Chavez's media war

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez condemned his country's last remaining opposition television station with typically histrionic bluster this week, two days after yanking the plug on another critical broadcaster, RCTV. He labelled news channel Globovisión an enemy of the state, accused it of sedition and of encouraging attempts to assassinate him.

Chavez can point to some justification for the closure of RCTV.

• After he was democratically elected president in 1998, RCTV -- controlled by members of the country's oligarchy -- decided Chavez and his "Bolivarian Revolution" on behalf of Venezuela's majority poor were threats to the country's prosperity.
• RCTV's most concerted effort to oust Chavez came during the attempted putsch of April 11, 2002. For two days before the unrest, RCTV offered a non-stop diet of anti-Chavez rhetoric and permitted no response from the government.

Chavez hopes that the 'threats' to his life will justify his attempts to impose hegemony over the media. Few will be fooled. The erosion of press freedom signals a government that is drifting towards Cuba-style authoritarianism.

Increased risk of violence

Street protests over RCTV's closure look set to continue into next week; the police have reportedly arrested 182 protesters since shuttering the station on May 27. State television has depicted the marchers as vandals and fascists, while private networks, cowed by the government, have ignored or played down the protests.

Chavez's autocratic handling of the closure and of international criticism has given renewed impetus to the opposition, at a time when strains are becoming apparent in some elements of his own alliance. As both government and opposition take up increasingly radicalised positions, the risk of renewed instability and political violence will rise this year.