Shuttered Venezuela TV to air news on other frequency
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| Published on Friday, June 8, 2007 |
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CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP): A television station closed by President Hugo Chavez sparking opposition protests will broadcast news over another frequency, its directors said Thursday.
"Alongside CNN and RCN (from Colombia) we have decided to carry 'The Observer' from RCTV," Globovision director Alberto Federico Ravell told reporters.
Chavez closed RCTV on May 28 claiming it slanted the news and cheered on a 2002 coup that removed him from power for two days.
RCTV has Venezuela's largest viewership and was the only station with nationwide reach that openly opposed Chavez, who refused to renew its license when it expired last month after 53 years on the air.
The station closure became a lightning rod for Chavez's many opponents inside and outside Venezuela, as well as a cause for the loyal followers of his program of "socialism for the 21st century."
RCTV's former frequency has been reassigned to TVes, a public broadcaster, which Chavez has called part of his socialist program.
Since its closing, RCTV has shown its spicy soap operas and hit game show, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" on giant screens in public plazas around Caracas.
Chavez opponents were surprised to find they were joined by university students and professors in demonstrations last week around Venezuela -- the first major student mobilizations in 20 years.
The station's closure has been condemned by the European Union, the United States and international rights groups, raising concerns about freedom of expression in the country.
To counter the protests the authorities have organized large pro-Chavez demonstrations attended by hundreds of thousands.
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