Germán Mundaraín, the Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, exercised on Tuesday his right to reply to the United States during a session of the Council on Human Rights. The diplomat claimed that the United States "defames progressive peoples and governments" when pointing to alleged human right abuses. During the 14th UN session, the UN delegate made some remarks against several countries, including Venezuela, a communiqué of the...

Three years after the first shutdown of private TV station Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), non-governmental organization Un Mundo Sin Mordaza (A World without censorship) conducted a national survey in major Venezuelan cities as part of an initiative called "Having an opinion is not a crime." At that time, the government refused to renew a broadcast concession of private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión. The poll probed into people's view of the Venezuelan...

As usual at this time since 2002, President Hugo Chávez devoted four hours, fifteen minutes of his TV and radio show "Aló, Presidente" on Sunday 11 to relate his version of the events of April 11-13. There, he remembered "the martyrs of Llaguno Bridge, unarmed people who exposed their chests to a rain of bullets." Lavish in details and anecdotes which made himself and the audience laugh at the courtyard of Miraflores presidential palace, Chávez did...

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) joined numerous prominent individuals and international organizations calling for the immediate release of ex presidential candidate and former governor of the state of Zulia, Oswaldo Álvarez Paz. In a letter sent to Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez, the human rights watchdog declared Álvarez Paz a prisoner of conscience of his government. Last week, playwright and former Czech President Vaclav Havel -who also heads the HRF's...

Amnesty International urged the Venezuelan authorities to stop targeting government critics following a series of politically motivated arrests. At least three individuals seen as opposed to President Hugo Chávez were arrested and charged in March alone. "Charges brought for political reasons against critics are being used to silence dissent and prevent others from speaking out," said Guadalupe Marengo, Americas Deputy Director at Amnesty International. ...

The arrest of two prominent critics in retaliation for public statements that were critical of the government is a serious blow to freedom of expression in Venezuela, Human Rights Watch said today. “To prosecute someone for speech, which should be protected under any standard of democracy, is a dangerous precedent,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “The violations of free speech are likely to be compounded by a trial that falls far...

Although the 40th Control Court of the Caracas Metropolitan Area late on Thursday released the president of opposition TV network Globovisión Guillermo Zuloaga, the media owner will have to stand trial for allegedly offending and slandering the Venezuelan President and for making false statements. During the court hearing held on Thursday at the Palace of Justice, Judge Jesús Alberto Villarroel prohibited Zuloaga from leaving the country, granting him conditional release. ...

Interview / Catalina Botero, OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Organization of American States (OAS), Colombian Catalina Botero, is afraid that more democratic and participatory mechanisms than Internet can hardly be found. For this reason, she added, States should maximize citizens' active participation in the web and prevent the adoption of rules which restrict web access or contents, except for extreme cases of banned...

The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), which is holding its mid-year meeting in Aruba since last Friday, condemned the "actions of President Hugo Chávez's government against freedom of expression" and steps to "eliminate" news media in Venezuela. In a statement released on Monday, the IAPA agreed to "denounce and condemn the actions of President Chávez's government against freedom of expression and the right to information." The press...

Washington, DC - The Chávez administration should not abuse its authority to compel broadcast of presidential speeches that promote the government's political agenda, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 23, 2010, the Chávez government threatened to take action against cable providers that aired channels that did not comply with Venezuelan regulations, including the requirement to interrupt regular broadcasting to broadcast presidential speeches. The following day, the...