President Hugo Chavez said Sunday thathe will not stop seizing control of Venezuela's airwaves to give his trademarkmarathon television and radio addresses despite complaints from his challengerthat it gives him an unfair advantage during the country's presidentialelection campaign.
Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has demanded that election officialsprevent Chavez from taking political advantage of the special broadcasts, whichall networks are required by law to air, ahead of Venezuela's Oct. 7 election.
Directors of the National Electoral Council have approved campaign regulationsthat prohibit TV and radio messages that favor a presidential candidate to runlonger than three minutes. But it's unclear whether the president's frequentand lengthy special broadcasts, known as "cadenas," will be affected.
"The cadenas are part of the national government's informationstrategy," said Chavez, speaking during one of the special broadcasts."The bourgeoisie wants me to give up something that's the faculty of thepresident of the republic. I'm not going to do it."
Chavez, a former paratroop commander, argued that most of Venezuela's privatelyowned TV channels, radio stations and newspapers are biased in favor ofCapriles and he accuses the independent media of ignoring his government'sachievements.
"The major part of the radios, television channels and newspapers are inthe hands of the bourgeoisie," said Chavez, who is seeking re-election toa fresh six-year term.
When Chavez took office in 1999, he referred to four major TV channels — RCTV,Venevision, Globovision and Televen — as the "Four Horsemen of theApocalypse." He accused the channels supporting a short-lived 2002 coup bybroadcasting cartoons and movies instead of the protests that aided his returnto power.
But the government refused to renew RCTV's broadcast license in 2007, andVenevision and Televen have since curbed their criticism of the government,while Globovision has remained sharply critical of Chavez.
Chavez has been making more frequent use of his ability to take over theairwaves since he completed cancer treatment and started rehabilitation,talking on TV and radio for several hours a couple times a week.
He often lambasts Capriles and vows to win the looming election during thebroadcasts.
Over the past 13 months, Chavez has undergone two surgeries that removed tumorsfrom his pelvic region, most recently in February. That's meant Chavez hasappeared in public less frequently than in the past, a dramatic shift for his13-year-old presidency.
Earlier this month, Chavez announced that he's completely free of cancer andassured Venezuelans that physical limitations stemming from his recuperationwill not affect his re-election bid.
The socialist leader has not disclosed key details about his illness includingthe type of cancer that had been diagnosed.