06/02/2007
Forced off the air by President Hugo Chavez, the opposition-aligned TV channel RCTV has begun taking its news shows to the Web through YouTube.
Since it went off the airwaves Sunday, Radio Caracas Television has kept filming programs and is uploading its news show The Observer each day to YouTube, RCTV vice president Maribel Morales said Friday.
The popular video-sharing Web site listed the program on Friday as its most subscribed feed of the week.
Thousands of Venezuelan university students are still protesting what they call an abuse of power by Chavez, and on Friday faced off with riot police in the streets while waving flags, blowing whistles and chanting, "We're students, we aren't coup-plotters!" Chavez refused to renew the channel's license, accusing it of inciting a failed coup in 2002 and violating various broadcast laws.
The young protesters said they fear the decision against RCTV may be a harbinger of restricted freedoms. "If nobody listens to us, if the government doesn't listen to us, the only option is to be in the street,'' said 19-year-old Clemys Rivas, who was dressed in black - the color that student protesters have taken on to reflect their view of the country's state of affairs.
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