July 20

President Chávez to name a member for Globovisión board of directors
President Hugo Chávez reported on July 20 that in the upcoming days the administrative board of Banco Federal must appoint a representative in the board of directors of private news TV channel Globovisión. He claimed that the government now has a 25.8-percent stake in the TV channel.

"(Nelson) Mezerhane has a business which has been seized, which holds 20 percent of shares in Globovisión, and another business which holds 5.8 percent; taken together, this makes 25.8 percent (…) Now, then, over the next few days, the administrative board of Banco Federal should, want it or not, appoint a representative in the board of directors of Globovisión, because we now own 25.8 percent of the stocks and this gives us the right to name a representative in the board of directors," Chávez reasoned.

"I am thinking about the nominee," said Chávez. "Mario Silva, the first candidate; he is a candidate." He also mentioned Alberto Nolia.

"We are not expropriating, but entering the business," he added.

July 21

Ex Globovisión's head: Government may not take shares
Alberto Federico Ravell, a Globovisión's shareholder was asked by CNN en Español, a Spanish language news channel, about the shares owned by Luis Teófilo Núñez. Ravell said: "President Hugo Chávez has referred to the shares of one of the founding partners (of the channel). His daughter is the owner of these shares."

"The authentication was made at the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), which is the agency responsible (under the law)," he added. Therefore, if someone intends to take these shares, Ravell considers that the president "would have to breach the law to take some shares other than those held by Banco Federal, which have been seized."

The former director of Globovisión and shareholder of the opposition TV station reported that he had talked with the staff of the network. "They have a strong desire to work harder," he said.

HRW demands closure of National Center for Situational Studies
Venezuela should close the National Center for Situational Studies, a recently created censorship office, as HRW considers that the office has broad powers to limit public dissemination of information, facts or circumstances that it decides should be confidential, said Human Rights Watch in a statement.

"Chávez has created a new tool for controlling public debate in Venezuela," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

IACHR asks Venezuela to report on protection to Globovisión's CEO
Venezuela should close the National Center for Situational Studies, a recently created censorship office, as HRW considers that the office has broad powers to limit public dissemination of information, facts or circumstances that it decides should be confidential, said Human Rights Watch in a statement.

"Chávez has created a new tool for controlling public debate in Venezuela," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

"The new office would allow the president to block the discussion of topics that are inconvenient for his government, blatantly violating the rights of expression and to information, which are at the heart of a democratic society," Vivanco said.

The HRW's director said that the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) explicitly prohibits prior censorship.

IACHR asks Venezuela to report on protection to Globovisión's CEO
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) urged the Venezuelan government, in a statement, to report "by July 23, 2010" on the measures taken to protect Guillermo Zuloaga, the owner of private TV news network Globovisión, and his son.

In a statement, Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, the Secretary of the IACHR, asked the Venezuelan government to submit by July 23 a report containing specific and detailed information about the measures taken by the Venezuelan government to protect the abovementioned citizens.

The letter was sent to lawyers Margarita Escudero and Nelly Herrera, along with Ana Cristina Núñez, Globovisión's legal counselor.

The IACHR noted that the last such report dates back to August 25, 2009.

US State Department to keep an eye over Globovisión case
The United States will keep a "watchful eye" over the case of private news TV channel Globovisión after the Venezuelan government announced that it would take up the majority shareholding, US State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley said on July 21.

"We will be watching," Crowley told reporters, as quoted by AFP.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said on July 20 that his government would take over 45.8 percent of its interest in Globovisión, a TV channel critical of his management. Chávez's government would become the owner by different means of the stocks which used to be in the hands of two executive officers.

"We expect the government to play a constructive role in this new relationship," Crowley said, adding that in the past Globovisión has been "subject to the government intimidation."

The US Government had previously expressed concern about a bench warrant issued last June against Guillermo Zuloaga, the Globovisión CEO, for the crime of usury, regarded as a sample of the "attack" from Chávez's government on freedom of speech.

IAPA condemns Venezuelan govn't attempts to control Globovisión
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) on July 21 condemned Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's announcement that his government aims to control nearly half of the shares of private television channel Globovisión.

Miami-based IAPA called the move to control Globovisión's shares a "flagrant abuse of press freedom and free enterprise in Venezuela."

Chavez said on July 20 that the Venezuelan government would control 45.8 percent of the shares. Reference was made to 28.5 percent of the shares held by banker Nelson Mezerhane, owner of Banco Federal, which was taken over by the Venezuelan government, and another 5.8 percent of shares owned by another shareholder.

Another 20 percent of the shares that the Venezuelan government seeks to control are the property of Luis Teófilo Nunez, who died in 2007, Efe reported.

IAPA President Alejandro Aguirre, expressed "profound repudiation of the authoritarian attitude of President (Hugo) Chávez's government," who, he said, "is giving another example of this blatant onslaught on press freedom and free enterprise." in Venezuela.

He added that this episode is part of a "strategy of concatenated outrages against private and independent media that have been recorded in the last decade. During such period, and in accordance with his (Chávez's) instructions, television and radio stations were closed, while newspapers were economically suffocated for the mere fact of monitoring the government actions and exercising their right to speak. "

In response to Chávez's announcement, the Venezuelan private television station on July 20 reaffirmed its editorial independence, adding that shareholders, according to its statutes, "are not entitled to appoint the members of the board of directors."

Globovisión added that it is established that "the members of the Board of Directors are appointed by the stockholders meeting, with the vote of shareholders representing more than 55 percent of social capital."

Further, the chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information of the IAPA, Robert Rivard, recalled that the IAPA has been complaining that the Venezuelan government began four years ago a "smear campaign against the TV channel and its CEO and owner Guillermo Zuloaga."

Zuloaga, added the IAPA, had to leave the country due to political, governmental and judicial persecution he is facing.

The IAPA announced on July 20 that it awarded the Grand Prize for Press Freedom to Guillermo Zuloaga for being a "symbol in the defense of press freedom."

July 22

Venezuelan government to be junior partner in Globovisión
Due to the government seizure of Banco Federal, the Venezuelan State could be a minority shareholder in private news TV channel Globovisión, but this does not empower it to elect a member for its board of directors, Ana Cristina Núñez, the TV station legal counsel, said.

As set forth in the bylaws of company Corpomedios GV Inversiones C.A., the concessioner of the Globovisión signal, the board of directors is elected by a meeting of shareholders holding 65 percent of the capital stock.

The owners of Corpomedios GV are three: Unitel de Venezuela, C.A., which holds 60 percent of the shares; Sindicatos Ávila, 20 percent, and DNS Inversiones 2000 C.A., also 20 percent.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez would like his government to appoint a representative for the channel board of directors. However, according to the legal counsel, "No matter the numbers made by the president, in any case, they do not match; in no event they would reach 65 percent (of the shares)."

July 23

RSF criticizes Chávez for iron fist on media
Reporters without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, RSF), a nongovernmental organization based in Paris that advocates freedom of the press, criticized on July 23 Hugo Chávez's Administration for its attempt to control Venezuela's media.

Previously, the Venezuelan president had announced that his government was about to have a majority stake in the private TV news Globovisión. The decision, according to the watchdog monitoring media freedoms, "totally violates the principle of transparency."

The move will have a drastic impact on the work of journalists, said in a statement the organization that monitors press freedom worldwide.

RSF lamented that Venezuela is increasingly diverging from other Latin American countries such as Argentina, Uruguay or Brazil, which "have decriminalized press offenses and created the legal bases for more media pluralism."