Venezuelan cardinal asks government to reverse decision on TV station

Published: 2007-04-11

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNS) -- Caracas Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino has asked Venezuelan officials to reverse their decision to shut down a television station critical of the government. The cardinal said in late March that the "very delicate" issue should be viewed in the context of Venezuelans' right to "freedom of expression and the right to information." Government officials have decided not to renew the operational license of Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, when it expires May 28. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accuses the 54-year-old station of having backed a 2002 coup that toppled him from power for 48 hours. Opponents of Chavez, who was first elected in 1998 and was re-elected in a landslide last year, say that much of the nation's private media has been intimidated into muting its criticism of government policies. A political newspaper recently was fined for allegedly violating the privacy of the president's daughter when it mentioned her in a satirical commentary.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .