This is a guest post from Katherin in Caracas. I’ve clumsily translated it from Spanish and chopped it down from its original 2000+ words. The decision to take RCTV of the air has caused considerable controversy and a flurry of wooly liberalism. Katherin’s piece, despite my poor translation, gives a flavour of how the counter revolution is using this as a moblising issue. My view is that the station should have been taken from its owners when it supported the original coup attempt and that its facilities should have been given to a democratically accountable group of supporters of the revolution. Would any socialist in Britain seriously allow Rupert Murdoch to retain control of his broadcasting and press outlets if a similar social transformation were taking place here? Of course not. We would make The Simpsons freely available under workers’ control. There are a some useful links at the foot of this piece. Katherin, in the Spanish text, gives a lot of detail on the legal framework which I’ve edited out to save time. Anyone who wants the original can have it by e mail.
Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) had its origins in the Venezuelan Radio Corporation (CORAVEN) and is the doyenne of the Venezuelan private television service. Along with businesses as Radio Caracas Radio, Etheron, Sonográfica, Fonovideo, Recordland, 92.9 your FM (radio), it is part of the 1broadcasting Businesses group Caracas (1BC), owned by Marcel Granier.
A number of social and media organisations have accused RCTV of inciting people to cause crimes, an information blackout and spreading war propaganda. These are all things that are in breach of the country’s Bolivarian constitution. They are also violations of the rules governing broadcasting in the country.
RCTV maintained an openly destabilizing position during the coup d’etat of April of the 2002, first calling openly for people to take the streets against the government of the president Chávez, and then ignoring the popular demonstrations that clamoured for the return of constitutional order. It wanted national and international public opinion to believe that all was in order and nothing was happening in the country.
It owes its workers money too. It hasn’t paid into the Social Security Fund since 1995 and its debt is now 222 682 115.65 bolivares. It has guilty verdicts against it in the Supreme Court which prohibited it from broadcasting advertisements for prostitution services and pornography. In March 2007, the Superior Court of Caracas sentenced that RCTV to pay of 1.494.729.486 bolivars for tax evasion due to the non inclusion of the totality of its gross income.
RCTV started broadcasting on the 27 of May of 198. The Telecommunications law says that “the concession for broadcasters and television transmitters will be granted by 20 years”; This elapsed on the 27 of next May. The Venezuelan State reserves for itself the use and concession of the country’s broadcasting spectrum. The company’s owners still retain control of their buildings and equipment. Although they cannot broadcast on the airwaves they are free to broadcast over the cable network.
The State proposes to create a public television service which will broadcast alternative media, independent producers and popular organisations which will be a big step forward in democratising broadcasting in a a country in which 78% of it is in private hands.
Birth of TVes and Alba TV
Since RCTV has had its licence withdrawn debates and reflections have arisen in Venezuela among the social organizations, local councils, media workers independent producers and other popular organizations to define what the new channel 2 as something that will be a public service, educational, cultural and informative as well as democratic and participatory. It is conceived of as a public channel whose contents will be made by independent national producers.
Taking the democratization of mass media beyond the Venezuelan borders we have the parallel initiative of Alba (Dawn) TV. This is a project for the integration of peoples across the social movements and communities through communal and alternative TV stations in the continent, to establish a people’s communication power. Alba TV has two founding principles. The first of these is the creation of an international community channel which functions as a means of expression for the people and which can be broadcast by each social movement or locality which is part of the Alba network. The second is the establishment and strengthening of communities of TV producers fighting for the democratization of the airwaves in their countries through the creation of Escuela Popular e Internacional de Cine (EPIC) as an engine for Alba TV.
The decision not to renew RCTV’s licence has caused uproar in the national and international media. There have been student demonstrations during the week. On Monday 28 May students organised by the right wing student group Red Flag violently demonstrated on the streets of Caracas calling for the reopening of RCTV. The municipal police dissolved the demonstration. On the Tuesday there was a demonstration in Plaza Morelos supporting the decision not to renew RCTV’s licence and against the manipulation of the media. Since then there have been several violent protests by students who have been manipulated by the media and several peaceful one by students who support the government’s decision.
The Young Communists of Venezuela, the Utopia Movement, the M-28 Movement, The Francisco de Miranda Front and representatives of the peasant and trade union movements are some of the organisations that have come out in support of the revolution. So too have students from Universidad Experimental Politécnica, la Universidad Nacional Experimental de las Fuerzas Armadas y la Universidad Bolivariana de Venezuela.
Alba Conas, one of the students taking part in one of the demonstrations said “it is important to emphasize, and all the Venezuelans must be clear that the private mass media are fulfilling the orders of the empire, at this moment they are trying to stage a spectacular, they are trying to introduce the idea of overthrowing President Chavez who was legally elected by us. They are trying to play on the people’s emotions by showing us actresses in tears and trying to make people feel solidarity with fictional characters.”
On Monday 31 May in a Montalban service station Andreina Gomez Guevara was shot dead. Two men are currently being held by the police. Speaking about the murder of the young student Minister Pedro Carreno had appealed for it not to manipulated by people who wanted to stir up the public mood. The following day the Public Defender German Mundarain said that 64 people have been detained for incitement to cause criminal acts and blocking the streets during the student protests. He said that “the state undertakes to guarantee the rights of people who organise demonstrations but it is obliged to maintain public order.
Vice President Jorge Rodríguez talking about the student demonstrations said “where were the leaders and members of the parties of the Fourth Republic (the old regime) who
carried out and oversaw the torture and destruction of the universities, the repression and murder of students. Now they are asking students to die again.
This excellent piece is from Socialist Appeal’s Venezuelan co-thinkers.
The Socialist Unity blog has James P Cannon’s speech from the dock defending revolution.
This article by Ernest Mandel is on the dictatorship of the proletariat and what it means.
Liam redux 
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