VZCZCXYZ0023
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSG #0939 1622151
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 112151Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1628
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 1752
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 3679
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 0349
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1419
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 5119
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1719
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000939 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR R, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, INR/IAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OPRC KIPR PGOV CI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: CRITICAL OP-EDS ON OAS REACTION TO RCTV 
SHUTDOWN 
 
 
¶1.  Newspaper-of-record "El Mercurio" (circ. 129,000, 6/8) carried a 
column by Andres Oppenheimer entitled, "The Sad Spectacle of 
Cowardice Among Democracies."  Quote: 
 
¶2.  "The silence of the majority of Latin American countries in the 
OAS on the closing of Venezuela's oldest television station is a 
serious setback for freedom of the press and democracy in the 
region. 
 
¶3.  "In one of the most shameless signs of disdain for freedom of 
the press I have seen in a long time, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and 
Ecuador not only abstained from criticizing Venezuela's decision not 
to renew RCTV's concession, but openly applauded it....  And what is 
even harder to understand is that Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina -- 
the region's three largest countries and with recent authoritarian 
governments or military dictatorships -- did not mention the RCTV 
case in their remarks....  Diplomats from several countries said 
they could not explicitly refer to Venezuela who as a sovereign 
country has the right not to renew television concessions... that 
the RCTV case has been submitted for review by the OAS Human Rights 
Committee... and that Secretary Rice's request for an OAS mission to 
Venezuela... must be submitted in writing to be discussed....  These 
are all lame excuses.... 
 
¶4.  Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina... should at least have expressed 
their concern over censorship in Venezuela citing the OAS Democratic 
Charter....  This is the first time since the right-wing military 
dictatorship of the 70s that I see a group of Latin American 
countries... openly applauding press censorship without awakening an 
enraged protest from democracies in the region....  Judging from the 
sad spectacle in Panama, now Ecuador, Bolivia, and Nicaragua, who 
have already begun threatening the independent media... will now 
feel more encouraged than ever to crush the independent press." 
 
¶5.  Conservative, afternoon daily "La Segunda" (circ. 33,000, 6/8) 
carried a column by columnist Jorge Edwards entitled, "A Story that 
Can Not Repeat Itself."  Quote: 
 
¶6.  "It seems fairly clear to me that Hugo Chavez dreams of 
repeating Fidel Castro's story....  But Hugo Chavez'... onset is far 
from having the height... of the vision of that revolution that 
aspired to be different from all previous revolutions....  Chavez' 
story, from wherever you look, is more mediocre and less inspiring. 
 And Latin America's response, with the exception of a few, is 
frankly deplorable in the poorness of its principles." 
 
KELLY