MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuelan president warns media about “hate messages”

Hugo Chavez: “Enough is enough, they’ve gone too far.”

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez warned he will take strong action against all media involved in the spread of “hate messages, trampling with the truth or promoting war”.

The warning was made public Sunday during his weekly “Hello President” program which this time was broadcasted from his home town in the state of Barinas.

Chavez claimed that the media is also involved in “instigating the military to make pronouncements, saying that the President must die, sometimes openly and others subtly, but always provoking”.

“Enough is enough, they’ve gone too far. One thing is to criticize, the other is to be a conspirator”, underlined Chavez who promised “this will come to an end or my name won’t be any longer Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias”.

The president also reminded the audiovisual media that the air frequencies used for transmission belong to the state, “they are not yours, and they are subject to making responsible use of them”.

A person who is given a licence to carry a weapon “is responsible for the weapon and the use of the weapon, he can’t go around shooting wherever and whenever he pleases”, said Chavez.

He added that many media moguls believe the government won’t take action against them for fear of the “international scandal” if they are closed, banned or their licences annulled”.

“Any moment they can come across some little surprise. Don’t get me wrong, you’re playing with fire”, he remarked.

But Chavez said that before the Executive intervenes, the other branches of government must act according to law.

“I trust that those offices which have the responsibility of initiating investigations comply with procedures and I trust the rest of government branches also comply with the procedures indicated by the legal system”.