Hugo Chávez Begins Illegal Campaign Attacking Henrique Capriles on State TV and National Blanket Broadcasts*

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As of March 11, 2012, our blog has moved to our new website: monitoreociudadano.org

It is an abuse of power and a violation of the Venezuelan Constitution and anti-corruption law for President Hugo Chávez to repeatedly utilize National Blanket Broadcasts* to attack opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.

In a firey speech delivered via an obligatory National Blanket Broadcast*, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez insulted his rival, calling him “worthless” and “a pig”.**

Bourgeoisie, unpatriotic and pig were only some of the insults used to attack presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, as Chávez held no punches when unofficially initiating his election campaign. According to analysts, the strategy is intended to provoke confrontation and destroy the chances of the United Democratic Alternative in this year’s presidential election.

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Appearing on State-run Venezuelan Television (VTV) in the following week, President Chávez accused Capriles of embodying the bourgeoisie, imperialism, capitalism and of failing to copy him with a discourse of social inclusion. Capriles is a “hypocrite”, said Chávez.

Alongside attacks made directly by Chávez, the government has abused public resources to the opposition and its presidential candidate Capriles from other State media outlets. Another VTV program dedicated time to airing an accusation of homosexual activity made against Capriles, accusing him of performing oral sex with a man in police car.

As if that weren’t enough for one week, State-run Venezuelan National Radio (RNV) characterized Capriles being linked to the “Zionist bourgeoisie” and part of a “paramilitary and fascist sect” due to his Jewish heritage. Capriles is a Catholic, though has Jewish ancestors who survived the Holocaust. Video in Spanish: http://youtu.be/67gaglO4lZ0 —- Original article published in El Nuevo Diario in Nicaragua.

* In Venezuela, a “national chain” broadcast (Cadena Nacional de Radio y Televisión) is an obligatory National Blanket Broadcast that—by law—must be aired by all domestic radio and television stations. Not all countries have an equivalent (US, UK, etc.) and the mechanism allows President Chávez to commandeer the airwaves at any time for as long as he wishes. He gives speeches for hours, sings and chants with members of his government and political party. Recently and in violation of the Venezuelan Constitution and anti-corruption law, Chávez has been blatantly utilizing the National Blanket Broadcast in order to kick-off his presidential election campaign.

** Worthless (majunche), pig (cochino)

Monitoreo Ciudadano (Citizen Monitoring) is a citizen initiative and NGO dedicated to monitoring and exposing the abuse of power and public resources by the Venezuelan government in efforts to illegally influence Venezuelan elections. —- President Hugo Chávez has in recent months abused both State TV and obligatory nationwide blanket broadcasts (cadena nacional) on multiple occasions to support his candidacy for president and attack his opponent. —- Citizen Monitoring uses the Twitter hashtag #AbusoPoder (Abuse of Power) to register complaints. Follow us at @yomonitoreo