[NYTr] Pit Bull US Won't Let Go of RCTV Issue in Venezuela Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2007 22:13:35 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit excerpted from VIO Venezuela Daily News Roundup - July 13, 2007. [OAS Secretary General Jose Insulza said that a mission to Venezuela to investigate the RCTV non-renewal is unwarranted, El Universal reports today. Insulza explained that the Venezuelan government is not in violation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter by failing to authorize such a mission, which was requested by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last month an an OAS summit. The Miami Herald today suggests that the Democratic Charter might have been used to force an examination of the non-renewal for RCTV, while Insulza stressed that its invocation "should have the acquiescence of the involved country." In a related story, Gustavo Cisneros, president of another of Venezuela's largest private TV channels, has publicly defended a decision to reduce editorial bias. Cisneros said that media outlets should not operate as political actors in Venezuela, and called for greater balance in news coverage there, according to the Miami Herald. The statements were a response to those critical of Venevision for its shift away from a prior anti-Chavez bias. -VIO] El Universal - July 12, 2007 http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/07/12/en_pol_art_insulza:-venezuelas_12A898757.shtml OAS's Insulza: Venezuela's refusal of an OAS mission is lawful Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary-General JosC) Miguel Insulza Thursday stated in Brazil that Venezuela's refusal to authorize an OAS mission to visit the country regarding the RCTV case is respectful of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. "It is a political path," said Insulza on the proposed mission, which "should have the acquiescence of the involved country, and in this case the country (Venezuela) has not given it," stated OAS Secretary-General in a press conference in Brasilia, reported Efe. Insulza explained that the United States asked him to travel to Venezuela in order to make "consultations" on the non renewal of a broadcasting license for private TV channel Radio Caracas TelevisiC3n (RCTV). The request was based on Article 18 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which refers to freedom of expression. *** The Miami Herald - July 13, 2007 http://www.miamiherald.com/583/story/169256.html Caracas rejects OAS inquiry By Pablo Bachelet WASHINGTON -- The Organization of American States said Thursday it will not send a mission to Venezuela to study President Hugo ChC!vez's controversial revocation of a TV station's license, because Caracas rejected the proposal. The request was made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a recent OAS meeting, invoking the Inter-American Democratic Charter, adopted in 2001. Venezuela immediately attacked the request as foreign interference, and on July 9 it put its rejection in writing and made it official. OAS Secretary General JosC) Miguel Insulza said the Venezuelans called the mission idea ``totally unacceptable.'' The OAS has been criticized for not taking a strong stand on the move against RCTV, once Venezuela's most popular channel. At the Panama meeting, several nations made broad statements defending media freedom -- but only the United States mentioned Venezuela by name. Under OAS rules, no mission could go to Venezuela unless that country agreed, Insulza noted. He added, however, that the RCTV case can be looked at by the semi-autonomous Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Inter-American Court of Human Rights. ChC!vez has defended the sanction against RCTV, which he accuses of coup-mongering. U.S. officials say that if Venezuela had nothing to hide, it should have received the mission. *** Miami Herald - July 13, 2007 http://www.miamiherald.com/583/story/169144.html Venezuela's [Media Mogul] Cisneros seeks balance in TV coverage By Casto Ocando Venezuelan media magnate Gustavo Cisneros on Wednesday criticized what he called the excessive politicization of television in Venezuela and questioned the growing restriction of space for the independent media. He also announced that his network, VenevisiC3n, from now on will provide ''balanced'' news coverage, giving equal time to the government and the opposition. Dealing for the first time with the avalanche of criticism received after VenevisiC3n virtually eliminated news programming that was critical of the administration of Hugo ChC!vez, Cisneros complained that the government pressures the network to broadcast only favorable news. Thus, he distanced himself from the editorial line that the network has held, a position considered by its critics to be favorable to Chavismo. PUBLIC ADDRESS In a 10-minute program broadcast nationwide at 8 p.m. Wednesday through VenevisiC3n, Cisneros said that the network will remain on the sidelines of the political conflict. Many in the government and the opposition believe that a television channel can be a protagonist in the political game. That is not the mission of television,'' Cisneros said. The businessman said that the space ''allowed to the independent media'' is ''increasingly smaller'' and complained that ``it is not easy to take a balanced position when some government officials want the television channels to report only the news that show the government in a positive light.'' In his address, Cisneros counseled the ChC!vez administration to ''tolerate balanced and independent news'' and to ``instruct the public broadcasting stations to follow the same rule.'' Cisneros did not spare the opposition, saying that ''it is not easy to take a balanced position when some in the opposition want television channels that report only the news that reflect negatively on the government.'' The criticism made by the businessman to the Venezuelan government is the first he has made since 2003, when he headed -- along with other media executives -- a demonstration in Caracas in favor of freedom of expression. Also, it is Cisneros' first public appearance in Venezuela since he met with ChC!vez and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in June 2004. At that time, both Cisneros and ChC!vez agreed to respect the law and promote dialogue. Cisneros' appearance took place following much public criticism over his network's silence over the government shutdown of RCTV in late May and news programming that some say was biased. ''VenevisiC3n went from opposing the government to siding with it,'' said AndrC)s CaC1izC!lez, a researcher at the Center for Communications Research at AndrC)s Bello Catholic University in Caracas. According to CaC1izC!lez, the channel's editorial line was rejected by public opinion ''principally because of the silence they maintained after the shutdown of RCTV.'' ''Until very recently, [VenevisiC3n's] news coverage was biased in favor of the interests of the national government,'' said Carlos Correa, executive director of Public Space, an independent organization that promotes freedom of expression in Venezuela. Correa said that this tendency was confirmed by a study made by the European Union of the channel's coverage of the presidential elections in 2006. The study said 84 percent of the news broadcast by VenevisiC3n was favorable to the government. AVOIDING TROUBLE Despite the criticism, other studies showed opinions that were favorable to the network, in terms of the renewal of its license and its permanence on the air. In his speech Wednesday, Cisneros said that the government renewed the license for five years after the network complied with ''the bureaucratic procedures established by the nation,'' thus rejecting the rumor that the renewal was the result of a deal between Cisneros and ChC!vez. According to experts, Cisneros' address reflects a strategy of ''survival'' and ''damage control'' that could have mixed results. ''He is trying to maintain his space in Venezuela, both with the government and the broadest sector of the population, which sometimes is Chavista and sometimes is not,'' said JoaquC-n PC)rez RodrC-guez, a Miami-based expert on political campaigns in Latin America. * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . 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