EL UNIVERSAL
 
While the case of non-renewal of the broadcast license for private television station RCTV by the Venezuelan government ignited a heated debate at the 37th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), the topic was not included in the agenda the plenary session is addressing to prepare their final resolution.

During her intervention before the plenary session of the OAS General Assembly, held in Panama, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza to take care of the issue and visit Venezuela. "The United States Senate has called on the OAS to address this issue (non-renewal of RCTV broadcast license). President (George W.) Bush and I agree. In keeping with Article 18 of the Democratic Charter, we urge the Secretary General to go to Venezuela to consult in good faith with all    
interested parties and to present a full report to the Foreign Ministers through the Permanent Council."

Under Article 18 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, "when situations arise in a member state that may affect the development of its democratic political institutional process or the legitimate exercise of power, the Secretary General or the Permanent Council may, with prior consent of the government concerned, arrange for visits or other actions in order to analyze the situation. The Secretary General will submit a report to the Permanent Council, which will undertake a collective assessment of the situation and, where necessary, may adopt decisions for the preservation of the democratic system and its strengthening."

"The demand for freedom and democracy has transformed this hemisphere in but a few short decades. Today, we can hear the voices of our people more clearly than ever. Their expectations are high and their patience is not unlimited. They want good governments and economic opportunity (...) They want their rights protected and their neighborhoods safe (...) And they want limitless horizons for their children," Rice stressed.
 
"When you start closing television stations because they express opposition to authorities, it is indeed a strong move against democracy," Rice said while on board of the plane that took her to the 37th General Assembly of OAS in Panama, AFP reported. She added "this is not the first move of this kind in Venezuela, but it is perhaps the most drastic one."

"We have heard many people voicing protests, and these protests need to be taken care of," Rice said in connection with RCTV case.

Counterattack
Meanwhile, Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro replied to Rice's statements by saying that "the intervention of the US representative is an unacceptable interventionism in the domestic affairs of a democratic, sovereign republic."

He added that "the agenda for this General Assembly has been outraged," and reminded that the central topic of the meeting was "energy for sustainable development."

"OAS should designate a commission to assess daily human right abuses perpetrated over the southern border of the United States," said Maduro, and rejected the "wall of indignity" Washington is building on the border with Mexico.

He reminded alleged human right abuses at the US military base of Guantánamo in Cuba, where Washington holds the prisoners of "its war against terror." "It would be good to see this (US) government -which has self-proclaimed the champion of freedom of expression- show the list and the faces of the prisoners held in Guantánamo."

Withdrawal
Rice's reply did not take long. "on any issue, I am quite certain that it would be difficult for any commission to debate more fully, to investigate more fully, to criticize more fully the policies of the United States Government than is done every night on CNN, on ABC, on CBS, on NBC and on any number of smaller channels in the United States."

The US diplomat stressed that "in a democracy the citizens of a country should have the assurance that the policies of their government will be held up for criticism by a free and independent press without the interference of their government. The citizens of the United States have that assurance. I sincerely hope that the citizens of Venezuela will have that assurance as well."
 
Following her remarks, Rice left the meeting without listening to Maduro's reply.

The Venezuelan diplomat continued to raid on the situation of the US clandestine jails, where prisoners "without name and without face" are held.

There was no clear indication on whether the issue of press freedom in Venezuela would be addressed at the official final documents of OAS General Assembly, which ends on Tuesday, as OAS decisions are taken by consensus and this could allow Caracas to block any criticisms.

Translated by Maryflor Suárez R.
msuarez@eluniversal.com