Pyrrhic Victory

[T]hugo Chavez may have managed to shut down the broadcaster RCTV in Venezuela, but it may yet prove to be a pyrrhic victory. RCTV is now posting its broadcasts to YouTube:

Although the station is officially off the air, CNN's Harris Whitbeck said its news department continues to operate on reduced staffing, and the three daily hour-long installments of the newscast "El Observador" are uploaded onto YouTube by RCTV's Web department.

In addition, RCTV's Colombia-based affiliate, Caracol, has agreed to transmit the evening installment of "El Observador" over its international signal. The program, which will run at midnight, could reach about 800,000 people in Venezuela.

Although this is drastically reduced from RCTV's previous audience, its continued presence is a sign of hope for the staff.

"We're just doing our job as journalists," said an employee of RCTV. "As long as somebody is seeing us, we consider what we are doing to be valid."

Not as many Venezuelans may be getting the broadcasts, but a global audience may be learning about what Chavez is doing and the censorship he and his thugs are engaging in. Try shutting down the Internet Chavez. Let's see you try.

As Mark Levin says, this is nothing but the Venezuelan version of the Fairness Doctrine. I'd go a step further and call it the far-left version of the Fairness Doctrine.

That means government troops shutting down television stations and seizing the equipment:

Venezuelan troops have seized an anti-government television channel's broadcast equipment, the station said on Sunday, ahead of a controversial midnight EDT/0400 GMT takeover by President Hugo Chavez that will take the broadcaster off the air.

Chavez sparked international criticism with his decision to not renew RCTV's license and to replace Venezuela's most-watched channel with a state-backed network that will promote the values of his self-styled socialist revolution.

RCTV representatives said troops had taken over relay stations across the country amid a show of military force meant to deter possible violence by opposition demonstrators.

They have taken over the transmission stations," said Edgardo Mosca, Vice President of Engineering Operations at RCTV.

Gateway Pundit reports that the first opposition protestor was killed yesterday by Hugo's thugs.

Jungle Mom points out that possible GOP Presidential candidate Fred Thompson issued a statement denouncing Chavez. Good on him. Can we make Venezuela a litmus test to see where the various candidates stand on free speech, democracy, and civil rights around the world? It might produce some interesting results. The Senate passed a resolution condemning the action; Senate Resolution 211 was sponsored by Richard Lugar, (R-IN) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and McCain, Clinton and Obama signed on. The House is considering a similar resolution.