[NYTr] Venez Accuses Spanish Judge of Meddling over RCTV
 
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:03:53 -0500 (CDT)


Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
[The judge, Baltasar Garzon, is perhaps most famous for issuing an
arrest warrant for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet while he was
traveling in England, which required Pinochet to hide out for months
and really began the international judicial action against Pinochet
that occupied his final years. -NY Transfer]

The Guardian - June 22, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2108913,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12

Spanish judge is a clown, says ChC!vez ally

By Rory Carroll

The Venezuelan government has launched a blistering attack on the
Spanish judge Baltasar GarzC3n, calling him a coward, a mercenary and a
clown, after he voiced concern about freedom of speech in the Latin
American country.

Judge GarzC3n, who rose to prominence by issuing an arrest warrant for
the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, has been feted by human rights
campaigners and the left. However he fell foul of President Hugo
ChC!vez's socialist government this week by stepping into the row over
the non-renewal of a broadcast licence for an opposition television
station, RCTV.

Speaking to reporters during a conference in the Venezuelan capital,
Caracas, the judge said that "closing a medium of communication was not
the best means for guaranteeing freedom of speech".

The decision to pull the plug on the channel last month has been widely
criticised internationally and triggered street protests in Venezuela.
The government claimed that RCTV had backed a coup which briefly ousted
Mr ChC!vez in 2002.

Mr GarzC3n's intervention prompted a furious response. The deputy
president, Jorge RodrC-guez, told a rally that the judge was a "clown"
who spoke on behalf of privately owned media organisations. The foreign
minister, Nicolas Maduro, said the judge's comments were "cowardly and
sad", and echoed anti-ChC!vez propaganda from Washington. "It appears he
has become a mercenary."

The president of Venezuela's supreme court, Luisa Estella Morales, said
Mr GarzC3n lacked ethics and morals.

The strength of the response reflected official sensitivity about
criticism of Mr ChC!vez, even if indirect and from a figure who would
normally be considered on the same side of the ideological fence.

                              ***

AP via International Herald Tribune - June 21, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/21/america/LA-GEN-Venezuela-Spain.php

Venezuela accuses Spain of 'meddling' in its domestic affairs 
over TV station closure 

The Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuela's top diplomat accused Spain of
interfering in the South American nation's domestic affairs, saying
Thursday that Madrid had no business trying to give Venezuelans
"democracy lessons."

In a statement, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Spain cannot
"continue meddling in our people's affairs" by asking Venezuela to
reconsider a decision by President Hugo Chavez that forced an
opposition-sided television station off the air.

"Nobody can attempt to tutor us, give us democracy lessons," Maduro
said.

Chavez refused to renew the license of Radio Caracas Television, or
RCTV, forcing the TV station off the air last month. The decision
sparked street protests in Venezuela's capital and condemnation from
press-freedom groups and international human rights organizations.

During a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier
this month, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said "all
Venezuelans who want to use news spaces should have guarantees in
regard of freedom of information and expression."

Chavez accused RCTV of inciting a failed 2002 coup, violating broadcast
laws and "poisoning" Venezuelans with soap operas that promoted
capitalism. He said his decision to replace it with a new state-funded
public channel is a step toward "democratizing" the airwaves.

Chavez ? a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro ? says Washington is
using the issue of press freedoms in Venezuela to wage an international
smear campaign against his government. The U.S. government rejects the
allegations, but has expressed concern that Chavez is trying to muzzle
his political adversaries.

       
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