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US calls on Venezuela's Chavez to reverse television closure
AFP
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 05 30 07The United States called on Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chavez, Tuesday to reverse his decision to close the country's oldest television station, the openly anti-government Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) network.
The United States joins the expressions of concern made by the international community about the May 27 closure of RCTV, Venezuela's only independent television network with nationwide broadcast coverage," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.
"Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, it's an essential element of democracy anywhere in the world," he said.
"We'd certainly call on the government of Venezuela to abide by its commitments under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Inter-American Democratic Charter and to reverse these policies that they're pursuing to limit freedom of expression," he said.
The US government regularly criticizes the policies of Chavez, a virulent critic of President George W. Bush and his administration.
The 54-year-old RCTV stopped broadcasting at midnight Sunday after the government refused to renew its license. It was promptly replaced by TVes, a state-backed station which began broadcasting cultural shows.
Chavez' move against RCTV, a popular broadcaster of soap operas and variety shows, sparked days of street protests in Venezuela.
Last week the US Senate unanimously approved a resolution condemning the move.
AFP 29 1834 GMT 05 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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