HomeNewsBriefVenezuela Probes TV Network Over Prison Riots
BRIEF

Venezuela Probes TV Network Over Prison Riots

PRISONS / 1 JUL 2011 BY RONAN GRAHAM EN

Venezuelan authorities have opened an investigation into one of the country’s major news networks for its coverage of an ongoing prison crisis.

The National Telecommunications Commission of Venezuela announced that it had begun sanction proceedings against Caracas-based news channel Globovision, which it accuses of spreading "anxiety in the population" by broadcasting images of the El Rodeo prison crisis. Globovision now faces charges of violating the country’s Law of Social Responsibility in Radio and Television.

Peter Maldonado, director of Venezuela's telecommunication agency, explained that Globovision could be subject to a fine of 10 percent of the gross income obtained in the previous fiscal year, and may have its transmission suspended for up to 72 hours.

Globovision, a station which is often openly critical of the Chavez government, has come under attack in the past. In 2009, the station’s headquarters were attacked by a mob loyal to the president and Chavez has previously accused the station of conspiring against his government.

The vice president of the news channel, María Fernanda Flores has accused the government of suppressing freedom of expression and claimed that the action is politically motivated.

This crisis in El Rodeo prison remains unresolved, despite government attempts to regain control of the prison complex, including the deployment of 5,000 police officers.

Since June 12, at least 29 people are believed to have been killed and over 1,000 prison inmates continue to battle security forces. The government has accused the opposition of being behind the riots.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's Attorney General, Luisa Ortega Díaz, has announced the arrest of two high ranking prison officers along with the Captain of the National Guards, who face charges of delivering weapons to prisoners.

The news came as President Hugo Chavez revealed that he was suffering from cancer. He is currently in Cuba receiving treatment.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ELITES AND CRIME / 13 OCT 2021

The photos showed five dead bodies laid out in the dirt, each with a gun or grenade close to an…

CYBERCRIME / 31 JAN 2022

Scammers in Venezuela are selling desperate people non-existent government food aid packages – in the latest episode of the handout…

EL KOKI / 2 MAR 2023

Venezuelan security forces carry out violent invasions of neighborhoods controlled by gangs, but there is little evidence of their success.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…