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Thousands march against closure of Venezuela TV station
AFP
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 05 28 07Thousands rallied in Caracas Saturday in support of the private Radio Caracas Television -- the country's oldest and defiantly anti-government network -- set to go off the air Sunday after the government refused to renew its broadcast license.
Journalists, actors, and members of the political opposition joined the march chanting slogans against the closure and against the government of President Hugo Chavez.
Chavez announced the decision to revoke RCTV's license after 54 years on the air soon after he was re-elected in late 2006. During the campaign, RCTV openly called for the president's defeat and gave voice to the opposition.
Chavez also never forgave the network for supporting the April 2002 coup that deposed him for 47 hours.
RCTV, which also airs popular soap operas and variety shows, has one of the largest audiences in Venezuela. The frequency will now go to TVes, a new public service channel established with four million dollars in start-up money.
On Sunday protesters plan to march on the offices of the National Telecommunications Commission, while Chavez supporters are organizing what they describe as a vast public party, scheduled to run until dawn, celebrating the birth of the new "socialist television" network and the end of RCTV.
Late Friday Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled that RCTV must temporarily hand over to the government its equipment and broadcast infrastructure when they go off the air at midnight Sunday.
The justices said that would guarantee that TVes would provide quality service that could reach the whole country. The equipment -- antennas, broadcast equipment, transmission towers and other infrastructure -- will technically continue to be RCTV property, and ordered the Venezuelan military to temporarily take custody of the equipment and sites.
RCTV officials described the move as "unconstitutional and illegal" in a statement.
With the creation of TVes the government will control two of the four channels with national reach in Venezuela.
AFP 26 1936 GMT 05 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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