Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CARACAS169
2007-01-25 13:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

VENEZUELAN FREE PRESS FACES AN EVEN MORE RESOLUTE

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM VE 
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VZCZCXRO8144
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV
DE RUEHCV #0169/01 0251331
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 251331Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7588
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0728
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CARACAS 000169 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM VE
SUBJECT: VENEZUELAN FREE PRESS FACES AN EVEN MORE RESOLUTE
CHAVEZ IN 2007

REF: CARACAS 92 AND PREVIOUS

CARACAS 00000169 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Robert Downes, Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(b).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CARACAS 000169

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM VE
SUBJECT: VENEZUELAN FREE PRESS FACES AN EVEN MORE RESOLUTE
CHAVEZ IN 2007

REF: CARACAS 92 AND PREVIOUS

CARACAS 00000169 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Robert Downes, Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(b).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Since turning the calendar to 2007,
President Chavez has ratcheted up his vitriol - and promised
concrete actions - against opposition media outlets,
including but not limited to RCTV (reftel). He is also
focusing his attention on his own house, dictating not just
what, but also when and where even his closest advisors can
speak to the press. Beyond the borders of Venezuela, either
through multinational blocs such as Mercosur or his pet media
outlet Telesur, Chavez is aggressively promoting his own
brand of "media hegemony." END SUMMARY.

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CHAVEZ MUZZLES HIS TROOPS
--------------


2. (U) Through a document entitled "Communications Strategy
Plan 2007," President Chavez ordered the elimination of
departments of Press and Publicity in all of the 27
ministries that make up his new Cabinet, as well as the
elimination of the Press Office of the Executive Vice
Presidency. The Plan requires that all Cabinet ministries
remain in constant consultation with and coordinate all press
statements or releases through the Ministry of Communication
and Information. Information Minister Willian Lara met
January 11 and 12 with the directors of Information, Press,
and Institutional Relations of each of the 27 ministries to
deliver the 2007 Plan. The Plan also requires the newly
sworn-in ministers to make official statements to the press
only in the Caracas headquarters of their respective
ministries or from Miraflores.


3. (U) The muzzle on official statements to the press
filters down beyond the ministerial level. The Ministry of
Interior and Justice on January 17 prohibited police
officials from making any statements to the press. Even a
seemingly positive press conference, in which the Miranda
Police Institute intended to announce details of a security
plan for schools, hospitals, and other health centers had to

be scrapped under the new guidance. Because local police
authorities often brief the press on criminal incidents, it
is unclear how this new diktat will affect reporting on
common crime.


4. (U) On January 8, the new Telecommunications Ministry,
under the leadership of former Justice Minister Jesse Chacon,
was officially created. Its organizational structure and
functions were published in the Federal Registry. Two of the
functions of the new Cabinet ministry, as defined in
legislation, indicate the dominance the government seeks to
exert on all press - both public and private: first, "to
regulate and evaluate the policies and alignments of the
State in the promotion and development of the
telecommunications sector, information technology, and mail
services"; and second, "to grant, renew, revoke, and suspend
administrative capabilities and licenses for private and
public audio radiodifusion and open television." This, it
would appear, constitutes an early definition of "media
hegemony" (see below).


5. (U) Under the guise of labeling all government
ministries as "popular powers," the new ministry will push
community initiatives to promote Latin American and Caribbean
integration and regulate "the interchange of information by
electronic media, technological development of communications
security and electronic commerce." The latter purports to
give legal protections to personal data transmitted
electronically; cynics may argue it gives the government
greater access to such personal information. This concern is
also raised by the BRV's stated intention to nationalize
CANTV, which is the single largest Internet service provider
in Venezuela and controls approximately three quarters of the
country's broadband access.

--------------
NCTV - CHAVEZ VS. SINGING CHILDREN
--------------


6. (U) On January 17, the BRV National Telecommunications
Commission (CONATEL) effectively withdrew over-the-air
transmission licenses of approximately a half-dozen regional

CARACAS 00000169 002 OF 003


television stations. The ruling essentially declared the
frequencies operated by these channels to be free and
available for use. The affected channels comprise the
Zulia-based, Catholic Church-affiliated network Ninos
Cantores (Singing Children) Television (NCTV). Venezuelan
Episcopal Conference (CEV) First Vice President Roberto
Luckert initially characterized the government's decision as
"tying the channel's hands and totally subordinating it to
the designs of the government." The Archdiocese of
Maracaibo's appeals to the Supreme Court were initially
refused, with the Court saying that neither the Church nor
the network had the proper authorization to disseminate
transmissions using the signals in question.


7. (U) Much like RCTV, NCTV and its senior executives
argued that NCTV did hold the proper authorizations to
transmit and ownership of the signal. NCTV's legal director,
Gustavo Ruiz, produced documentation to this effect between
NCTV and recent CONATEL directors. Refuting a Bolivarian
rumor, Ruiz insisted that NCTV has consistently complied with
the taxation requirements imposed on all media outlets by the
various telecommunications laws.


8. (U) The network's affiliation with the Catholic church
may have helped it keep its case alive. Maracaibo Archbishop
and CEV President Monsignor Ubaldo Santana met with
newly-appointed Telecommunication Minister Jesse Chacon
January 19, where an agreement was reached allowing the
network to continue broadcasting. Santana's and Chacon's
meeting led to an understanding under which the NCTV network
could continue operating in Zulia and Carabobo states;
however, the remaining frequencies under Church control but
currently out of use would be returned to state control.

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BEYOND BRV BORDERS
--------------


9. (U) One week prior to the January 18-19 Mercosur Heads
of State summit in Rio de Janeiro, state media
representatives from the member countries held a three-day
conference in Argentina to establish a common platform to
present to the bloc. Mercosur's Specialized Social
Communication Conference organized the meeting for each
member to understand the others' communication policies and
practices, and to explore the idea of working together. An
Argentine representative said the goal would be "to preserve
our identities and at the same time construct in our
countries" a Mercosur-based solidarity. For the BRV's part,
Vice Minister of Strategy and Communication Amelia Bustillo
Ponce advocated a "modern communications platform," lamenting
that in Venezuela there lacks "equilibrium" between public
and private media.


10. (U) Controversial British member of Parliament George
Galloway made waves all the way across the Atlantic when he
announced in mid-January he would seek Venezuelan support to
launch an Internet-based television station. Galloway, who
was expelled from the Labor Party in 2003, wishes to fill the
station with political satire and speeches by President
Chavez (no shortage of airtime, there). Galloway proposed to
travel to Venezuela in February in search of financial and
technical support from the BRV. Calloway indicated that his
proposal lacked infrastructure but, if necessary, he could
transmit from his own home.


11. (U) Andres Izarra, president of Venezuela-based
"Pan-Latin American" network Telesur, announced January 20
plans to begin transmissions in Europe prior to May. Telesur
intends to open its first European affiliates in Madrid and
London. Telesur's expansionism is part of its initiative to
be "an alternative to the media that comes from the North and
that at times does not reflect the truth." The European
presence would also allow the rest of the world to see
today's Latin America, says Izarra. Izarra is a former
Communications minister and said in a January 8 interview
appearing in major daily "El Nacional" that Venezuela
required a "media hegemony" that would support an
"ideological and cultural battle" to propel socialism. He
has also commented that there is no country in the world that
can boast greater freedom of expression than in Venezuela.

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COMMENT
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CARACAS 00000169 003 OF 003




12. (C) The controversy surrounding the impending closure
of RCTV remains the dominant free press issue in Venezuela,
but Chavez's increasingly authoritarian stance towards the
media is evident in a number of contexts. The situation with
NCTV is part of the government-orchestrated strategy to
attack licenses with questionable legal arguments. While the
Catholic church is still a hard target, the government
nonetheless fired a shot across its bow.


13. (C) The latest restrictive policies with regard to
official statements to the press vest considerable power in
Information and Communications Minister Willian Lara and
centralize the flow of BRV information as never before.
Chavez is now making clear he wants to hear no voice other
than his own, not even from his own hand-picked minions. The
practical result will be to silence most of the government
ministries and leave President Chavez not just as the
uberspokesman for the entire government, but perhaps its only
spokesman.

BROWNFIELD