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Chavez accuses CNN of calling for his assassination
NEW YORK
Petroleumworld.com 11 29 07
CNN issued an apology Wednesday over a video mix-up on its Spanish-language channel that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said appeared to be a public call for his assassination.
Chavez, who is under pressure at home ahead of a weekend referendum, accused the US cable channel of possibly seeking to "instigate a political assassination" and said he would order Venezuelan prosecutors to open an investigation, according to a statement from his office.
"It's strange ... I will have to order an investigation because it obviously looks like a call for a president's assassination in Venezuela," he said.
He was referring to a video news bulletin CNN in Spanish broadcast on Tuesday which showed Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, over which was the headline "Who killed him?"
CNN's senior vice-president for CNN in Spanish, Christopher Crommett, issue a statement apologizing for what he said was a simple on-air error.
He said the caption had been meant for a item on the death of a US football player, Sean Taylor, but the images of Chavez and Uribe were mistakenly shown instead.
"The title DID NOT refer to either of the presidents," he emphasized, saying the CNN presenter at the time spotted the error and made that clear.
"The video of presidents Chavez and Uribe, used by mistake, corresponded to a previous item," he said, adding: "CNN in Spanish regrets the error."
Chavez, who is fiercely anti-US and who has accused CNN in the past of bias against him, has previously alleged Washington-hatched plots against his life, without advancing convincing evidence.
He said he suspected the caption was deliberate.
"This is part of a big operation in psychological warfare," he said, suggesting that it was related to Sunday's referendum, which is aimed at allowing him to seek re-election indefinitely and turn Venezuela into a socialist state under which media can be censored in emergencies.
Story from AFP 281831 GMT 11 07
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