Chavez pulls plug on ‘subversive’ TV station

VENEZUELA’S oldest private television station was pushed off the air as President Hugo Chavez’s government replaced the popular opposition-aligned network with a new state-funded channel.

Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) shut down just before midnight on Sunday as its broadcast license expired. Chavez refused to renew its license, accusing the channel of ‘‘subversive’’ activities.

The new channel, TVES, launched its transmissions with artists singing pro-Chavez music, then carried an exercise program and a talk show, interspersed with government ads proclaiming, ‘‘Now Venezuela belongs to everyone.’’

In the countdown to the midnight deadline, thousands of RCTV backers banged pots in protest and played recordings of sirens. Some fired gunshots into the air.

Inside the studios of RCTV — the sole opposition-aligned TV station with nationwide reach — disheartened actors bowed their heads, and presenter Nelson Bustamante said: ‘‘Long live Venezuela! We will return soon.’’

Chavez says he is democratising the airwaves by turning the network’s signal over to public use. His opponents condemned the move as an assault on free speech.