Venezuela’s Minister of Communication and Information, Andres Izarra, has announced that the government will create a national alternative media network in a bid to bring together the country’s numerous community media sources.
The governor of Monagas state in eastern Venezuela, Jose Gregorio “the Cat” Briceño, has been suspended from the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and faces a disciplinary procedure which could possibly lead to his expulsion from the party.
Over 53 social collectives from the Caracas neighbourhood, 23 Enero (23 January) have protested against what they describe as a corporate media attempt to generate violence in the area, after media outlets such as Ultimas Noticias and Globovision reported that there was a “war” between revolutionary groups in the working class neighbourhood.
An initial government statement reports that an operation on President Hugo Chavez on a lesion in the same area where he had a cancerous tumour removed last year, has been successful. Nevertheless, private media, using the recently leaked Stratfor emails, are announcing he has just one or two years to live.
Yesterday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that he would require another operation, this time to extract a lesion from the pelvic region of his body. Opposition spokespeople and international press have speculated about the seriousness of the surgery, suggesting “uncertainty” before the presidential elections.
Venezuela’s National Commission of Telecommunications (CONATEL) has allocated funds to 31 community and alternative media outlets in order to strengthen and guarantee their operational capacity, as well as improve their internet and telephone access.
“2012 is going to be a decisive year. There will be various elections, including the presidential elections in October. That means that the manipulations, lies, and distortions by both Venezuelan and international private media will be even more intense than usual,” said VA writer Tamara Pearson.
Yesterday opposition news channel Globovision went to the Administrative Dispute Court to appeal a large fine levied against it for inciting fear. Four opposition candidates arrived outside the court to “rally” to the channel’s political cause.
Venezuela’s National Telecommunications Council (CONATEL) imposed a US$ 2.16 million (Bs 9.3 million) penalty yesterday on right wing news station Globovision, equivalent to 7.5% of its gross income in 2010, for manipulation and causing fear with its coverage of the El Rodeo Prison hostage situation.
The Libyan Resistance News Agency (ANRL) was inaugurated yesterday in Caracas at a forum in the Gallegos Foundation Centre for Latin American Studies (CELARG).
The U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, met with Venezuelan private media companies El Nacional, Globovision, and the Cisneros Group, to discuss their political content.
This Monday, Venezuelan women marched to the District Attorney’s Office in Caracas demanding that the office take action against the weekly newspaper “6to Poder” (6th Power) for having engaged in “symbolic violence against women”.
According to a recent study on internet usage in Latin America, the Venezuelan people stand third in the region when it comes to use of social networking media such as Facebook and Twitter.
