Venezuela to Shut Down 285 Radio and Television Stations

Atlas is receiving word that  the government in Venezuela is moving to swiftly limit free speech in the country shutting down radio and television stations, and may move against our partner think tank there, CEDICE. This video, produced by CEDICE has garnered much attention. Mario Vargas Llosa and Fundacion Internacional para la Libertad have acted quickly to prepare the below declaration in support of freedom of speech and CEDICE in Venezuela.

According to the EFE news agency, the Venezuelan government intends to close 285 radio and TV stations. This arbitrary move taken under the pretext of a laughable bureaucratic measure, is occurring just over two years after the closing of Radio Caracas Televisión. These closings, sparked by the unjustified legal harassment of CEDICE for its campaigns to alert the public about the government’s attacks on private property, demonstrates that the Chavez regime has turned into a military dictatorship with totalitarian aims, which include the elimination of fundamental liberties.

The Fundación Internacional para la Libertad, (FIL, International Foundation for Liberty), strongly condemns these unacceptable actions. It asks all the governments of the free world and the OAS, if it takes its Democratic Charter seriously, as well as all the institutions which work to safeguard freedom, to denounce in all possible international forums the anti-democratic conduct of the Chávez administration. Not doing so would turn them into accomplices of this new violation of human rights against the Venezuelan people.

MARIO VARGAS LLOSA
PRESIDENT
Official Spanish Declaration

Update: Endorsements of this Declaration should be sent to the Executive Secretary of FIL.