This Ain't No Mecca, Man

RCTV, perhaps the most popular TV station in Venezuela, is now officially out of business, replaced by a state-run company. Pres. Hugo Chavez says the decision to limit the free press in this manner was due to the stations "subversive" programming. The masses protested, and were fired on by police.

Chavez's mask of populism is wilting away, exposing the authoritarian beneath.