Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SAOPAULO456
2007-05-25 16:26:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Sao Paulo
Cable title:
MEDIA REACTION: WESTERN HEMISPHERE: VENEZUELA,
how-toVZCZCXYZ0017 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHSO #0456 1451626 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 251626Z MAY 07 FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6999 INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 8121 RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 8088 RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2788
UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000456
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD
DEPT PASS USTR
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: WESTERN HEMISPHERE: VENEZUELA,
CHAVEZ'S REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE; SAO PAULO
"A Dictator Under Construction"
Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S.
Paulo (5/25) editorialized: "Another tough blow against
the right of choice, pluralism of ideas and freedom of
speech will be struck this Sunday in Venezuela. RCTV,
the oldest and one of the most popular television networks
in that nation will no longer exist after President Hugo
Ch vez refused to renew its license. Therefore, the last
national television station that followed an independent
line in relation to the government will die....
[As a result] the Venezuelan president will have in
practice eliminated the possibility of his administration
being questioned or criticized on any program with national
range.... Step by step, in a slow but unequivocal way, Ch vez
is continuing his escalation towards authoritarianism, and
is eroding with determination the system of checks and
balances that provides oxygen to democratic societies and
imposes limits on every megalomaniac leader. Cooptation or
intimidation of political adversaries, the direct or biased
control over the media and the free flow of information -
this is just one of Ch vez's means. His work - a true
dictatorship in progress - becomes clearer in the light of
the institutional maneuvers and the changes already carried
out or still being effected within Venezuela's legal
framework. Without any public debate, another change in the
Constitution has been secretly prepared.... The new
Constitution will provide the president indefinite reelection....
Ch vez's power lies in the volatile prosperity made possible
by the high oil prices in international markets. The basis on
which the insanity of this dictator under construction lies
is murky and slippery, as oil is."
McMullen