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RCTV station's demise brings new Chavez protests to light

By DAVID ADAMS and PHIL GUNSON
Published June 1, 2007

University students in Venezuela protest against Chavez's decision to shut down opposition-aligned television station Radio Caracas Television, RCTV, and replace it with a new state-funded channel.
	[AP photo]

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] Riot police stand on guard in Caracas after clashing with university students protesting against Chavez's decision to shut down opposition-aligned television station Radio Caracas Television, RCTV, and replace it with a new state-funded channel.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez found himself battling a new challenge this week from an unexpected quarter.

University students, who have largely stayed out of the country's political battles, took to the streets by the thousands Thursday for the fifth day.

The students are protesting the shutdown of Venezuela's oldest and most popular privately owned TV station, Radio Caracas Television, which was taken off the air Sunday after the government refused to renew its license.

Political observers say the decision to pull the plug on RCTV marks a watershed in Chavez's attempt to turn Venezuela into what he likes to call a "21st-century socialist" republic.

It may also have reignited opposition to Chavez, which had appeared to be losing steam.

The student-led demonstrations are the most important popular mobilization against the Chavez government since 2004, experts say. It is also the first time that students have been galvanized into action since Chavez came to power in 1999.

Unlike anti-Chavez marches of the past three years, the students say they are defending freedom of expression, not supporting any political party.

"We are not out to overthrow any government as some like to say," said John Goicoechea, a student leader at the Andres Bello Catholic University.

The attack on independent media has led some journalism students to ask what the job market will look like when they leave school.

"The communication space where we can express ourselves is shrinking," said David Smolansky, president of the Center for Social Communication at the Catholic University.

Oscar Schemel, head of the polling organization Hinterlaces, notes that in recent years polls have detected a large number of people who don't support the opposition or the government. "Well, now they're coming out," he said.

Chavez's attempts to introduce an authoritarian regime -- with a single ruling party, indefinite presidential re-election and restricted freedoms -- has "collided with the democratic culture of Venezuelans," he said.

Chavez accused RCTV, which had been on the air since 1953, of helping incite a failed coup in 2002 and "poisoning" Venezuelans with its capitalist diet of soap operas and game shows.

Chavez also says private media and a corrupt "oligarchy," are operating in league with the "imperialist" Bush administration to destroy his government.

"There is no rich vs. poor division among students in the march," said Ana Corrales, 24, a student at the state-run Central University of Venezuela. "It's the government that wants to manipulate public opinion, not the deans, not our parents, and not the political opposition."

A total of 182 people - mostly university students -- have been detained in nearly 100 protests since Sunday, Venezuela's Justice Ministry says. About 60 injuries have been reported, mostly due to actions by police, using bird shot, tear gas and riot sticks.

Protesters have been largely peaceful, but a clash is feared this weekend, when pro-government forces are also planning a major demonstration.

Information from Times wires was used in this report. Phil Gunson is a Times freelance correspondent based in Caracas. David Adams is the Times Latin America correspondent.

[Last modified June 1, 2007, 01:24:35]