Chavez defends TV decision as thousands march

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez defended his decision not to renew the licence of a popular opposition-aligned television network and warned he might crack down on another TV station, accusing it of trying to incite attempts on his life.

Mr Chavez said his refusal to renew the licence of Radio Caracas Television, which went off the air at midnight on Sunday, is “a sovereign, legitimate decision”.

He said another station Globovision – one of the few channels that is still harshly anti-government – had encouraged attempts on his life and could also face sanctions.

“I recommend (Globovision) take a tranquilliser, that they slow down, because if not, I’m going to slow them down,” Mr Chavez said.

Mr Chavez did not elaborate, but said some broadcasters and newspapers were conspiring to spark unrest and warned that radio stations should not be inciting violence by “manipulating” public sentiment.

“A new destabilisation plan is under way,” Mr Chavez said, calling for his supporters to be “on alert” and ordering officials to closely monitor media coverage.

Globovision’s legal advisor Perla Jaimes said Mr Chavez had no legal basis to sanction the channel and said it would not be intimidated by the warnings.

“Globovision is not going to change its editorial line,” Jaimes said. “We are only and exclusively doing our job … we cannot stop transmitting the news. We cannot self-censor. We have to broadcast everything that is happening in the country.”

Thousands – both Chavez supporters and opponents – staged separate marches in Caracas yesterday. The Chavez opponents chanted “freedom” while government supporters said they were in the streets to reject an opposition attempt to stir up violence.

Government opponents remained in the streets into the evening as police stood by. The protesters earlier shouted insults against Venezuelan tycoon Gustavo Cisneros whose local TV channel, Venevision, has sharply toned down its coverage, and some accuse it of caving to government pressure.