RCTV, Venezuelan Television Network
Date: 2007
Region: South America
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Television
Artist: Venezuela's RCTV network
Confronting Bodies: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
Date of Action: May 27, 2007
Location: Venezuela
Description of Artwork: The RCTV was Venezuela's oldest nationwide television network.
The Incident: Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez announced that he would not renew the license of the RCTV network. This incident occured after Chavez announced five months before RCTV's May 27 shutdown that he would not renew the network's license because of its news coverage during a 2002 coup attempt.
Results of Incident: Now, Chávez controls most nationwide television networks, and the ones that remain in private hands - except for Globovisiýn, which is on cable and doesn't have a nationwide reach - are self-censoring their news.
Source: ANDRES OPPENHEIMER, "OAS Silence on Venezuela Censorship is Scary," miamiherold.com, posted on June 7, 2007.
