Opposition

Venezuelan opposition press, radio and television have adopted a mixed approach towards the coup in Honduras, criticising President Hugo Chavez's involvement in trying to rectify it, defending the currently sworn in president, and justifying the reasons for the coup, whilst portraying the situation in Honduras as peaceful and ignoring the military repression. Chavez accused the opposition of wanting a similar coup in Venezuela, and also of attempting to divide the armed forces.

In response to an opposition-led media campaign to convince Venezuelans that the Education Law under discussion in the Venezuelan National Assembly will permit the government to arbitrarily take custody of children, Education Minister Hector Navarro denied that the law will contain such a clause and compared the campaign to the U.S.-led psychological war and expatriation of children from Cuba in the early 1960s.

The Venezuelan government has opened an investigation into whether the private, opposition-aligned television channel, Globovision, has incited crimes including threats to assassinate President Hugo Chávez. If convicted, the channel could potentially lose its broadcasting license.  

Venezuelan Minister for Justice and Internal Affairs, Tarek El-Aissami, accused the governors of opposition-controlled states along the Colombian border of permitting bands of Colombian paramilitary troops to destabilize the region and carry out a wave of "social cleansing" murders in recent months.

On Tuesday National Assembly legislator and president of the special commission that investigates assassination and coup attempts, Mario Isea, denounced an alleged opposition plan to destabilise the country or to possibly get rid of President Hugo Chavez.

The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has announced that the party grew by more than one million new members during a month-long registration drive in May. Meanwhile, most of the principal opposition parties in Venezuela have formed a new alliance called the "Democratic Unity Roundtable" (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática).

Right wing TV station Globovision must pay over $US 3 million for using unauthorized microwaves and for evading taxes on advertising. Also, its president, Guillermo Zuloaga, was charged yesterday with usury connected to his selling of cars.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez did not attend the swearing in ceremony of new left wing president of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes on Monday, because of suspected assassination plans.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez invited participants from a right wing conference taking place in Caracas, four times, to a live debate on the show. After initially accepting, the right wing intellectuals refused to participate.

Hundreds of right-wing political leaders and representatives of pro-capitalist think tanks from across the world gathered in Venezuela's luxurious Caracas Palace Hotel this week for an exclusive event titled "International Conference for Freedom and Democracy: The Latin American Challenge."