Large-scale protests sparked by the closure by President Hugo Chavez on May 27 of the most popular TV station in Venezuela are continuing on a daily basis in Caracas. They have been met by government-organized counter protests and by intermittent violence, which may be responsible for one murder.
Leading the protests are students from Caracas's several universities. But since the students have taken to the streets, they have been joined by large numbers of sympathetic adults. The crowds are said at times to number in the tens of thousands.
While the protests were triggered by Chavez's decision not to renew the broadcast license of RCTV, they are about much more than the TV station. In e-mails sent to The Epoch Times students taking part in these protests explained their motives.
One student said, "We are not protesting for RCTV, we are protesting for our freedom to think differently than the president and his comrades … We only want a free country."
Another student referred to Chavez's rule as a "dictatorship" and said he was attempting the "Cubanization of Venezuela."
This student continued, "It is a socialist model that wants us all to be poor. It is not based on the thought 'Why can't everyone be as rich (economically and mentally) as X?' Instead, this system is based on the thought 'Why isn't X as poor as everyone else?'"
Another student commented that Chavez's response to the protests showed "that the government will not stop its violence and will carry out any plan to 'shut-up' the voices of the future of Venezuela."
Government Violence
The students have painted their hands white as symbols of non-violence, and on the whole their demonstrations have been peaceful.
Chavez has employed the police, the National Guard, and various groups of irregulars caught in You Tube videos wearing red caps and brandishing weapons.
At times the government forces have been restrained, at other times in the past week and one half they have attacked, beating protesters, using tear gas and water cannon, and firing rubber bullets and sometimes real ones.
On June 1 the 24-year-old student Ms.Andreina Gomez Guevara was killed. Some students claim to have seen police murder her. Immediately after her death the government issued a statement saying a "violent protester" had been killed. Later in the day, it announced Ms. Gomez had not been protesting and was killed in a private matter by two thugs whom the government had caught.
Whatever the truth of Ms. Guevara's murder, there have been a goodly number of students injured—no one has an exact count.
Fired at close range, the rubber bullets used by the police can cause serious injuries. The students call these bullets when fired at close range "quema ropa," or burning cloth. The bullets can set clothes on fire and can penetrate the body.
However, the students say they have not been daunted by the government violence, and vow to continue their protests until the situation changes.
Counter Protest
On Saturday, Chavez attempted to demonstrate his own popular support, and staged what was meant to be a mass counter demonstration.
Large numbers of buses were used to bring in Chavez supporters from the countryside. In addition, according to media reports, government workers were required to attend.
The students claim to have heard that the Chavez supporters were each given a red hat, a red t-shirt, a free lunch, a free beer and fifty thousand bolivares (about 25 dollars). A Fox News reporter described the gathering as "apathetic."
Concerned that if they encountered the Chavez supporters violence might break out, the students did not on this day carry out a mass demonstration on the city's streets.
Instead, the students gathered on the the Cota Mil road, in front of the Avila Magica Park inside Caracas, where they spelled out the word "Libertad" (freedom).
Media Matters
Most of the TV viewers in Venezuela never got the chance to see the students' graphic depiction of what they are asking for.
Of the 11 TV stations in Caracas, the only one that covers the protests in a way that would report on the students' message is the very weak Globovision.
The seven government TV stations, when they do mention the students, refer to them as "Servants of the U.S. Empire."
As for Globovision, Chavez has a few times since the protests began hinted that he might close it next.
While Chavez has been able to gain dominance of the TV stations in Venezuela, he has not been able to provide a product the people want to see, as witnessed by RCTV, now under his government's managment.
RCTV had, according to the Nielsen Ratings service, a dominant 44 percent share of the Venezuelan market. At last report, this share for the Chavez-run station had slipped below 6 percent.
A.M. Mora y Leon on the "American Thinker" blog reports that, due to this humiliating slide in the audience share, Chavez has resorted to stealing U.S. TV programs for broadcast on RCTV. So far even his stealing content seems not to have helped restore the station's popularity.
On Tuesday, Reporters Without Borders condemned Chavez's seizure of RCTV and promised to refer the matter to to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Council of Europe.
Also on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice condemned the closing of RCTV at a meeting of the Organization of American States.
These condemnations may not mean much to Chavez. Over the weekend, Chavez shut down two Internet sites that were reporting on the protests: Radio Caracas (the Internet site for RCTV) and Radionexx.
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