Human Rights Foundation Condemns Venezuelan Government Shutdown of TV Station; Launches Website and Brings Case to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

May 7, 2007 -- In a meeting today in honor of Ban Ki-moon at the UN Association, Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen brought the escalating crisis over the impending shutdown of Venezuelan TV channel RCTV to the Secretary-General’s attention, giving him a copy of a letter to Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, co-authored by former UN ambassador Armando Valladares.

In the letter, Halvorssen and Valladares cite articles of the Constitution of Venezuela, which the government will be transgressing if it fulfills the president’s order not to renew RCTV’s broadcast license when it expires on May 27. RCTV has been an independent broadcaster in Venezuela since 1953.

The president of Venezuela has made clear that he has no qualms about not renewing RCTV’s license, claiming the station is the seeding ground for anti-government sentiment and is a source of “poison” for the Venezuelan people. RCTV is frequently identified by the Venezuelan president as part of the “oligarchy” and “bourgeoisie” that oppose the Venezuelan revolution (see www.FreeRCTV.com).

“It should make no difference what RCTV broadcasts, politically or otherwise. When governments are criticized by media, even if such criticism is unfair or biased as the government believes it has often been with RCTV, the government should respond with more speech, not with censorship or threats,” said Halvorssen.

RCTV has been denied the right to defend itself in Venezuelan courts due to the government’s failure to issue legal proceedings or inform through official channels the reasons for the non-renewal of its broadcast license. The government has also failed to inform RCTV, within the timeframe and mechanisms established by law, that its license will not be renewed. Venezuela has no history of not renewing broadcast licenses.

“President Chávez pulling the plug on RCTV would be like President Bush pulling the plug on CBS because of its critical coverage. It is a categorical violation of freedom of the press and it gravely weakens the democracy,” said Halvorssen.

The Human Rights Foundation has set up a website with comprehensive information about the process, including reports filed by sister organizations such as Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and numerous other international bodies and groups that focus on freedom of the press. The website www.FreeRCTV.com also contains video clips of the Venezuelan president explaining his actions in his own words.


Contact Human Rights Foundation, Sarah Wasserman, (212) 246.8486, sarah@thehrf.org