Free Speech in Venezuela

Leftist icon and legendary buffoon Hugo Chavez has ways of dealing with his media critics:

Broadcast regulators last month accused Globovision of inciting "panic and anxiety" by criticizing the government for its slow response to a moderate earthquake, and prosecutors this week opened a second inquiry into Zuloaga for a suspected "environmental crime" related to wild animals he'd hunted and had mounted in his Caracas residence. They said they were acting at the request of pro-Chavez lawmakers.

Free press groups including the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the investigation of Globovision, while Human Rights Watch said it showed the government is out "to harass its critics."

Since Chavez refused to renew the broadcast license of Radio Caracas Television in 2007, Globovision has been the only anti-government network on public airwaves in Venezuela.

The urge to censor grows with the desire to hang on to power.