Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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May 26, 2007

Venezuelan TV Station Ordered to Hand Over Equipment to Government
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=179EBB0:A6F02AD83191E160991B96A9C00B52409574F7DCC14957C0 Government shutting
down Radio Caracas Television





Venezuelan journalists hold a press conference in Caracas to express
their opposal to the closure of Radio Caracas Television channel after
the government of President Hugo Chavez refused to renew its
broadcasting license, 25 May 2007The Venezuelan Supreme Court has
ordered a private television station to surrender its transmission
equipment to the government, which is shutting the station down.

The court also ordered the Venezuelan military to guard the equipment
of Radio Caracas Television as part of a ruling issued Friday. RCTV,
Venezuela's oldest private broadcaster and a frequent critic of
President Hugo Chavez, will go off the air Sunday. Officials say its
license was canceled because it supported an unsuccessful coup against
Mr. Chavez in 2002.

The high court has rejected the station's request to stay on the air
during an appeal of the government's decision. National Guard units
have been deployed in the capital of Caracas ahead of expected
demonstrations. The government says a new public-service channel will
take up RCTV's frequencies Monday.







University students protest in Caracas, 25 May 2007 Chavez decision to
not renew broadcasting license of Radio Caracas TelevisionRCTV is one
of Venezuela's most popular broadcasters. Reporters in Caracas have
said a large majority of the population opposes its closure.

The U.S. Senate passed a unanimous resolution Friday condemning Mr.
Chavez and his government for what the Senate called "an assault
against freedom of thought and expression [that] can not be accepted
by democratic countries."

Similar reaction came from many news media organizations across Latin
America.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.


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