The non-renewal of a Venezuelan television station’s license by the government of Hugo Chávez has become the latest pretext for the United States to continue its destabilization campaign against the country’s revolutionary process.
But the real issue is not “freedom of the press” as the opposition claims, and as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
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At the heart of the struggle is Radio Caracas Televisión de Venezuela , a widely known right-wing station. RCTV has operated for years on the public airwaves, as well as transmitting on cable and the Internet.
In 2006, the Venezuelan government decided not to renew RCTV’s license, applicable every 20 years, for its operation on the open-access Channel 2. The license expired on May 27 of this year. The government cited several violations of law, including tax evasion, illicit programming in the past such as pornography, and active promotion to incite an overthrow of the government.
Between 1976 and 1991, long before Chávez’s first presidency, RCTV was shut down on five separate occasions, from 24 hours to 3 days for illegal programming..
But the most compelling issue at hand is the station’s role as counterrevolutionary organizer.
In the fascist coup that was attempted against Chávez on April 11, 2002, the principal television stations, RCTV and Globovisión—which controlled most of the public airwaves—encouraged the opposition to take to the streets.
Once Chávez was kidnapped by elements of the military, RCTV and Globovisión removed all normal programming and showed cartoons, even though hundreds of thousands of people were demonstrating at Miraflores presidential palace to demand Chávez’s return.
The right-wing demonstrators in the streets today are the same forces that were backing the seizure of power in 2002. They moved swiftly to crush any semblance of democratic rights and impose a reign of terror.
The coup leaders immediately imposed martial law, annulled the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution and closed down the National Assembly. Troops and police began rounding up pro-Chávez activists from lists undoubtedly drawn up by the CIA.
The danger of counterrevolution and its deadly consequences are in the minds of the people who back the revolution.
That concern was well expressed in a statement issued on May 31 by 600 social organizations in Venezuela, supporting the government’s move to close down RCTV. The statement said, “The Venezuelan people forcefully reject the interference of the United States government in the internal affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Once again the CIA has put a destabilization plan in place with the objective of overthrowing the Bolivarian government and of assassinating President Hugo Chávez.”
In recent days, there have been mobilizations from both sides. The right-wing opposition’s protests have been relatively small, numbering perhaps 10,000 at most, according to CNN.
By contrast, on June 2, hundreds of thousands of pro-government demonstrators filled the streets of Caracas, in a display of solid red—the color of the Bolivarian revolution.
Yet, the right wing is receiving greater attention in the international capitalist press than its actual numbers warrant.
Right-wing TV promoting Chávez assassination
With RCTV’s demise, other opposition television stations, such as Globovisión, are now taking up cudgels to attack the revolution.
On May 22 in Caracas, Mario Silva, the host of the popular, pro-revolution talk show, “La Hojilla,” on state-run Venezolana de Televisión, revealed that several RCTV and Globovisión commentators are on the payroll of the U.S. State Department.
He also showed a Globovisión interview with Marcel Granier, president of RCTV, during which scenes of the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II were interspersed with a song that says, “I have faith that this doesn’t end here, because this is what gives us reason to live.”
It is a veiled call for Chávez’s assassination. Many plots have recently been uncovered by the revolution’s security
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Since Chávez’s election in 1998, and throughout his time as president, the right-wing media—which still overwhelmingly dominates the airwaves and print media—has viciously and slanderously attacked Chávez and the Bolivarian process.
The U.S. aim is overthrow of the Venezuelan government, which is accelerating the pace of creating the basis for building socialism. Recent nationalizations of key industries like telecommunications, the takeover of the vast Orinoco oil fields, and an “enabling” law permitting more economic and political changes have placed Chávez and his government in the bull’s eye of U.S. imperialism.
But Chávez’s undeniable popularity among the continent’s peoples and strengthened relations with many Latin American countries is holding back Washington’s ability to unleash a full-scale aggression. Also, U.S. dependency on Venezuela’s oil makes it very difficult for the United States to impose an outright economic blockade, as it has done with Cuba for more than 45 years.
The danger of assassination, a coup or other military action, however, is still present.
Anti-Chávez plots galvanize the movement
The Venezuelan people, who are supportive of the revolutionary changes in their country, have had to overcome numerous challenges and threats from Washington and the Venezuelan capitalists. Each battle has made them stronger, aware of their power and conscious of what is at stake.
What before was popular support for Chávez’s social and economic programs is transforming into a mass movement engaged in the fight for socialism.
And within the struggle for socialism is the growing need of the people to have a press that defends the interests of the people and advocates for socialism. This is what has the United States howling loudest of all the opponents.
The media in any country defend and reflect the interests of the system in power. Under capitalism, they stand up for the rights of the capitalists. That supreme right of private property is reflected in every minute of programming or coverage, from the paid advertising to masking the real nature of capitalism.
Before the 2002 coup against Chávez, the media were almost entirely in the hands of corporate interests. As progressive Venezuelan filmmaker Angel Palacios noted, it was precisely the people’s lack of access to the media during a crisis that awoke the people to the need to develop new media outlets.
“If anything, the April coup forced us to search for the ways to communicate what was happening in our communities. Before the coup, many people in the government did not realize how dangerous it was not to have some means of communications in the hands of the people and the government.”
The government has created new state television stations like TVes, the replacement for RCTV, Vive, a cultural community channel, Avila TV of Caracas and others.
“I wouldn’t label the issue of television in Venezuela today as ‘pro-Chávez or anti-Chávez.’ It is a case of ‘pro-Venezuela’ television and ‘anti-Venezuela’ television.”
The workers, the poor and the Bolivarian youth know the revolutionary process is moving society forward and they are very aware who stands in the way.
