Michael: Please remove me from your spam lists.
Thanks,
Hari Kumar
>
> From: "michael a. lebowitz" <mlebowit@xxxxxx>
> Date: 2007/06/04 Mon PM 05:42:29 EDT
> To: "'pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> project-x@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: IN FAVOR OF DEMOCRACY IN THE MEDIA, OF THE LEGITIMATE RIGHT OF
> THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT TO DECIDE WHO SHALL BROADCAST ON ITS AIRWAVES
>
> Dear Friends and Comrades,
> In the context of the international
> campaign against the government of Venezuela, I
> urge you to support the following statement and
> to circulate it widely. Please send your full
> name, nationality and profession to
> <mailto:centrointernacionalmiranda@xxxxxxxxx>centrointernacionalmiranda@xxxxxxxxxx
> in solidarity,
> michael
>
> IN FAVOR OF DEMOCRACY IN THE MEDIA, OF THE
> LEGITIMATE RIGHT OF THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT TO
> DECIDE WHO SHALL BROADCAST ON ITS AIRWAVES
>
> In the mid 70s the non aligned countries demanded
> a New World Information and Economic Order. Some
> time later, this decision led the United States
> to withdraw from UNESCO. For many decades only
> five or so monopolies controlled flows of
> information. It is only now that the demand to
> understand information as a human right and to
> democratize access to the media is being seen as
> a necessary requirement for building systems that
> are really democratic. The existence of media
> like Telesur or Al Jazeera, the proliferation of
> community radio and television stations, the
> expansion of computer networks and free software
> and the efforts states are making to take back
> control of their airwaves are all part of this
> effort to democratize the airwaves,
>
> This is why we respect CONATEL's (The National
> Telecommunication Commission of Venezuela)
> decision to not renew the broadcast license of
> the private television channel Radio Caracas
> (RCTV) which was taken in complete accordance
> with Venezuelan domestic legislation and
> international standards. Far from being an
> argument in favour of renewing its license to
> broadcast, the biased manner in which RCTV used
> this frequency for 53 years was an invitation to
> find an alternative use for it. Besides, RCTV
> still has the option to continue broadcasting on
> cable and satellite, if it so wishes.
>
> Similarly, we are concerned to note that the
> attacks to which this sovereign decision by the
> Venezuelan government is being subject are
> related to the attempts --started by the FAES
> foundation and repeated by other right-wing
> organisations in Europe and America-- to
> "democratically defeat the socialism for the 21
> century project". The Venezuelan government's
> fair decision not to renew RCTV's broadcast
> licence can be explained by what RCTV did during
> the April 2002 coup d'état in Venezuela –to wit,
> giving airtime to the coup backers, distorting
> the facts and ignoring acts which were an attack
> on freedom of expression. The events RCTV ignored
> included the violent take-over of the state TV
> station, thus silencing and disrespecting its
> journalists (RCTV also ignored the people's
> reaction to the massacre in the streets). What
> the station did during the coup also permits us
> to understand why, today as yesterday, right-wing
> forces all over the world are closing ranks with the Venezuelan right.
>
> Democratising the media is something our
> democracies have yet to do. The information given
> out abroad about Venezuela and President Chávez
> clearly demonstrates the manipulation of
> information that affects all of our peoples. We
> unflinchingly defend our peoples' freedom of
> expression and their right to be informed but we
> do not confuse this with the freedom of media
> companies --and the political and economic
> conglomerates who are their allies-- to
> manipulate information to suit their interests and aims.
>
> So, for all of the above reasons and while once
> again repeating that the Venezuelan government
> has the legitimate right to decide on the use of
> the airwaves that belong to all of its citizens,
> we demand that an urgent debate be started on the
> means of communication to put an end to the
> exaggerated manipulation that we see today which
> seeks to attack a legitimate decision taken by
> the democratic government of Venezuela.
>
>
>
> 1 de junio de 2007
>
> Caracas,
>
> Luis Bonilla Molina, Escritor, Presidente del
> Centro Internacional Miranda, Venezuela.
>
> Marta Harnecker, Escritora. Chile.
>
> Michael Lebowitz, Profesor Emérito Universidad Simon Fraser, Canadá.
>
> Fernando Bossi, Congreso Bolivariano de los Pueblos (CBP), Argentino,
>
> Monica Saiz, Argentina, Congreso Bolivariano de los Pueblos (CBP)
>
> Haiman el Troudi, Escritor, Venezuela.
>
> Víctor Álvarez, Economista, Venezuela
>
> Juan Carlos Monedero, Profesor Universidad Complutense. Madrid. España.
>
> Maximilien Arvelaiz, Venezuela.
>
> Janet Duckworth, politóloga, Reino Unido
>
> Gilberto Giménez, Venezuela.
>
> Selma Díaz, Arquitecto, Cuba.
>
> Jorge Gantiva, Educador, Colombia
>
> Miguel Sanchez, Educador, (Chile)
>
> Pedro Luis Gonzalez, Politologo, Venezuela
>
> Jonathan Montilla, Venezuela.
>
>
> Michael A. Lebowitz
> Professor Emeritus
> Economics Department
> Simon Fraser University
> Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
>
> Director, Programme in 'Transformative Practice and Human Development'
> Centro Internacional Miranda, P.H.
> Residencias Anauco Suites, Parque Central, final Av. Bolivar
> Caracas, Venezuela
> fax: 0212 5768274/0212 5777231
> http//:centrointernacionalmiranda.gob.ve
> mlebowit@xxxxxx
>