Interviews with Marcel Granier

I think it useful to use legal means, because that leaves a trace. Some day President Chavez will have to respond to all the crimes he has committed. Because there will be proof in it could be in national courts, because they can they tried to destroy documents. But they they cannot destroy all the documents that have been produced, or in international courts, where he cannot destroy the documents.

He has already threatened the Inter-American system with leaving the OES or with l or with leaving the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, if they decide against him. He there have been several decisions against hi his government because of all the trespasses and misdeeds they they have done. He has never complied with those decisions. He´s never so he´s in in denial of all those decisions.

And unfortunately, the Inter-American legal system on human rights has no any teeth. I mean there is no way they can implement, they an executed, their decisions. So, so far, as Fohemola (PH) did before him, he´s laughing off from all all those decisions. But the interesting is that the proof remains there. The other thing that has been tried is we see that in in spite of all the silence that the President has imposed upon media, because media most media, and particularly, television station television stations, are very scared of the president shutting them down. And what they have done is self censor themselves.

Marcel Granier is the chief executive officer of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV). Trained as a lawyer, he began working at RCTV in the 1970s and worked his way up through the ranks to Director General of the station. The station’s editorial policies supported democratic governance and criticized efforts by President Hugo Chavez to consolidate power and eliminate governmental checks and balances.

In 2007, the Chavez government imposed a requirement that RCTV reapply for its broadcast license then denied the application. RCTV operated successfully as a cable station until the government frightened away its advertisers. Granier continues to live in Venezuela and to speak out for democracy and human rights.