A while back Maegan told us that Venezuela president Hugo Chavez was trying to pull the plug on Caracas’ oldest broadcaster, RCTV. The Washington Post reports that the hate that festers in the President’s camp was spurred by many things. One of them happens to be an apparent aversion towards telenovelas.

Government officials openly disparage RCTV’s daily programming — seeing its soaps as akin to pornography. The president has accused RCTV of “poisoning the souls of children with irresponsible sex.”

I’m sorry, living in a Latin American country that doesn’t allow me to view telenovelas does qualify as totalitarian. One government organizer is quoted as saying:

“The children are the ones affected for many years by the sex, by the violence of these programs that go against the morality of children, that go against the morality of the Venezuelan people.”

Come on, Huguito. Your buddy Fidel has even allowed for a gay novela for his people to view.

On a more serious note, being “anti-government” is no reason to have one’s license revoked in a free society. Apparently Hugo’s camp doesn’t feel the same way. Chavez’s government charges that

RCTV has shown nothing but contempt for them. “They were part of the team of conspirators,” said Saul Ortega, a congressman. “It’s a subversive channel that skirts the law. In no other country would that have been permitted.”

Still, the government has not filed charges against any of RCTV’s directors. Officials cite the station’s anti-government position as a motivation for the non-renewal of its license, set to expire at the end of May.

Expect to see many a Venezuelan telenovela actor arriving in Miami in the coming months.

Via / Washington Post