Politics
Marcelino Bisbal, director of Graduate Studies at Caracas-based Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) and communication expert, said that President Hugo Chávez, "has a deep fear of independent media, those that are not part of his media system, because they show the incompetence and inefficiency of his administration."

"In this sense, the government needs to restrict freedom of expression and it also has to create mechanisms of fear and intimidation that ultimately result in self-censorship," Bisbal said.