Chavez’s Latest Attempt to Stifle the Opposition

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New Center for Situational Studies of the Nation (Centro de Estudio Situacional de la Nación, CESNA), is Chavez’s latest attempt to reign in critics of government policies or actions.
“President Chávez has created a new tool for controlling public debate in Venezuela,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas’ director at Human Rights Watch. “The new decree would allow the president to block the discussion of topics that are inconvenient for his government, blatantly violating the rights of expression and to information, which are at the heart of a democratic society.”
The center’s president, appointed by Chavez and the ministry, has the power to declare that “any information, fact, or circumstance” is “reserved, classified, or of limited release.”
Human Rights Watch said Wednesday that Venezuela should close this new office as and stop seeking to discredit human rights defenders and prosecuting critics.
Chavez’s has recently moved to take over a significant amount of shares in the last remaining television station that openly criticized Chavez and his policies and is now demanding a representative on its board.

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