Police fire tear gas as Venezuelans protest removal of anti-Chavez TV channel from cable

Removal of anti-Chavez TV channel spurs protests

CARACAS, Venezuela — Police fired tear gas and plastic bullets at thousands of university students on Monday, breaking up a protest after President Hugo Chavez’s government forced an opposition cable TV channel off the air.

Demonstrations broke out after cable companies, under orders from the telecommunications agency, dropped the anti-Chavez channel Radio Caracas Television Internacional early Sunday. RCTV had defied new rules requiring cable channels to carry mandatory programming, including some of Chavez’s speeches.

Authorities fired tear gas as protesting students tried to approach the headquarters of the state telecommunications agency, where several hundred Chavez backers had gathered to support the government’s action. Some were seen throwing rocks and bottles at anti-Chavez protesters.

At least five students suffered asphyxiation or minor injuries, said Enrique Montbrun, director of health services in the capital’s Baruta district. A journalist also suffered minor injuries.

“Freedom of expression is a right that we all embrace, and it must be defended,” said Alejandro Perdomo, 19, who accused Chavez of attempting to silence his critics.

Students in the crowd chanted: “It will return, Radio Caracas will return!”

The government says RCTV violated recently approved regulations that require two dozen local cable and satellite channels to televise Chavez’s speeches whenever he deems it necessary.

The channel, which has been fiercely critical of Chavez for years, did not transmit the president’s speech Saturday to a rally of supporters.

Five other channels were also dropped from cable, but none of them were as widely viewed as RCTV.

Chavez did not immediately comment on the protest Monday, but he defended the government’s stance the previous day by saying it is simply trying to enforce the law.

“Whoever refuses to comply with the law, that’s what must be done,” the president said. “It’s their decision, not ours.”

RCTV was forced to move to cable in 2007 after Chavez refused to renew its license for regular airwaves, accusing the station of plotting against him and supporting a failed 2002 coup.

Press freedom organizations and Roman Catholic leaders condemned RCTV’s removal from cable, calling it part of a broader effort to mute government critics.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said the government’s move is “an allergic reaction to dissident voices within the country’s leading broadcast media.”

Monsignor Roberto Luckert, a Catholic leader and vice president of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, said the action against RCTV curbs freedom of expression.

“The more media they close, the more democracy is curtailed,” Luckert told the local TV channel Globovision.

U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley echoed earlier comments by the U.S. Embassy that Washington is concerned.

“Clearly, we think that a free and independent media is a vital element of any democracy. And any time the government shuts down an independent network, that is an area of concern,” he said. “We have raised this issue with the Venezuelans.”

OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza offered himself as a mediator in the conflict between Chavez and the media, and he urged Venezuela’s government to authorize a visit from the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.