Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz has been asked to investigate independent TV station Globovision, after allegations it had “undermined” President Hugo Chavez by broadcasting a news report that showed him chewing coca leaves.
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Hugo Chavez’s defeat in the recent constitutional referendum came despite massive media manipulation, writes Daniel Duquenal
On December 2 Venezuela held a referendum to modify 69 articles of its constitution. The goal was to give President Chavez the means to remain in office for as long as he could get away with. But the narrow No vote gave the Chavez administration an expiration date: 2013. The reform proposal was overtaken by secrecy and misinformation. It all started early in 2007, with the naming of a special commission sworn to secrecy in its debates.
On August 15 the president himself read the 33 first targeted articles. Public discussion was short. The campaign muddled the issues. When first polls showed a certain apprehension about the ‘reforma’ the chavismo [pro-Chavez parties] decided to make the contest a plebiscite on Chavez, with all the implications in a country where the state has developed an overwhelming media system at its service. (more…)