Anti-Chavez Broadcasts May Be Hot Air

Washington has declared ”electronic war” on Venezuela with a plan to target the country for special radio and television broadcasts. The broadcasts were approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in an amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 2005, introduced by Republican Congressman Connie Mack of Florida. The move came as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez launched his own television network, called Telesur. According to officials, the station’s goal is to promote South American regional integration with newscasts, films, documentaries and music by Latin American and Caribbean producers.

NEW YORK – As some Latin American analysts complain that Washington has declared ”electronic war” on Venezuela with a plan to target the country for special radio and television broadcasts, it remains uncertain whether the project will ever get off the ground.

If approved by a joint congressional committee, the broadcasts would be financed by the U.S. government and implemented through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the quasi-independent corporation established to carry out Washington’s ”public diplomacy” broadcasting programs worldwide.

”The BBG may want to start numerous new broadcast services, or revive VOA (Voice of America) services that have been canceled,” Adam Clayton Powell III, a senior fellow at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, told IPS.

”But where is the money? Until the U.S. is prepared to commit resources to produce, transmit and market new services, this is moot,” he said.

The broadcasts were approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in an amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 2005, introduced by Republican Congressman Connie Mack of Florida.

The U.S. Senate has already passed its own version of the act that does not include the Mack proposal. The House and Senate must now meet in a joint conference committee…

Posted by Ryz
Born and raised in The Netherlands and living in Canada since 2000. Spent most of his professional career in the IT industry for corporations. Now self-employed. Loves music, graphics, science, politics and various other things that happen to pass in...

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