Venezuela
Chavez and Freedom of the PressPosted Nov 17 2010
The Inter-American Press Association has accused Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez of using Cold-war era tactics to restrict news and press freedom, an AFP article says.
A report brought forth by David Natera of the IAPA found 113 incidents of assaults on reporters in the past year in Venezuela.
“To achieve this perverse end, Chavez needs silence, the silence of the media and of journalists. He needs the silence and the fear that were typical of the sad and oppressed peoples of Cold War-era eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and today's Cuba under (Raul) Castro,” the report charged.
Chavez has been accused of harassing media by shutting down and expropriating in order to make the people Venezuela more dependent on the state.