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Public image of Hugo Chávez

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Hugo Chávez, the President of Venezuela from 1999 until 2013, has elicited a variety of public perceptions regarding his policies, personality, and performance as a head of state.

Domestic media

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Private media

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Further information: Censorship in Venezuela

In 2006, President Chávez announced that the shut down of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), Venezuela's second largest TV channel.[1] The channel's twas shut down on 28 May 2007 and was replaced with a state network, TVes.[2] This action was condemned by a multitude of international organizations.[3][4][5][6] In a poll conducted by Datanálisis, almost 70 percent of Venezuelans polled opposed the shut-down.[2]

In 2007, the Venezuelan government filed a complaint against Globovisión with the Attorney General Office.[7] Chávez demanded sanctions against Globovisión, calling station director Alberto Federico Ravell "We're not going to tolerate a crazy man with a cannon shooting it at the whole world".[8][9] This action was criticized by two officials who monitor freedom of speech, Frank La Rue of the United Nations and Catalina Botero of the Organization of American States (OAS).[10] By 2008, Reporters Without Borders reported that following "years of 'media war,' Hugo Chávez and his government took control of almost the entire broadcast sector".[9]

The private media in Venezuela was eventually pressured by the Venezuelan government into self-censorship.[11] Reporters Without Borders said that the media in Venezuela is "almost entirely dominated by the government and its obligatory announcements, called cadenas[12] while Freedom House stated that "many previously opposition-aligned outlets have altered their editorial stances to avoid drawing the government’s ire" with censorship increasing significantly during the final years of Chávez's presidency.[11] Since Chávez's death, private media organizations such as El Universal, Globovisión and Últimas Noticias were bought by individuals linked to the Venezuelan government.[13]

State media

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Aló Presidente

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Further information: Aló Presidente

In 2001, Chávez turned Aló Presidente from a radio show to a full-fledged live, unscripted, television show on public-owned media that ran during all hours of the day promoting the Bolivarian Revolution.[14] The show aired every Sunday, depicting Chávez (wearing red, the color of the revolution) as the charismatic leader, passionate about the well being of his country.[15] Many Venezuelans tuned in because Chávez was known for unveiling new financial assistance packages every weekend.[16] Chávez spent an average of 40 hours a week on television.[17] The show was considered the principal link between the Venezuelan government and its citizens, and was a source of information for both official and opposition media and at international level. The show featured Chávez addressing topics of the day, taking phone calls from the audience, and touring locations where government social welfare programs were active.[citation needed]

Bolivarian propaganda

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Main article: Bolivarian propaganda

Hugo Chávez used propaganda that took advantage of emotional arguments to gain attention, exploit the fears (either real or imagined) of the population, created external enemies for scapegoat purposes, and produced nationalism within the population, causing feelings of betrayal for support of the opposition.[18] In 2007, The World Politics Review stated that "As Chávez pushes on with transforming Venezuela into a socialist state, government propaganda plays an important role in maintaining and mobilizing government supporters".[19][20] A 2011 New York Times article said that Venezuela had an "expanding state propaganda complex"[21] while The Boston Globe described Chávez as "a media savvy, forward-thinking propagandist [who] has the oil wealth to influence public opinion".[14]

Chávez used television both domestically through cadenas and international through outlets like TeleSUR[22][23][24] for propaganda purposes[25] while websites like Aporrea.org, Radio Nacional de Venezuela, Venezuelanalysis.com, were used by the Venezuelan government for propaganda purposes.[citation needed] Chávez was also promoted through educational systems introduced by his government in Venezuela, which focused on achievements made under his policies.[26][27][28] A cult of personality was then created around Chávez in Venezuela among his supporters.[29]

International media

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Europe

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According to PBS, Hugo Chávez was popular among anti-globalization individuals of the press in Europe, including former director of Le Monde diplomatique, Ignacio Ramonet.[30]

Bibliography

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  • Schoen, Douglas (2009). The Threat Closer to Home. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-1-4165-9477-2.

Notes

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  1. ^ BBC NEWS. Chavez to shut down opposition TV. (29 December 2006).
  2. ^ a b "Venezuela replaces opposition TV with state network". Reuters. 28 May 2007.
  3. ^ Forero, Juan. (The Washington Post, 18 January 2007). "Pulling the Plug on Anti-Chavez TV". Retrieved 18 January 2007.
  4. ^ Joel Simon, Executive Director CPJ urges Chávez to allow RCTV to stay on the air Archived 5 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine Committee to Protect Journalists Accessed 29 May 2007.
  5. ^ Venezuela (2006). Freedom House. Accessed 29 May 2007.
  6. ^ IPI condemns shutdown of RCTV television station in Venezuela Archived 17 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine International Press Institute Accessed 29 May 2007.
  7. ^ El Universal Archived 1 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Tyler Bridges (12 May 2009). "Venezuela's Chávez threatens to shut down TV station". The Christian Science Monitor.
  9. ^ a b Arthur Brice (5 June 2009). "Venezuela takes actions against critical TV station". CNN.
  10. ^ "Venezuelan diplomat defends probe of anti-government TV station". CBC and The Associated Press. 23 May 2009.
  11. ^ a b "Venezuela – 2014 Scores". Freedom House. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015. pressure from the central government on private media ... fosters systematic self-censorship
  12. ^ "Americas". Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  13. ^ Minaya, Ezequiel (7 September 2014). "Venezuela's Press Crackdown Stokes Growth of Online Media". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  14. ^ a b Lakshmanan, Indira (27 July 2005). "Channeling his energies Venezuelans riveted by president's TV show". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  15. ^ Kraft, Michael (24 July 2007). "Chávez Propaganda Machine". Charlotte Conservative. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  16. ^ McCaughan (2005), p. 196.
  17. ^ Schoen (2009), p. 154.
  18. ^ Manwaring (2005), p. 11.
  19. ^ Moloney, Anastasia (29 January 2007). "Photo Feature: Chavez's Propaganda". World Politics Review. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  20. ^ Grant, Will (23 November 2010). "Venezuela bans unauthorised use of Hugo Chávez's image". BBC News. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  21. ^ Romero, Simon (4 February 2011). "In Venezuela, an American Has the President's Ear". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  22. ^ "Using oil to spread revolution". The Economist. 28 July 2005. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  23. ^ "Chávez bid to counter Hollywood". BBC News. 4 June 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  24. ^ Sreeharsha, Vinod (22 November 2005). "Telesur tested by Chávez video". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 26 April 2012. These clips bolster critics who claim the network is and will be a propaganda tool for Chávez.
  25. ^ Manwaring (2005), p. 12.
  26. ^ Nichols and Morse (2010), p. 230.
  27. ^ Clarembaux, Patricia (24 June 2014). "Denuncian adoctrinamiento chavista en la educación infantil". Infobae. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  28. ^ "El chavismo reescribe la historia de Venezuela para adoctrinar a los niños". El Nuevo Herald. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  29. ^ James, Ian (24 January 2013). "Hugo Chavez Personality Cult Flourishes In Venezuela". Huffington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  30. ^ Gonzalez, Angel (August 2003). "Chavez's Remarkable Staying Power Chavez in Person: The President As a Master of Improvisation". PBS. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
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