Chavez urges dialog with OAS boss over TV row
www.chinaview.cn 2007-01-11 10:28:04

    CARACAS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Hugo Chavez, who was sworn in as Venezuela's president for a second term on Wednesday, has called on the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) to look at the cancellation of a key broadcasting contract.

    Speaking to press after his inauguration, Chavez said he could meet Chilean Jose Miguel Insulza, the OAS chief, at the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony for Daniel Ortega, who has been elected president of Nicaragua, in the Central American country's capital Managua later on Wednesday.

    Chavez reiterated that Insulza did not have the authority to criticize his decision not to renew RCTV's broadcasting license when it expires in May, which Insulza said "could be seen as a form of censorship against freedom of expression."

    On Dec. 28, Chavez asked RCTV bosses to "pack their bags," saying he believed the organization had supported two attempts to oust him -- the April 2002 coup, which kept him out of office for two days, and the 2003 petroleum industry strike.

    On Monday, at a publicly broadcast ceremony to swear in his new cabinet, Chavez called Insulza an idiot.

Editor: Yangtze Yan
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