Venezuela Calls for Probe of CNN, Globovision `Lies'

by Alex Kennedy and Guillermo Parra-Bernal, May 28

Venezuela's government asked the attorney general to investigate Time Warner Inc.'s Cable News Network and local television station Globovision for ``lies'' and inciting violence against President Hugo Chavez.

Communications and Information Minister Willian Lara said CNN last week falsely portrayed a Mexican protest as being in Caracas and displayed images of Chavez alongside an al-Qaeda leader. Globovision, a 24-hour news channel, ran scenes from the 1981 attempt to kill Pope John Paul II, which Lara said was incitement against Chavez.

``This is an effort to associate Hugo Chavez with two things, violence and death,'' Lara said in a televised news conference today in Caracas. ``CNN lies about Venezuela.''

Chavez shut down the country's most-watched station, Radio Caracas Television, yesterday sparking clashes between protesters and police that injured 11 policemen, Lara said. The government is prepared to maintain order today as protesters marched in Caracas, Lara said.