Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CARACAS595
2009-05-12 16:49:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

CHAVEZ THREATENS TO CLOSE LOCAL TV NEWS STATION

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL VE 
pdf how-to read a cable
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P 121649Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3039
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000595 

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2029
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ THREATENS TO CLOSE LOCAL TV NEWS STATION

REF: CARACAS 546 AND PREVIOUS

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Classified By: A/POLITICAL COUNSELOR DANIEL LAWTON,
REASON 1.4 (D)


C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000595

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2029
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ THREATENS TO CLOSE LOCAL TV NEWS STATION

REF: CARACAS 546 AND PREVIOUS

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Classified By: A/POLITICAL COUNSELOR DANIEL LAWTON,
REASON 1.4 (D)



1. (C) Summary. President Chavez threatened to close the
opposition-oriented cable television news network Globovision
during the May 10 broadcast of his weekly "Alo, Presidente"
talk show. Chavez's threat follows Globovision's May 4
broadcast of U.S. Geological Survey seismic data as well as
assertions that GBRV authorities were unavailable for
comment. There are at least three pending Government of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (GBRV) investigations
against the network. Opposition parties have vowed to
support Globovision, but the station's director believes
students and opposition party members are too fearful of the
GBRV to generate significant street protests. President
Chavez has threatened Globovision before, but he appears more
determined to close the station than before as he radicalizes
his Bolivarian revolution. End Summary.

--------------
GBRV Ire Over Tremor Reporting
--------------


2. (SBU) Globovision was the first local television station
to report on a May 4 early morning tremor. Globovision
director Alberto Federico Ravell called into his station at
4:50 a.m. and urged Venezuelans to stay calm. He also said
that he tried to reach GBRV officials for information, but
they were unavailable. Citing U.S. Geological Survey data,
later confirmed by the GBRV, Ravell said the tremor measured
5.4 on the Richter scale. Pro-government members of the
National Assembly accused the network May 5 of spreading
unnecessary "panic and fear". Globovision's broadcast was
aired prior to the release of official Venezuelan information
from the GBRV seismology institute Funvisis. The President
of the National Assembly's (AN) Committee on Media, Manuel
Villalba, urged the media regulatory body Conatel on May 5 to
"apply all relevant sanctions given the statements made by
Globovision's director Alberto Federico Ravell."

--------------
"Globo Will Close Or I Am Not Hugo Chavez"
--------------


3. (SBU) During the May 10 Sunday afternoon broadcast of
his weekly "Alo, Presidente" talk show, President Chavez
threatened to close Globovision. Referring to Globovision's
director as a "loose canon," President Chavez warned from his
home state of Barinas "We have had enough, the oligarchs have
had their time. This will not continue... to the bourgeois
and pitiyanquis, you will receive a 'surprise' at any
moment... This will end or I am not Hugo Chavez." Referring
to the May 4 tremor, Chavez said he and key ministers were
awake when it happened and immediately took appropriate
action in coordination with the National Guard and police
forces.


4. (SBU) Former GBRV vice-president and talk show host Jose
Vicente Rangel told television viewers May 10 that "media
outlets are functioning like political parties, and they deny
it. They operate like pressure groups, and deny it. This is
unacceptable." Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, in his
capacity as a senior member of Chavez's United Socialist
Party of Venezuela (PSUV),said that PSUV fully supported the
effort to close Globovision, saying the media should not be
used to "foment fear like Alberto Federico Ravell has done."
Maduro accused Globovision of engaging in a "permanent
conspiracy" against the Chavez government. He also exhorted
the international community to "respect" whatever measure the
GBRV takes against the station because "in Venezuela there is
a solid democracy, and all the institutions are functioning
correctly..."

--------------
Ongoing GBRV Investigations
--------------


5. (SBU) The GBRV telecommunications regulatory agency,
Conatel, announced May 7 that it would initiate an
investigation of Globovision's May 4 tremor coverage. The
GBRV has the authority to close the channel for up to 72
hours based on a first administrative offense, but once the
station has been closed in this way the next government
complaint could shutter the station permanently. Conatel

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launched its first investigation against Globovision in early
November 2008 for its October 30 transmission of the show
"Hello Citizen", in which guest Rafael Poleo, editor of the
opposition daily El Nuevo Pais, said that Chavez "would end
up like Mussolini." Conatel announced on November 24 2008
that it would investigate Globovision for allegedly inciting
violence by airing a speech by Carabobo state-governor elect
Henrique Salas Feo during which he called on supporters to
march to the state election commission to demand the release
of regional election results. The Supreme Court earlier
refused to rule on the first two investigations and deferred
the cases to Conatel. Possible administrative sanctions are
still pending in Conatel.

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Globovision And The Opposition
--------------


6. (C) Globovision currently has a license to broadcast
free-to-air in Caracas and Carabobo State. In the rest of
Venezuela it can be seen via cable or satellite television.
Led by Greater Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, opposition
political parties held a press conference May 11 to state
their support of Globovision, denouncing the GBRV's efforts
to close the station. Globovision director Ravell told
Emboff May 11 that he expects the government to come to shut
the station for 72 hours within the next week. Then, he
said, they can make up another reason to close the station
permanently.


7. (C) If Globovision loses the right to broadcast freely,
Ravell will try to keep broadcasting via the cable network
(perhaps for a nearby Caribbean island) and website, although
he is worried that the government might try to pressure cable
companies to keep Globovision off the air completely. Ravell
believes growing public fear of GBRV reprisals will deter any
significant public protests to defend Globovision. There
were significant student-led protests in 2007 after the GBRV
closed RCTV, but RCTV was a free-to-air station that had a
much bigger viewing audience.

--------------
Comment
--------------


8. (C) President Chavez has threatened to close Globovision
before, but he appears far more determined this time to take
the cable news network off the air. Doing so now would be
consistent with the radicalization of his Bolivarian
revolution since his February 15 referendum victory to
eliminate term limits. Ending Globovision's right to
broadcast freely would remove the last remaining
opposition-oriented television network from the airwaves,
leaving only state media and self-censoring private channels
as local sources of television news. The closure of
Globovision would also undermine political pluralism in
Venezuela, as the opposition remains most viable only in
largely urban areas where citizens have access to
non-government sources of information. One opposition party
leader conceded to Poloff recently that "our political
presence stretches only as far as people can watch
Globovision."

GENNATIEMPO