Venezuela bars RCTV, 5 other stations from cable, satellite

New York, January 25, 2010—Venezuelan regulators have ordered cable
and satellite operators to stop carrying one of the country’s best
known broadcasters, RCTV International, along with five other
stations, alleging that the broadcasters violated a requirement to air
President Hugo Chávez’s speeches. The Committee to Protect Journalists
urged Venezuelan authorities today to allow all of the stations to
resume operations immediately.

On orders from the National Telecommunication Commission (CONATEL),
cable and satellite providers stopped transmitting RCTV International
and five other stations shortly after midnight on Sunday, local press
reports said. The action against RCTV and the other stations—Ritmo
Son, Momentum, America TV, American Network, and TV Chile—was taken
after the stations chose not to air a speech by Chávez on Saturday.
The next day, during his weekly radio and TV program “Aló Presidente,”
Chávez said, “We applied the law. If they don’t follow it, they won’t
be allowed back on the air.”

Carlos Lauría, CPJ’s senior program coordinator for the Americas, said
the move reflects increasing government censorship. “Pulling a
television station from cable and satellite distribution because it
chooses not to carry every word uttered by a politician would be
laughable if this weren’t Venezuela,” he said. “The action against
RCTV is a disturbing sign of the growing censorship imposed by
President Hugo Chavez. The authorities must restore all stations to
subscription TV immediately.”

Government regulators contend that RCTV is a national broadcaster and,
as such, must comply with Venezuelan broadcasting regulations,
including the 2004 Law on Social Responsibility on Radio and
Television, press reports said. According to the social responsibility
law, which has been widely criticized for its broad and vaguely worded
restrictions on free expression, broadcasters must carry government
programming when officials deem it necessary. That includes live
broadcasts of Chávez’s nationwide addresses, known as cadenas.

According to a CONATEL regulation implemented on December 22, cable
and satellite channels are considered “international” only if 70
percent or more of their programming is foreign. CONATEL has
determined that RCTV is a national broadcaster.

But RCTV has long argued that its programming meets the definition of
an international channel. The station sought an injunction on Friday
from the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, according to an RCTV lawyer.

RCTV has been operating as a paid subscription channel since July 16,
2007, after the government pulled the station from public airwaves in
May of that year.  Known for its harsh opposition views, RCTV is the
country’s oldest private station, with 57 years on the air and on
cable and satellite. In a 2007 special report, “Static in Venezuela,”
CPJ concluded that the Venezuelan government failed to conduct a fair
and transparent review of RCTV’s concession renewal. The report, based
on a three-month investigation, found the government’s decision was a
predetermined and politically motivated effort to silence critical
coverage.