position. Entrepreneurs
that have acquired multimillion fortunes in the past years
sent him signals of their disposition to buy the TV station. “RCTV
is not for sale”, was the answer. Granier exercised all
the resources provided for in the Venezuelan laws to defend
the right for the concession. His requests have been denied.
48 hours before the closing, surprisingly, the Supreme Court
of Justice authorized the government to appropriate of the
antennas and equipment of RCTV in order to assure the operations
of the new official channel, Tves.
On the
night of May 28, he read a message. We did not sell our editing
line. He affirmed that RCTV is a victim of retaliation
for exercising independent journalism. The authoritarian character
of a government that fears opinion, intelligence, liberty and
critic is out on the open. “This decision is dictated
upon fear and grounded in the abuse of power. The regime wins
but it does not convince”. Granier, supported by various
NGO´s, achieved that the Interamerican Court of Human
Rights request a claim before the competent Tribunal of the
interamerican system, which was admitted and it will probably
demand the compliance of treaties that oblige Venezuela regarding
liberty of information, expression, and respect to property.
Granier, invested of great moral authority and with a powerful
audience in society announced that he is going to head a national
and international crusade in the defense of liberty and human
rights. The country is expectant of Marcel Granier
Venezuela
Today is a bimonthly report news letter
on Venezuela, published by DEMOCRACIA
Y DESARROLLO foundation, its president is Pedro Pablo Aguilar,
a former Social Christian legislator and Venezuela's Congress
president. Petroleumworld
not necessarily share these views.
Editor's Note: This article was published by Venezuela
Today, on May 31, 2007. Petroleumworld reprint this article
in the interest of our readers.
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