Chávez opposition re-energized

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's decision to pull the plug on an anti-government television station has prompted days of protests and generated international condemnation, giving a weak and demoralized opposition a rallying cry after years of setbacks.

University students carrying flags and chanting, "We are students, not coup plotters," faced off Friday with riot police at Caracas' Andres Bello Catholic University. Nearly 200 protesters have been arrested since last Sunday, when Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, aired its last broadcast after 54 years. Thousands of Chávez supporters filled the streets of Caracas on Saturday in response.

Authorities here say that RCTV supported a coup that dislodged Chávez for two days in 2002 and consistently violated a range of telecommunications regulations, leading the government not to renew its broadcast license when it expired.

But press-freedom groups note that the station has not been officially sanctioned, nor have its owners or managers been charged with conspiracy against the state. Other private stations that were harshly anti-Chávez but have toned down critical coverage avoided the same fate, as communications Minister William Lara readily acknowledged in an interview broadcast Friday on CNN's Spanish-language service.

Polls show that 65 to 80 percent of Venezuelan respondents disagreed with the government's decision to end RCTV's concession, though many were simply upset that they wouldn't be able to see some of their favorite soap operas.

The widespread dissatisfaction has re-energized an opposition movement that lost much of its momentum after its efforts to recall Chávez were defeated in 2004 and after its decision to boycott parliamentary elections in 2005 left it without representation in the National Assembly.

While condemnation from the Bush administration, an ideological foe of Venezuela, was expected, criticism has come from many quarters around the world, some of them surprising.

Spain's Socialist government, in a joint declaration with the United States, called Friday for Chávez to renew RCTV's license. The European Parliament voiced concern, and Brazil's Senate passed a resolution calling on Chávez to reconsider.

Reporters Without Borders, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, the Chilean Senate and the Atlanta-based Carter Center have said freedom of expression could be in peril in Venezuela. "I think this weakens the Chávez government's argument that it furthers free expression," said Carlos Lauria, who has studied the case for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The criticism has prompted a a diplomatic offensive by the Venezuelan government.

In the U.S., Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez told CNN that the RCTV workers would be able to find other jobs. Other government representatives emphasized that the nonrenewal was little more than a bureaucratic measure.

Chávez, speaking Thursday, warned that "international rightist, extreme-rightist and fascist movements are attacking Venezuela from everywhere — from Europe, the United States, Brasilia." That theme — that Chávez is in mortal danger — is constant in Venezuela, and political analysts say it is used to manipulate public opinion.

Michael Shifter, a senior analyst for the Inter-American Dialogue, a policy group in Washington, D.C., that closely follows Venezuela, said he didn't think it would get much traction this time.

"All of his previous attacks were on the corrupt capitalists, but this goes way beyond that and it touches on Venezuela's cultural identity," Shifter said of Chávez. "It's very hard for him to talk of the rancid oligarchy here. These are university students protesting, not part of the old order."

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.