| Just another step down the road to a socialist dystopia ... |
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is taking steps to tighten restrictions on the media despite mounting opposition by private media to a series of proposed reforms that would expose them to criminal prosecution. Chavez supporters argue that the measures limiting broadcasting rights for radio and television will lead to a significant "democratization" of the media, which has been controlled by a handful of owners.
| And who controls the democratization? One guess ... |
"We will launch a strong fight for the democratization of communication, to break the media oligarchy in Venezuela," Communication and Information Minister Blanca Eekhout said recently.
In a recent report, National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) chief Diosdado Cabello said 27 families have "privileged ownership" of 32 percent of the radio broadcast industry.
| Meaning the rest is more or less wide open. |
But for Chavez's opposition, this "now or never" approach to the media is just the latest onslaught on press freedoms by the firebrand leftist leader, who has never forgiven the privately owned media for backing a failed coup against him in 2002. |