Don't snow for me, Argentina, and today's Latin American items

UPDATED
Reading the news, you would think Al was in the Southern Hemisphere:

Buenos Aires sees rare snowfall

Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, has seen snow for the first time in 89 years, as a cold snap continues to grip several South American nations.
Temperatures plunged to -22C (-8F) in parts of Argentina's province of Rio Negro, while snow fell on Buenos Aires for several hours on Monday.
...
In Bolivia, heavy snowfall blocked the nation's main motorway and forced the closure of several airports.
...
In Chile, temperatures dropped to -18C (0F) in parts of Araucania region in the south.

Last month The Economist was reporting about Peru's poor infrastructure. Infrastructure problems are more evident now that the Peruvians are chilly, too,

Cold snap prompts Peru emergencyThe Peruvian government has declared a state of emergency in several Andean regions hit by unusually cold weather.

Of course, it's all due to climate change

Scientists say the unseasonable droughts, heavy rains and frosts are due to climate change.

I've known all along that the weather is constantly changing, and I'm not a even a scientist (but I'm married to one).

Now, whether climate change = global warming, that's another crock altogether.

Not worried about the carbon footprint, Evo wants to drill in a Bolivian national park, the Madidi:
This photo is captioned,
Activists want sustainable development in the constitution.

Of course they do.

In financial news, Argentina's inflation rate is about 7 percentage points higher than what is being officially reported, even when The Economist reports that

Helped by high prices for its farm exports, Argentina has recovered vigorously from its economic collapse of 2001-02. Unemployment has fallen from a peak of 21% to 10% (excluding those on workfare programmes); today, 27% of Argentines live in poverty, compared with more than half in 2002.

The BBC says that Cuba's municipal elections will be held on 21 October, and that

This marks the start of an electoral process which could clarify early next year whether his brother Fidel Castro will resume power as head of state.

Let me explain a thing or two:

• Since Castro took power in 1959, Cuba has not held free elections
• They're not about to start

Cuban tourism is flagging since Cuba is not as cheap as people are led to believe.

Of course a round-up of Latin American news must include Venezuela:
Jane's Intelligence reports,

Oiling the axis - Iran and Venezuela develop closer ties
This Iran-Venezuela alliance within OPEC has caused friction with Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and a nominal ally of the US, which favours more modest crude prices by seeking higher output. Nonetheless, the Venezuelan and Iranian goal of higher prices has come about owing to a number of factors, including a lack of refinery capacity, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, an increase in demand and climatic conditions, helping to drive up the price of crude oil from around USD28 per barrel in 2000 to an average of USD65 during 2006.

Caracas and Tehran have found common cause in favouring higher oil prices for political ends: as a lever to pull the balance of power away from oil-consuming countries, especially the US, which is still the world's biggest consumer.

According to Alberto Garrido, a Venezuelan political analyst who has charted the historical rise of Ch�vez: "Chavez sees himself and Ahmadinejad as brothers defining a strategic anti-US alliance that is part of an ambitious and well-structured global project."

Chavez's Plans Worry Catholic Leaders, and they should be worried.

However, there might be good news for Mercosur:

Mercosur: A falling-out with Hugo Chávez could be good news for a paralysed trade group

Mr Chavez's absence from Asuncion may, however, mark a turning point. He took umbrage at a resolution passed by Brazil's Senate criticising his recent silencing of the main opposition television channel. Brazil's Congress (like Paraguay's) has yet to ratify Venezuela's entry to Mercosur, and after insults from Mr Chávez is unlikely to do so soon. That leaves Venezuela in the oxymoronic situation of being a "full member in process of accession". Mr Chávez said this week that he would withdraw Venezuela's application unless it was approved in three months. He seems interested in Mercosur chiefly as a political platform. Free trade would expose the big inefficiencies engendered by his statist economic policy.

I continue to be optimistic about Lula:

Since Lula's re-election last October Brazil's foreign policy has seemed more pragmatic and less driven by leftist ideology. Lula has not concealed his irritation with Mr Chávez's antics. There is no sign yet that Brazil's president wants a clear breach with his oil-rich friend and rival. But if Mr Chávez's brinkmanship backfires, that might just be the best thing that has happened to Mercosur for years.

A while ago when I read that the Immigration Bill exempted illegals from paying back taxes, I said I should have declared myself an illegal alien. Here's yet another reason: Mexican Migrants Take Free Flight Home

Hernandez was one of 74 migrants who flew to the Mexican capital Monday under a U.S. summer program, now in its fourth year, that gives participants free transportation all the way to their hometowns instead of simply deporting them back across the border.

A little bit of r&r, and it starts all over again:

Hernandez said he volunteered to get a free trip to rest and visit his family in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero. In a couple of weeks, he said, he'll try his luck again in the desert.

At the blogs
Gateway Pundit: FARC Leader Palmero Found Guilty in US Courts

Venezuela News and Views: RCTV comes back, sort of, while Globovision fights back to stay

Now, what does that mean exactly? Not much. Cable, even if Supercable were to be included, does not reach 25% of Venezuelan homes. Even adding Internet (by the way, those who can watch RCTV through Internet and YouTube certainly can afford cable), even adding those who steal the signal of some cable company, no more than 30% of Venezuelan homes have access to some form of cable TV, and mostly in upper income areas: poorer areas simply cannot afford a cable bill unless a few pool together and steal the signal with the complicity of the payer. One of the reasons by the way why you see many Direct TV satellite dishes in the barrios is that Direct TV signal cannot be stolen that easily. Besides, installing expensive and vulnerable ground line in popular district is a deterrent for other systems than Direct TV. The paradox is that the poor are forced to buy the more expensive satellite system if they want to escape Chavez blabber.

The result is that RCTV will go from a 100% national coverage to a 30% coverage AT BEST. With the consequent decrease in advertising revenue. The implications for RCTV is that it will be difficult to keep its large staff and producing capabilities and news coverage, at least as long as it does not manage to sell enough production overseas. Right now, outside the US and Colombia I do not see that many buyers for anything Venezuelan except soap operas.

Now go read that whole post, and also Housing in Venezuela: propaganda and reality.

The Devil's Excrement: Not much new, but for some submarines and more conflicts

Publius Pundit: Ecuador: If you have to deny you're an idiot...

Memo to Rafael Correa: If, as head of state, you have to deny being stupid to the author of a book whose title is 'The Idiot Returns' where he's made you Exhibit A, it's a pretty forgone conclusion that you are even stupider than you were written about! If you had a lick of sense, and you don't, you might like to keep it all as quiet as possible.

I don't have a link to The Idiot Returns, but here's the first one in the series,


Sorry, Colombia! is up and running. Please go visit. Also don't miss my two latest podcasts, on human rights in Cuba, and on Colombia, Congress and the FTA with Robert Mayer of Publius Pundit and Sorry, Colombia!.

Meanwhile, way up North, Canada asserts its claim to territorial waters in the Arctic,and they're staking out their borders.

Update
A Jacksonian's must-read.

Here's a video of the UN Human Rights Council move last month to remove Cuba and Belarus from its blacklist (h/t UN Referendum):


Update 2
The Democrats' Colombia Agenda by Mary Anastasia O'Grady

In the five years between the 2002 kidnapping of 12 state legislators by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the rebels' recent announcement that 11 of those hostages have been killed, much has changed for the better in Colombia. The lawmakers were taken at a time when the state was very weak. Their murders, on the other hand, appear to be a desperate act by a frustrated band of thugs who have failed to achieve their desired results with terror.

Colombia today is significantly more secure and economically healthier than it was in 2002. Yet as events in recent weeks reminded us, two dark clouds remain parked over the country.

The first is the ruthlessness of organized crime networks like the FARC, which have blossomed during the U.S. war against cocaine. Thanks to the policy of prohibition coupled with strong demand, the FARC remains a well-funded menace even though it has no popular support.

The second source of trouble -- most recently evidenced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement that her party will block the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement -- is the unrelenting opposition of Congressional Democrats to anything that could be considered helpful to defeating terror and putting Colombia on surer economic footing.

The U.S. war on drugs, which is backed by both Republicans and Democrats and blames Colombia for the fact that Americans use cocaine, is immoral on its own. But as the guerrillas have gotten into the narcotics trafficking business, Democrats have added insult to injury by arrogantly micromanaging the war from Washington with advice from left-wing NGOs. Passed in 1997, the Leahy Law (named for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D., Vt.) mandates that any officer charged with "credible allegations" of human-rights violations be relieved of his command lest the country lose its U.S. aid to the military. It didn't take the rebels long to see opportunity in the law. They promptly began ginning up accusations against the country's finest generals. It didn't matter that the evidence almost always turned out to be suborned perjury. Careers were destroyed and the armed forces leadership gutted.

President Álvaro Uribe, who took office in August 2002, recognized what was happening and set out to rebuild the military, strengthen the presence of the state and end any speculation that the government might seek a path of appeasement in the face of violence. He has made great progress. The guerrillas are now back on their heels and kidnapping and murder rates are down substantially. Bear Stearns analyst Tim Kearney, who just returned from a trip to Colombia reports that the economy is "firing on all cylinders" due to "a combination of a better security environment, as well as the government's market-oriented reforms." He adds that, "with investment driving a powerful rebound, we now think that real GDP growth will reach 6.4% in 2007."

If Colombia's hard left was upset before with Mr. Uribe, this has really stirred up the nest. Their only hope is help from Washington so they are returning to what worked before, this time recyling tired old charges that the president has links to paramilitary groups and insisting that the government has been protecting assassins who target union leaders.

Democrats seem only too happy to help. They can't invoke the Leahy Law against civilians but blocking the FTA in the name of "human rights" is just as good. It satisfies the "sandalistas," who still dream of a Cuban revolution for all of Latin America, and it makes the most important Democratic Party constituent, the AFL-CIO, happy by knocking off any threat of new international competition.

This may be good for shoring up the Democrat's base but it is harmful to U.S. geopolitical interests in the Western Hemisphere and to an important U.S. ally and it will dash the hopes for a better life of millions of impoverished Colombians. Either the Democrats have very poor foreign policy judgment or they have sympathy for the devil.

Read every word, and watch the video included in that post.

Venezuela: El Observador gets back on line, Hugo gives Fidel fashion advice, Evo makes new friends

While Chavez is busy suing Globovision after having closed RCTV, Globovision continues to produce and post videos for RCTV on You Tube twice a day. Here's yesterday evening's (in Spanish):

Tamara Slusniys explains that the RCTV webpage, El Observador, which had been shut down from a DOS attack is now back on line El Observador. The actors from one of the RCTV comedy shows is taking their show on the road showing on screen one of the shows they couldn't broadcast when the station was closed by the government.

On Wednesday there was a huge demonstration of students who went to the National Assembly. As the WaPo correctly explains, there have been no opposition lawmakers since 2005. Daniel explains that the students are Settling into a protest routine, Venezuela style

El Universal has a slide show. This man's wearing a sign that reads, "Sorry for the inconvenience. We're working for your freedom!"

Of course, a cadena followed, and this is no news: Chavez calls protesting students 'pawns of Washington'.

Via Miguel, a new blog The end of Venezuela as I know it. That blogger is certainly no "pawn of Washington", or of anyone for that matter. But not everyone is as strong: Gustavo Coronel writes about The Dark Hour of Gustavo Cisneros.

Here's A priceless statement on the RCTV shutdown by a Government adviser. Indeed, as Daniel states in his article for Index on censorship, The non-renewal of the licence of the main opposition station is part of a broader, worrying, trend in Chavista Venezuela

AP has an article, Venezuela seeks leftist defense bloc

President Hugo Chavez called for the creation of a common defense pact between Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia, while the leftist Latin American bloc announced the creation of a development bank to finance joint projects.

which is something I've been posting on for a while, but now the rethoric's a little hotter,

Chavez said Wednesday that the four-nation Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, which began as a socialist-leaning trade group, should cooperate militarily to become more independent of U.S. influence. "It seems to be the moment to establish a joint defense strategy," Chavez said. He called for joint military aid as well as intelligence and counterintelligence cooperation "to prepare our people for defense so that nobody makes any mistake with us."

Austin Bay's Washington Times op-ed looks at Venezuela's current land claims against Colombia, Guyana and Holland (because of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire) and asks, A second Falklands?

One thing is clear, Hugo's networking involves Bolivia, and terrorist-supporting states:

Update: The Economist says Much though Evo Morales (left) might want to be another Hugo Chávez, he will not find it easy

Brazil's Senate is not too happy over recent developments: Stratfor has an excellent article, Mercosur and Brazil: The Venezuela Question and Quitting Time

Summary: Despite recent conciliatory gestures between the presidents of Brazil and Venezuela, Brazil's Senate has shown a new determination to block full membership for Venezuela in the trade group Mercosur as part of the fallout from the revocation of Radio Caracas TV's license. If Mercosur denies Venezuela, it could become a more viable trade group, though that greatly depends on Argentina's stance following elections later this year. Ultimately, Brazil will have to leave Mercosur if it does not become a more effective trade body.

Hugo's even ordering Fidel around, Get out of your trackies, Chavez tells Castro

"I believe the time has come to return to wearing the uniform," said Mr Chavez, a staunch supporter and protege of Castro.

"We want you in uniform ... That's an order," he joked.

I guess Hugo doesn't understand the dotty dictator's fashion sense.

Update Excellent round-ups at A colombo-americana's perspective



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It sure didn't take long...

UPDATED
with more videos
Yesterday the BBC correspondent was in Caracas (emphasis added)

I was caught up in this, broadcasting from just outside the studios. It seems when a group of Chavez supporters got within a few blocks of the station, the police took action.

Over the eerie air raid sirens, shots were fired in the air and people ran for cover. It was not clear who was firing at who, but a few minutes later, more shots rang out.

The atmosphere had become nasty. People ran as fast as they could down the narrow streets to get away from the clashes. We ran with them.

He finished his report with this,

The government says that the station violated broadcast laws and transmitted violent and morally degrading programmes.

However,

The decision to renew the licences of other broadcasters, ministers say, shows that Venezuela is democratic and pluralistic.

In our conversation after last Saturday's podcast, one of my guests said that Globovision was next. Well, it sure didn't take long:
Second Venezuela TV is under fire

Venezuela's government has accused a TV station of inciting a murder attempt on President Hugo Chavez, hours after taking another network off the air.

It said footage shown on Globovision implicitly called for Mr Chavez to be killed. The station denies the claim.
...
Globovision was the only TV station to air footage of a large demonstration against the government's growing control over the media.

This time the government has sued. Foreign news servides are also in the crosshairs:

Chavez eyes CNN
The government was also suing the US station CNN for allegedly linking Mr Chavez to al-Qaeda, Mr Lara said.

"CNN broadcast a lie which linked President Chavez to violence and murder," he said.

In a statement, CNN said they "strongly deny" being "engaged in a campaign to discredit or attack Venezuela".

This is what got CNN in trouble.

Now all the US cable networks are finally reporting on the protests.

Fox video was there.

The Anchoress posts on the media spin and choosing liberty. Little Green Footballs and Jawa Report look at the Left.

Investor's Business Daily: Freedom: Caracas blackout

More later.

Update
Venezuela's Bonds Fall After Shutdown of RCTV Triggers Clashes
Miguel Octavio will be the guest of Political Vindication's PV Radio podcasttomorrow, Wednesday at 9PM EDT.

Update, 12:20 PM: CNN International's showing more protests right now.

Update, 5:20 OM: Adam Housley of Fox News reported that Chavez had asked his supporters to come down from the mountains and fight the demonstrators, while the police continued to fire rubber bullets and tear gas on demonstrators.
Chavez is asking the opposition if they're prepared to die to defend their beliefs.

And a YouTube for Siggy (risking that he might do a compare and contrast),

Chavez TV
Chavez shooting his own people

6:35PM Housley's wearing goggles - from being hosed down by the water cannon.

More
More threats from Hugo


Chavez shoots students, also at Gateway Pundit:

Here's a video of one of today's demonstrations: At least the RCTV trucks haven't been impounded yet:

Venezuela once again on the edge

The protesting students have a blog: Resistencia Estudiantil Por La Libertad, with lots of photos, via Oliver

Others blogging
Venezuelans Fight Loss of Free Press.
One Man, One Vote, One Time

Special thanks to Larwyn for the links.

RCTV is off the air

UPDATED:
Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela
Venezuela moves against second opposition TV channel
Amid protests, Venezuela's TV station goes off the air

Despite protests by democracy activists, Venezuela's oldest television network went off the air at midnight Sunday, victim of a fresh push by President Hugo Chavez to tighten his grip over the nation's media

As my podcast guests explained, now everything depends on the leader and what he wants done:

"The decision was mine" to close RCTV, Chavez said Saturday

As my guests stated in Saturday's podcast, RCTV's license renewal was denied by Chavez's decree, not by due process of law.

You can listen to the podcast here

Daniel Duquenal, one of my podcast guests has an excellent essay on the closing: Antes que anochezca: waiting for the night in Venezuela

But more importantly, and a consolation of sorts for me, is the intensity of the international response to the closing of RCTV. Anyone who is anybody in the world has either condemned Chavez or at least remained silent, and definitely refused to support Chavez. Only a few, a surprisingly very few, have come out to support Chavez and they have no credit anyway. You can see it everywhere, from the desperate and ridiculous accusations of Minister Lara today to comment sections at Publius Pundit from pro Chavez Anglos losing their grip on things. Indeed, one from that side should be pissed off: 6 months of intense propaganda and you get editorials such as the one from Le Monde. Millions of dollars in paid services gone to waste, thousands of hours of "grass root" working for naught. The world is unto Chavez, and them, and they know it.

Yes, it is a small consolation but it is an important one. Chavez has lost any respectability he might still have had, and there is nothing he can do to recover it. When, say, Mugabe or Fujimori did this sort of things, they stopped been received where it mattered. Their regime started to unravel as they started losing the respect of their people even if those for a variety of reasons kept voting for them at first. And we know all that Chavez pins for international stages. Many will be denied him now.

You must read the whole essay.

Miguel Octavio, also my guest on Saturday's podcast, posts on Hugo Chavez' fake democracy. He also translated Venezuelan daily's El Nacional editorial, Power without limits, front-page editorial in El Nacional.

Miguel also reports that last night a representative of the "Board for Social Responsibility" of the Ministry of Communications threatened the media with shutting them down for up to three days by broadcasting the Inter-american Press Society (SIP) press conference.

Last night: Caracas police halt TV shutdown protest

Police broke up an opposition protest using a water cannon and tear gas after hundreds took to the streets on Sunday condemning a decision by President Hugo Chavez to force Venezuela's most widely watched channel off the air.

Soaked protesters scattered while the stream of water swept the street, then sang the national anthem as they returned to face a column of riot police outside the state telecommunications commission.

Via Instapundit, Boing-boing has videos of the Venezuelan media crackdown: TV anchors sign off, mouths shut, including this one,

The BBC has a video of the protests.

But that wasn't all: Hugo Chavez Silences the Opposition- Sends Tanks In!

Rule of law, private property rights, and freedom of press are all now absent under the Chavez regime.

The Jungle Hut has photos and eyewitness accounts of the protests.

Aleksander Boyd is back posting,

However sincere the resolutions and letters condemning the act, on Monday morning, when RCTV's right to broadcast is illegally terminated, Chavez will still be the ultimate icon of the world's resented imbeciles and those concerned about the loss of another democratic right in Venezuela will carry on with the business of il dolce far niente at taxpayers' expense. Toothless multilateral bodies have, as Chavez, lost all legitimacy. Its condemnations mean jackshit in the real world. The future looks bleak in Venezuela, that much is certain and has, at last, been properly understood by democrats around the globe, whom are seen in the side of reason, in the side of rule of law.

And where are the American cable news channels?
While the BBC, Forbes, the NYT, the Guardian (also here), Reuters ( Venezuela TV station says troops seized equipment) and countless others are covering the story, I have yet to see any reporting at all at CNN, or NBC. Fox News just carried a brief news item.

History is being made and they all are celebrity-watching.

Also don't miss
Mora's excellent report and round-up at Publius Pundit.

Update
Associated Press: Chavez Launches New Venezuela TV Station
update 2 Troops Fire Upon Protesters in Venezuela

National Guard troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday into a crowd of protesters angry over a decision by President Hugo Chavez that forced a critical television station off the air.

This time it was rubber bullets; in 2004 gunmen fired on Thor Halvessen's mother during a peaceful demonstration.
Univision's showing live coverage of the ongoing demonstrations. I'll try to get video to post.

Students protest as Minister charges Globovision, CNN and Venezueladigital with promoting the killing of Chavez
Venezuela Police Repel Protests Over TV Network’s Closing

Maria Alejandra Diaz, the social responsibility director at the Communications Ministry, cited recent legislation in Venezuela that enabled the government to shut down media groups for 72 hours if their coverage incited people to engage in violent protests. Ms. Díaz asked news organizations to refrain from reporting on the association's statement, since it could allow viewers, readers or listeners to think Mr. Chavez's government was "tyrannical."

Because that would show it for what it is.
Gateway Pundit has more round-up and commentary.

6PM Update Venezuela moves against second opposition TV channel

Hours after President Hugo Chavez shut down Venezuela's main opposition broadcaster, his government demanded an investigation of news network Globovision on Monday for allegedly inciting an assassination attempt on the leftist leader.

Previous posts:
Saturday's podcast with Thor Halvorssen, President and CEO of the Human Rights Foundation, award-winning bloggers Daniel Duquenal of Venezuela News and Views and Miguel Octavio of The Devil's Excrement, and oil industry expert Gustavo Coronel.

Last night's podcast on the closing of Venezuela's RCTV

Venezuelan Supreme Court confiscates RCTV

Last night's podcast on the closing of Venezuela's RCTV

UPDATED
My guests were Thor Halvorssen, President and CEO of the Human Rights Foundation, award-winning bloggers Daniel Duquenal of Venezuela News and Views and Miguel Octavio of The Devil's Excrement, and oil industry expert Gustavo Coronel. You can listen to the archived podcast here. All of their blogs continue covering this story, please visit them for updates.

Thor made an excellent point,

"It's important that we underline that, although we are constantly referring to the president of Venezuela, it's not because he happens to be the cause of all this. It's because he has chosen that the center of the government is him, nothing is above him. The separation of powers does not exist in Venezuela: the judiciary is subservient to the executive power, the National Assembly was elected with less than 15% of the votes cast, meaning that there was a huge abstention rate. So, for the interest of your listeners, Venezuela is about as self-centered in terms of government power as North Korea, or Cuba, is: Everything depends on the leader and what he wants done.

Here are the facts on the closing of the TV station:

• RCTV is the oldest TV station in the country, with the largest share of the audience.
• Globovision is the only other major opposition-aligned channel, and it is not seen in all parts of the country. Two other channels that used to be staunchly anti-Chavez, Venevision and Televen, have recently toned down their coverage.
• Chile, the European Parliament, the US Senate (including senators Kennedy, Lugar, Dodd, Clinton and Obama), and Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, The Human Rights Foundation, and Amnesty International have passed resolutions condemming the closing

You can read more about it at Free RCTV

Venezuela is well on the way of becoming a totalitarian state.

I wrote an article for Pajamas Media last February on the Enabling Law. Chavez is legally able to rule by decree, and, as Miguel stated, is pushing for a constitutional reform that would allow him to be re-elected indefinitely.

Additionally, there's the Maisanta database

The government has built a detailed list - the Maisanta database - that documents the political leanings of 12.4 million Venezuelan registered voters. The list is routinely used to deny opposition supporters access to public jobs and government social programs.

Gustavo explained that the database is also used for denying identity documents like passports and ID cards they need to get around, like the [South African] apartheid system. Miguel also stated that the Maisanta database was distributed prior to the recall referendum and you can look up people by their identity number but also by name, and it will give information as to whether he signed against Chavez or not, whether he voted or not, whether he's enrolled in any government programs.

Why does the closing of the TV station matter?
As Mora explains

It will get uglier. And there will be no media to cover it. The food shortages, the riots, the violence, the rage in the streets, the Chavista corruption - there will be no one to check it. The broad unity of the people and their big television station will be broken, and again, all that will be left is chavismo, the chavista monolith. This is a real beginning of the end for Venezuela.

And we may hear very little about it because the free press is fading fast.

The protests continued today, and RCTV vows to stay on,

but Venezuelan Social Television is to begin broadcasting at midnight, using the same frequency occupied by Radio Caracas Television

The RCTV closing: the teachings on Venezuelan society

Update
WaPo: Venezuela TV station says troops seized equipment
Miami Herald: TV station going dark at midnight
Le Monde: Censure à la Chavez, translated by Daniel, who's doing The countdown to RCTV closing.
ABC, Madrid: Dictatorship shows its face in Venezuela
Please vote for all these posts at Real Clear Politics
Forbes: Police broke up an opposition protest using a water cannon and tear gas

Follow-up post: RCTV is off the air.