Community Television in Venezuela

Forging an identity within the Revolution

María Rosa Rodner

Student #40719812

2008

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the

Degree of Masters in Applied Anthropology, Macquarie University,
Sydney, Australia. Supervisor Dr. Greg Downey.
 ii

Disclaimer: I certify that this thesis is entirely my own work except were
I have given documented references to the work of others. This thesis
has not previously, in any part of whole, been submitted for assessment
in any formal course of study.

Signed:
Digitally signed by María Rosa Rodner
María Rosa DN: cn=María Rosa Rodner, c=VE,
email=tigrepalenque@gmail.com
Rodner Reason: I am the author of this document
Date: 2008.09.21 21:01:22 +08'00'

Date: 04/03/08
 iii

Acknowledgements
Researching and writing this thesis has been a long journey made
possible by the unconditional help of many people whom I would like to
acknowledge here:
Annabella and Daniel for taking care of Sebastian while I went to
my courses at night. I also thank Sebastian for being such a little
champion on those days he came to classes with me.
The fieldwork for this thesis was possible thanks to the hospitality
of Helena, Alex, Wendy and Gerardo. Special acknowledgement goes to
Helena, for her care and company during the two months we spent at
her house in Caracas. Also I want to thank the abuelitos Briceño for
taking care of Sebastian while I did my fieldwork outside of Caracas,
and maestra Conchita for accepting him in her classroom. Thanks to my
mum for the camera I used for my fieldwork photos.
Thank you to Gerardo and Gustavo who put me in contact with the
television station coordinators in this study, and also to all the
coordinators: María, Jesús, Wendy, Werling, Richard and Haibi, who
allowed me to spend time observing, participating and conducting
interviews at the community stations they run. To all those who work at
TV Caricuao, Camunare Rojo TV and Lara Tve thank you for sharing
your stories with me.
I am also grateful to my supervisor Greg Downey, MAA
administrator Jovan Maud and director Pál Nyiri for their help and
patience in guiding me through the steps to writing a thesis.

Thank you.
 iv

I would like to dedicate this project

in loving memory and admiration
of my great-grandmother Bee
 v

Abstract

President Hugo Chávez’s government has been developing media as a

tool to promote the Bolivarian Revolution’s ideals and goals. Within this
context many community television stations have been set up in
neighbourhoods, barrios and remote rural localities of Venezuela,
backed by government financial and technical support. Through
participant observation and interviews this project collects the
testimonies of the people who have set up and developed three of these
community television stations: TV Caricuao, Camuare Rojo TV and Lara
Tve. I found that each television channel had its own particular identity
and style, dictated by local history, geography and traditions, as well as
by the personal motivations and traits of the people who worked at the
station. The people at the stations felt identified with many of the ideals
promoted by Bolivarian Revolution. They also shared the sense of social
justice, interest in adult education and desire to change the social order
of the country, that are common sentiments in worldwide alternative
media. Although each of the community stations in this study has its
own individual identity and agenda, they are still far from working
independently from government financial and ideological influences.

Keywords: Venezuela, Community Television, Alternative Media,

Bolivarian Revolution, Social Change, TV Caricuao, Camunare Rojo TV,
Lara Tve

Contact: tigrepalenque@gmail.com
 vi

Contents

1.Introduction

2.Literature review: Politics, media and Venezuelan society

2.1 History of an unresolved social struggle
2.1.1.Conquest
2.1.2.Independence
2.1.3.Dictatorship
2.1.4.A first endeavor at democracy
2.1.5.The Pacto de Punto Fijo and the end of dictatorship.
2.2.Subjects and spectators of Democracy
2.3.Time for a Revolution
2.3.1.Revolutionizing Politics: communal councils
2.3.2.Revolutionizing the economy: cooperatives
2.3.3.Revolutionizing education and health: missions
2.3.4.Revolutionary media: transforming state television
2.4.Community television from global to local
2.4.1.Conceptualising community television
2.4.2.CONATEL: facilitating community television in Venezuela

3.Data and Discussion

3.1.Methodology
3.1.1.Making contacts
3.1.2.Research approach and methods
3.1.3.Informed consent and participants
3.2.Case studies
3.2.1.TV Caricuao
3.2.2.Camunare Rojo TV
3.2.3.Lara Tve
 vii

3.3.The identity and role of community television in Venezuela

3.3.1.Community television as an instrument of social change
3.3.2.Community television and adult education
3.3.3.The community station revolutionary
3.3.4.“What kind of television do we want?”
3.3.5.Carving an identity
3.3.6.How the community sees the channel
3.3.7.Mirroring the community

4.Conclusion
- Glossary: Venezuelan local terms, Revolutionary terms
- Acronyms
- References * Literature References
* Internet References
* Interviews and Correspondence
* Colloquiums and classes
- Appendices:
A. Approved community stations
B. Commercial and state TV stations
C. Missions
D. TV Caricuao (photos)
E. Camunare Rojo TV (photos)
F. Lara Tve (photos)
G. Fieldnotes on El Vegón
H. Video
Introduction 1

1.Introduction
A las 12 de la noche del 28 de mayo de 2007, después de 53
años de trayectoria histórica en Venezuela, RCTV fue cerrada.
(At Midnight on May 28, 2007, after 53 years of history in
Venezuela, RCTV was closed down) (RCTV, 2007)

When I went to do my fieldwork in February 2007, everyone in

Caracas was talking about the impending disappearance from the
airwaves of Radio Caracas Televisión or RCTV, a national commercial
television station. One Saturday afternoon, employees, family and
friends of RCTV assembled in the Plaza Francia urging people to sign
a petition that was to be sent to the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, stating, among other things, that the closure of the
television station was a “threat to the independent exercise of
journalism […] and to freedom of speech in general”. i ii
In June,
during the subsequent meeting of the Organization of American
States in Panama, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice said,
“the closure of Radio Caracas TV (RCTV) was ‘undemocratic’ and
called for the Organization of American States (OAS) to investigate”
(BBC News: June 5, 2007).
Not renovating this longstanding commercial television station’s
concession to open airwaves could be considered heavy-handed, and
unsurprisingly caused public outrage in the country and much
external criticism. But RCTV was not an unbiased vehicle for public
expression and freedom of speech; it was an active political and
social player. Not only in Venezuela, but also in much of Latin
America “media systems combined various influences and were
deeply shaped by a matrix of power relations that resulted from
indigenous political and economic developments” (Waisbord, 2003:
50). Following the installation of a democratic system in 1958, the
media in Venezuela did not function as the Fourth Estate,
representing the masses, and framing and questioning political
issues.iii On the contrary, media companies served as a hegemonic
Introduction 2

binder, legitimising the new political system, its actors and their
supporters. All sectors of society were in some way integrated –
partly through the media - and given a stake in the persistence of the
new socio-political system (Hallin, 2003). There was no effort to
develop a political culture where citizens could participate in building
a democratic society other than by voting, and representation was
reduced to clientelism.iv
Chapter 2 will familiarize readers with the historical and political
events that have shaped Venezuela’s social order and political
institutions, and how their inadequacy has contributed to social
uprisings, and led to the sweeping reforms of President Chávez’s
Bolivarian Revolution, which have received so much media scrutiny
and their fair share civil resistance. In chapter 2 I will also address
the hegemonic role of Venezuelan media and how television has
served politicians and large business owners (‘the Oligarchs,’ as
Chávez calls them) as an effective instrument of control without
“open authoritarianism” (ibid: 98). Only now that they are no longer
partisans with those in government do they continuously question
and criticize the political decisions and ideological viewpoint of the
state.
Chávez’s government is responding by creating its own media.
The National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) refused to
renew RCTV’s contract to broadcast publicly on channel 2 because it
considered that a lot of its programs did not uphold standards
expected of open television, added to the channel’s relentless
criticism of Chávez and obvious support for the opposition leaders
(Libro Blanco sobre RCTV, 2007). Arnelle Carolina Uzcátegui,
Technical Support Manager at CONATEL, told me during an interview
in March 2007 that the problem in Caracas is that the spectrum is
saturated. She said that this is one of the reasons why CONATEL is
not renewing RCTV’s concession: they need the broadcast space for
other channels that can provide “better” programs (than RCTV). To
Introduction 3

date, channel 2 now broadcasts TVes or Fundación Televisora

Venezolana Social (Social Venezuelan Television- Station Foundation),
a new channel launched by the state, which, according to the
government provides a more educational and cultural channel of
entertainment.
Tves is the second national broadcast channel set up by the
current government. When Chávez first took over the presidency in
1998, he saw in the dilapidated state television station, VTV
(Venezolana de Televisión), the promotional instrument through
which he was going to talk to the masses about his political program
for the country: The Bolivarian Revolution. Ever since, Chávez has
been doing this personally through his Sunday program Aló
Presidente (Hello President), and indirectly through the other
informative and opinion programs broadcasted on VTV.v
In 2003, the Chávez government introduced another state
channel: Vive TV (Visión Venezuela). This station works in close
collaboration with community channels, broadcasting programs made
by them and by independent filmmakers. Vive TV is also a training
platform for community television staff, teaching them the technical
and production skills of television making. This partnership between
Vive and community channels has been beneficial to the latter, but
also constrains their creativity because they have to adjust to Vive’s
standards.
Community radio and television stations are being set up in
remote rural towns, within barrios (poor neighbourhoods), and in
places where people are organized as a collaborative entity or
fundación (foundation), and can demonstrate that a common identity
binds them. Government support of community stations does not end
with training, equipment and bandwidth concession. Support is
ongoing, as practically all are financially viable because of
government advertising. Uzcátegui said that this level of state
support for community television is unprecedented elsewhere in the
Introduction 4

world. Since 2002, CONATEL has supported the foundation of twenty-

five community television stations, and there are still more petitions
pending approval (Appendix A).
Notwithstanding government help, community television has an
ambivalent association with the Revolution. Many of those involved in
community television identify with aspects of ‘the Bolivarian Process,’
but at the same time they strive for the individuality and
independence of their stations. The rhetoric of people power and
socialism promoted by the Revolution supports the need for
community television as a platform through which citizens can be
heard and participate in the affairs of the country. But because
community stations broadcast on a very small scale, 6 MHz
bandwidth, and as yet do not command a great audience, even within
their neighbourhoods, they have been overshadowed by all the
interest surrounding the mainstream media. Most people have never
heard of any of the community channels - with the exception of Catia
Tve - and assume they produce low quality television or are an
appendage of state television. There has been very little written
about these stations academically or by journalists in the mainstream
media, or at least this information is not widely available.
Is the local identity of Venezuelan community television
stations eclipsed by the support they get from the “Bolivarian”
government? In this project I study how three community stations
develop their individual images within the Revolutionary framework.
The driving force behind the community stations is the staffs
commitment, particularly that of the coordinators. And it is through
their personal interpretations of locality and its social needs, and their
audiovisual knowledge and esthetical preferences that each channel’s
image is forged.
The first community channel I visited during my field research
was TV Caricuao, located in a dormitory neighbourhood west of
Caracas. Caricuao has developed certain cultural idiosyncrasies, for
Introduction 5

example in music, that set it apart from Caracas. The community has
a well-known “underground” or pirate radio station, called Radio
Perola, as well as its own community television station, which has a
twenty-five-year history in independent video production.
I then travelled to a small country town, Camunare Rojo. The
word Rojo (red) is part of its name because Camunare was a
communist hideout in the 1960s when the guerrilleros (guerrillas)
lived up in the sierra (mountains). Camunare Rojo is also a farming
village. Its television station arose to defend peasants in clashes
against landowners.
The third channel I visited was Lara Tve in Barquisimeto, a city
in the west of Venezuela. Lara Tve’s signature style is interaction with
the public, as practically all programs are broadcast live from the
studio, so audiences can phone in and participate with their
comments. Their focus is on music and children’s participation in
production.
During my fieldwork I observed and interviewed the people who
worked and volunteered at each of the three stations. Through this
research I learnt how the coordinators, producers and operative staff
work to make their station representative of and useful to their
community. In this thesis I also talk about how they relate to and
work with the Bolivarian Revolution: what are the causes, motives,
opportunities and necessities that bring these people to set up a
television station for their community within the Revolutionary
framework.
Literature Review 6

2.Literature review

Politics, media and Venezuelan society

2.1.History of an unresolved social struggle

A long time has gone by since Venezuela broke from the

colonial domination model and set up the republic, however it
seems like we still have not found a path that will lead us to the
construction of a stable and autonomous cultural and political
entity. (Rodríguez, 2004: 260)

2.1.1.Conquest
In 1498 when Christopher Columbus set foot on what is now
known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, many native groups
or “Indians” inhabited the land.vi Each had its own language, social
structures and rules, myth-historical beliefs, and subsistence
methods. Although there are instances in Venezuelan history when
some indigenous groups allied with the Spaniards, for the most part
Indians were persecuted, murdered, enslaved or driven off the land,
and vast numbers died from diseases like smallpox.
Indian traditions and rules did not get to play a major role in
forming Venezuela’s political, economic, social and religious
structures. Presently, Venezuela has a relatively small indigenous-
identified population – 1.5 percent of the total population (ULA, Not
dated) or around 300,000 people belonging to 25 ethnic groups
(Monsonyi, Not dated) – compared to other countries in Latin
America, but many Venezuelans are part Indian or mestizo (of mixed
Amerindian, African and European ethnic descent).

2.1.2.Independence
Towards the end of the 18th century, dissent against Spanish
colonial rule grew throughout the Americas as local Indian and
peasant rebellions added strength to the efforts of rich criollo (Latin
American-born Europeans) landowners who wanted to free
Literature Review 7

themselves from the trade restrictions imposed by the motherland.

After a long armed struggle, Simón Bolívar led his troops to victory in
the Battle of Carabobo on June 24, 1821. Known as the Libertador
(liberator) for freeing, not only Venezuela, but also Colombia,
Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Bolivia from Spanish domination, Simón
Bolívar dreamed of forming a united Latin American society (Castro-
Klarén, 2003). His vision was short-lived as bickering caudillos
(charismatic politico-military strongmen) split the integrated State of
La Gran Colombia to distribute power among themselves.vii
Buried but not forgotten, Bolívar’s dream has now been
revived; to unite the peoples of Latin America is one of the main
goals of the Bolivarian Revolution (Arreaza, 2004; Cancillería, MINCI,
2007). Bolívar is alleged to have uttered on his deathbed: “America is
ungovernable […] Those in the service of the revolution have
ploughed the sea” (Gott, 2005: 101). Remembering these words,
one wonders if this is a reasonable to dream to pursue. In Bolívar’s
time there was no mass media. El Correo del Orinoco (The Orinoco
Post) was a newspaper set up by Bolívar and others to support the
independence movement, but its public was limited to the few who
could read, as most of the population at that time was illiterate. Had
Bolívar counted on the media power of today’s Bolivarian Revolution,
would have he seen his dream come true?

2.1.3.Dictatorship
Throughout the remainder of the 19th century, Venezuela was
ruled by a series of caudillo dictators. During this period, slavery was
legally abolished, but an egalitarian society was far from achieved.
Criollos and peninsulares (Spanish born) were still the ruling class.
The African-American descendants of slaves, Native Americans, and
mestizos had little political freedom or access to education. Few
owned their own land, and many had to resort to working on
latifundia or fincas (plantations) for very little pay.
Literature Review 8

Fragmented caudillismo was finally eradicated at the beginning

of the 20th century by the military strength of Venezuela’s longest-
standing dictator, Juan Vicente Gómez. A mestizo from humble
origins in the Andes, Gómez’s power lay in a strong army and
ruthlessness towards his adversaries (Lieuwen, 1961). The discovery
of oil attracted foreign interest to the country and enriched Gómez
and his government. Opinions vary on Gómez’s contributions to
Venezuela and its people. According to Lieuwen,
Living standards were miserably low; there was no
government housing; health and education were neglected
despite the opulence of the state; agriculture and industry
were prostrate. (Lieuwen 1961: 48)

In contrast, Derham (2002: 276) says that there are alternative

views in which “Gómez can be seen as more of a nationalist and
moderniser rather than the primitive, backward barbarian of
conventional interpretations”. Gómez held power for 25 years, until
his death from natural causes in 1935. His successors were similar in
their dictatorial style of governing; nevertheless political parties
began to take shape in Venezuela.

2.1.4.A first endeavour at democracy

In the 40s and 50s the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV)
in Caracas provided the grounds for a new breed of political leaders
intent on paving the way for democracy. In spite of their democratic
ideals, however, these party leaders decided to collaborate with a
group of junior officers in staging a coup, which succeeded in ousting
President Isaías Medina Angarita from power. A temporary joint
military-civilian government was set up. Elections followed in two
years, and the AD or Acción Democrática (Democratic Action)
candidate, Rómulo Gallegos, won the presidency.
During its first three years in power, AD swept the country with
political and social reforms, many designed to improve labour
conditions, health care and education for the general population.
Literature Review 9

According to Derham (2003), however, AD was inefficient in bringing

about many of its programmatic reforms, and in some cases caused
more damage and chaos than improvement. In October 1948, AD
introduced an Agrarian Reform Law aimed at expropriating vast areas
of idle land monopolized by rich landholders and putting them in the
hands of the propertyless rural population for cultivation (Lieuwen,
1961). viii The proposed agrarian reforms earned AD the animosity of
landowners. AD also alienated their former military and political allies
by excluding them from participation in the new government. Their
administration ended with the army seizing power once again and the
installation of a ten-year dictatorship under the heavy hand of
General Marcos Pérez Jiménez. The controversial Agrarian Reform
Law was not implemented.

2.1.5.The Pacto de Punto Fijo and the end of dictatorship

Aside from persecuting his political enemies, Pérez Jiménez is
remembered for spectacular construction of obras (monumental
infrastructure). According to Lieuwen (1961) most of this construction
was focused on making a show-place of Caracas, the capital city, and
created an imbalance in the development of the country as a whole.
However, this focus did not change when AD returned to power in
1958. During the forty years AD and their contender COPEI (Comité
de Organización Política Electoral Independiente) shared political
power, little was done to develop the rural areas of the country.
Instead, Venezuela developed as a país rentista, a country living off
oil revenues.
On January 23, 1958, Pérez Jiménez fled the country after joint
military and civilian attacks forced him to resign. Following an
interim government, elections were called, and the AD candidate,
Rómulo Betancourt, assumed the presidency. To avoid succumbing
again to military dictatorship, the party leaders of AD, COPEI and
URD (Unión Republicana Democrática) set up the Pacto de Punto Fijo,
Literature Review 10

a gentlemen’s agreement about how political parties and the elections

should be managed. ix Nevertheless, instead of serving democracy
and political diversity, through the Pacto de Punto Fijo governance
was shifted every election or so mainly between the two dominant
political parties, AD and COPEI (Buxton, 2001; Gott, 2005;
McCaughan, 2004). Furthermore, the Communist Party of Venezuela
(PCV) was actually excluded from the pact, despite its help in
overthrowing the preceding dictatorship and significant popular and
union support (Derham, 2000). “The philosophy of Communism is not
compatible with the development of Venezuela,” Betancourt explained
(Lieuwen, 1961: 105).
From then on elections dutifully took place every five years,
with an array of candidates to choose from, plenty of campaigning,
banners, speeches and propaganda in the media, but in actual fact
public participation was minimal and political power remained in the
hands of few, those few who had set up the original parties of AD and
COPEI. Their governments enjoyed the benefits of soaring oil prices
between 1973 and 1983; and these benefits trickled down to the
general population in the form of inadequate public services and
welfare programs. However, when oil prices dropped, dramatic
political changes accompanied economic decline, “the most profound
being the erosion of support for the political regime itself” (Myers,
2003: 188). In 1989 facing a large international debt, President
Carlos Andrés Pérez (AD) instated economic austerity measures
prescribed by the International Monetary Fund. Riots and looting
broke out in Caracas following a rise in public transport fares. This
upheaval was crushed by the armed forces, and hundreds were killed.
In 1992, President Pérez had to deal with two coup attempts;
the first on the 4th of February had Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chávez
Frías amongst its leaders. The second took place in November and
was led by navy Admiral Hernán Gruber. Both failed, and the culprits
were imprisoned. However, Chávez had left an impression on all
Literature Review 11

Venezuelans. After his capture, Chávez was granted a few minutes on

television to tell his troops to withdraw. In this speech he said:
…For the moment [por ahora] the objectives that we had set
ourselves have not been achieved […] I alone shoulder the
responsibility for this Bolivarian military uprising…x (Chávez
quoted and translated in Gott, 2005: 67)

He may have failed then, but he would be back within the decade. On
December 4, 1998, Hugo Chávez Frías, former Lieutenant Colonel of
the national parachute brigade and ex-coup leader, was
democratically elected as the new president of Venezuela. His victory
marked the end of the Pacto de Punto Fijo and with it an era in
Venezuelan politics.

2.2.Subjects and spectators of Democracy

Similar to other Latin American nations, Venezuela had adopted
the institutions and practices of democracy without developing a
political culture and social structure to support them (Wiarda, 2005);
therefore, politics was reduced to a show of empty and absurd rituals
(Rodríguez, 2004). This spectacle of the triumph, development,
decline and demise of political parties in Venezuela has been captured
throughout the past forty years by national television.
Television made its debut in Venezuela in 1952 on channel 5,
with the state run Televisora Nacional YVKA-TV (TVN-5). The
following year the first commercial station, Televisa YVLV-TV, aired
on channel 4 (Herrera, Valdespino and Vivas, not dated), but went
bankrupt in less than a decade. In 1960 President Rómulo Betancourt
asked wealthy businessman Don Diego Cisneros to buy Televisa in
order to turn it into a profitable business, and use this media to guide
public opinion in favour of the nascent democracy (Venevisión, 2005).
And that is what he did. Cisneros bought Televisa and changed its
name to Venevisión; it is now the country’s longest standing
commercial television station, since its archrival RCTV (former
Literature Review 12

channel 2) has been taken off the air. RCTV, owned by the 1BC
conglomerate had been on open air since 1953, but was reduced to
broadcast on cable television since losing its concession in May 2007.
For decades Venevisión and RCTV had been battling for ratings.
Both started off in association with US broadcasters; 42 percent of
Venevisión was in the hands of ABC (American Broadcasting
Company), and NBC (The National Broadcasting Company) held a 20
percent share of RCTV, in spite of a national regulation (Reglamento
de Radiocomunicaciones) that stated that only Venezuelans could
exploit television signals (Herrera et al). Both turned into very
profitable businesses, and their holding groups 1BC and ODC, held,
and still hold, stakes in many areas, including other forms of media,
technology, and consumption goods. These holdings lock national
media with the consumption economy in a way that goes beyond
advertising funding. These complex networks of holdings have led to
accusations of oligarchy against the private media in Venezuela.
Both channels focused on the commercial value of television,
broadcasting imported and local entertainment programs. Gumucio-
Dagrón argues that
Most private national television channels are no more than an
echo of multinational networks [… providing a] unilateral
vision of the world, with contents that are homogenised.
(Gumucio-Dagrón, 2003: 18)

Audiences are spectators, fed entertainment and news, models and

ideas. These media do not help to produce a public sphere with an
opinion, that is “people gathered together as a public and articulating
the needs of society with the state” (Habermas, 1962: 176),
questioning, challenging or even affirming the affairs of the state and
the status quo. Waisbord considers that media structures in South
America can be antidemocratic in character, tilting in favour of
concentrated business and political elites, reflecting a legacy of power
inequalities, and are therefore unlikely to redress, let alone
Literature Review 13

restructure the “wide disparities in access to the means of public

expression” (Waisbord, 2000:60).
(See Appendix B for an outline of Venezuela’s private and state
national television broadcasters)

2.3.Time for a Revolution

Many people voted for Chávez in 1998 as the sole alternative to

the bi-partisan Punto Fijo clique, and as way of punishing AD and
COPEI for their inefficiency and corruption. But they soon realized
that they had acquired much more than what they had bargained for,
changes and reforms: yes… but a revolution? Not everyone’s choice,
especially if your lifestyle does not require any revolutionizing.
Social Revolutions are massive progressive processes
confronting from below the whole arrangement of power
structures. If successful, they involve profound changes in class
relations on social, economic and political terrains, as well in
the material and symbolic dimensions of individual and
collective life. (Vilas, 2003: 95)

2.3.1.Revolutionizing Politics: communal councils

During the reign of the IV República, affiliation to political
parties was usually associated with clientelism or securing a job in
public service, rather than a way to participate in the construction of
society and public policy.xi The Chávez government is attempting to
reduce or eliminate the need for public institutions and political
parties. On the one hand he is reducing pluralistic representation by
trying to eliminate political parties, as he has called those affiliated to
him (MVR, PCV, MAS) to all join up as one (partido único), and
thereby remove their individual identities and representatives. But at
the same time, never before has there been a greater call for the
general population to engage in a political movement: La Revolución
Bolivarian or The Bolivarian Revolution (albeit the only option
promoted by the government).
Literature Review 14

The Chávez government is encouraging people to create

consejos comunales (community or communal councils) as an
alternative to political parties. Through these councils, made up by
community members, people are given the power to formulate,
execute, control and evaluate public policies (Consejos Comunales,
2007). They are also meant to take over from, or for now, run
parallel to Asociaciones de Vecinos (Neighbourhood Associations),
and some public organization institutions, like Alcaldías (Councils).
Some of those who are less than enthusiastic about the consejos
comunales, like council representative of Chacao, Emilio Graterón
(colloquium, 2007), fear that they are a mechanism for centralizing
state control over society, and describe the process as socialism with
a totalitarian vocation, based on the dictatorship of the commune.
Pragmatic critics like Mascarreño (colloquium, 2007) argue that a
large city like Caracas, with around 4 million inhabitants, needs
institutionalised mechanisms in order for it to function correctly and
provide continuity to political and structural projects (Graterón and
Mascarreño presentations at the colloquium El Poder Popular y la
transformación de Caracas, 2007).
Eliminating the traditional institutions of socio-political
organization is still very far off on the horizon from any political
standpoint, as consejos comunales are still just sorting out their
teething problems. “The work of the communities is not easy, this
process is not easy,” said a consejo comunal organizer in Caricuao.
He explained that they have to go door-to-door inviting people to
meetings. They have to figure out what needs fixing, damaged pipes
or roads, for example, and then find several cooperatives and have
them bid for the work. Then consejo members must submit the
winning budget to the government in order to get the money to pay
the cooperative to have the job done. Furthermore, they must
supervise the work to make sure it is done conclusively. He explained
Literature Review 15

that local communal councils also have to pinpoint and resolve social
issues, like neglected children or elderly people.
Prior to the consejos comunales, in 2000 the Chávez
government had dabbled with the círculos bolivarianos (bolivarian
circles). Similar to the consejos comunales, members of the
bolivarian circles were to serve and support the interests of their
community, facilitating access to the government’s poverty alleviation
programs, as well as campaigning for the president in elections
(Hawkins and Hansen, 2006). The subtle disappearance of the
bolivarian circles may be because they had accomplished their main
objective of organizing mass support for Chávez during his temporary
removal from power in April 2002, the 2004 referendum and 2006
election. Also they had negative connotations attached to them, like
clientelism and violence, and were called “circles of terror” by some
members of the opposition. Very little empirical work has been done
to determine their contribution to Venezuelan civil society (ibid). This
trial and error approach, along with the indefinite timelines and
ambiguous goals of some government projects (plans, missions,
círculos bolivarianos, consejos comunales) underlines the
experimental nature of the ‘Bolivarian Process,’ which to some means
an opportunity to participate and to others uncertainty and chaos.

2.3.2.Revolutionizing the economy: cooperatives

“Latin America is the region with the highest levels of inequality
in the world” (De Ferranti, Perry, Ferreira and Walton, 2004: 53). In
a study compiled by De Ferranti and colleagues for the World Bank,
the authors conclude that, whether it be by measuring household
income, or consumption, or expenditure, inequality in Latin American
has been greater than in the rest of the world, at least since statistics
became available after World War II. There are no signs that this gap
has narrowed over time, and levels of inequality in Latin America
have persisted despite changes in the financial, social, and political
Literature Review 16

scenarios; ranging from economic booms from the discovery of oil, to

public sector interventions, dictatorships and democracies.
Since Chávez began his Revolutionary Process in Venezuela,
some have argued that living standards have plummeted.
Unemployment has risen because many multinational companies
have moved their operations elsewhere due to the political
uncertainty of the country, and a lot of small and medium-sized local
businesses went bankrupt following a four-month-long national strike
called on by the opposition in 2002 and 2003 (Alvarado, 2004).
Figures for unemployment in Venezuela vary from 7.7 percent in
1998 (Ferranti et al, 2004) to around 13 percent between 1999 and
2004 (Armas, in Alvardo, 2004).
It has generally been quite difficult to make accurate estimates
for unemployment because around half the working population is
engaged in informal labour activities, ranging from domestic cleaners,
construction workers, and street vendors (known as buhoneros), to
skilled workers, such as electricians and artisans. This is not a new
phenomenon and has been going on for decades. It is difficult to tell
if periodic increases in the informal economy are due to a lack of
formal jobs, or have been made more acute by an influx of migrants
from neighbouring countries. Although informal work provides
immediate necessities like food and transport, it places a burden on
public services, because most of these workers are not included in
the taxation and social security system, yet they still rely on public
health and schooling for themselves and their families, as their
incomes are usually low and unreliable.
One of the methods the Chávez government is using to tackle
the persistent unemployment problem is the promotion and
institutionalisation of cooperatives. SUNACOOP, Superintendencia
Nacional de Cooperativas (National Superintendent of Cooperatives),
defines the “cooperative” as:
Literature Review 17

A production, obtainment, consumer or credit entity, whose

members participate freely and democratically in search of a
common economic and social objective, where the participation
of each associate is determined by work input towards the
common objective and not by the amount of money put in.
(SUNACOOP, 2007)

Cooperatives are inspired by early 19th century utopian socialist ideals

from England and France of self-managed organizations that rose in
contestation to the grim livelihood of factory workers during the
Industrial Revolution. Through history cooperativism has had
successes and limitations in the relief of poverty, nevertheless it is
still one obvious choice for any system which is attempting to be
more inclusive than capitalism, which accepts poverty as the natural
outcome of the competitive process among unequals (Schirber,
1945).
Cooperatives in Venezuela go back more than 100 years, but
their recent revival follows structural and legal reforms decreed in the
2001 Special Law of Cooperative Associations set out to control,
promote and protect the cooperatives.xii SONACOOP (2007)
categorizes Venezuelan cooperatives into: goods and services
production cooperatives, goods and services consumption
cooperatives (shops and stalls), savings and credit cooperatives, and
mixed cooperatives (any combination of the above).

During my fieldwork, I visited the agricultural Cooperativa Mixta

Aracal, in Yaracuy. Set up on land expropriated from sugar cane
plantations, Aracal is an ambitious cooperative scheme that aims to
include a laboratory, fish farms and organic gardens, and has begun
to farm black beans, one of Venezuela’s traditional staple foods, and
to rear some cattle. Aracal’s progress - from the moment farmers and
peasants seized the land, to their organization into a cooperative, and
their production and farming activities - has been closely documented
by the community television station Camunare Rojo TV.
Literature Review 18

2.3.3.Revolutionizing education and health: missions

Venezuela as a nation has yet to devise a system that will
guarantee all citizens access to appropriate healthcare, education and
food. As city populations grew over the past century, many public
schools and hospitals were built, and additional programs launched to
solve acute deficiencies, like the ACUDE literacy program of the 80s
and the beca alimentaria (food grant) in the 1990s, to mention a
couple. But the public institutions have long been beyond capacity
and the assistance programs faded away over time. About four years
into its term, the current government launched the misiones (or
missions) as its answer to the population’s health, sustenance and
education needs.
The missions are mid- to long-term programs which do not only
focus on improving an individual’s living standards through the
particular educational, health or other program they impart, but are
meant to encourage social and political inclusion by providing a venue
in which people can participate in the construction of the citizenry
(Rodríguez, in Alvarado, 2004). The adult education and practical
development programs - like Misión Ribas, Robinson, Sucre and
Vuelvan Caras – are meant to go beyond academic and technical
training, to teach participants about the government's social-
economy alternative and encourage their integration.
Community television works in close collaboration with many of
the missions in a mutually supportive relationship; for example, in
the case of TV Caricuao, some missions share the site with the
station. One evening when I was leaving TV Caricuao, I walked down
to the Metro (train station) with some students who had just come
out of class. Most people were over 35, and they seemed to be very
enthusiastic and happy with what they had been learning at the
mission. This example attests to the fact that the missions sometimes
have been successful in improving people's self-worth and outlook, a
positive step towards strengthening social capital and encouraging
Literature Review 19

the participation of previously excluded segments of the population

into what is called the "tertiary sector" of the economy, that is, the
social economy rather than the primary private and the secondary
public sectors (García, in Alvarado 2004). The tertiary sector is a
"space" - not exclusively- for those who previously were on the
fringes of society and economic production, and it is meant to
organise people into more formal production (cooperatives) and social
(community councils) networks, this way not only improving their
livelihood but also converting them into accountable citizens. The
missions are the first stepping-stone.
Some missions not only provide free education, but students
are given a monthly grant in order to help them with their studies.
Misión Zamora organizes peasants into collective farms (fundos),
presents them with deeds to the land, agricultural machinery, and
seeds as well as technical training (Alvarado 2004, and interview at
Aracal, 2007). “There is a lot of money floating around,” Alvarado
warns (2004: 224), and fund allocation is not always clear; without
details it is difficult to evaluate financial management, which in turn
obstructs fiscal discipline (Armas, in Alvarado 2004). Other critics
(Guedel and Maingon, in Alvarado, 2004) say that mission programs
are sometimes duplicated due to lack of coordination and specific
objectives, resulting in institutional mismanagement, misplacement of
funds and loss of a global focus on the social matter. Aside from
official government statements on their achievements, the
effectiveness of the missions on improving health, employment,
productivity and education have not been properly evaluated.
Alvarado (2004) suggests that although the missions aim to be
development programs, they are still very much working on an
assistance level, solving basic needs like education, health and food
supply to poorer sectors of society. In Venezuela, as well as much of
Latin America, this is a trap that socio-political structures fall into:
geared towards solving crises, they are rarely able to evolve from
Literature Review 20

temporary emergency structures into permanent solutions

(Rodríguez, 2004).
(Appendix C gives a brief description of all of the missions mentioned
in this thesis and others of interest)

2.3.4.Revolutionary media: transforming state television

The role of the media in the Bolivarian revolutionary
transformation is to spread the word, promoting the Revolution’s
ideals and presenting the achievements of the missions and other
government projects. Throughout its lifespan, Venezuelan state
television - aired on channel 5 (Televisora Nacional) and channel 8
(VTV) - was basically a promotional tool for government projects,
although not as explicitly as in the current climate. It has also
attempted to provide more educational and folkloric programs than
its commercial counterparts. Yet previous governments invested very
little money and thought into the state channels, and they always
seemed to have old documentaries with a washed-out look, among
other not very exciting images, making it impossible to compete with
the private channels. Nevertheless, state television was the only
alternative to commercial television until the advent of satellite and
cable. State funded television in Venezuela has never functioned as
"public access television", understood as a relatively autonomous
channel, in which members of civil society can influence program
selection and even sometimes have a hand in production. A good
example of public access television can be seen in Australia's SBS.
In 2003 the government launched Vive TV under the guiding
hand of Blanca Eekhout, the former director of one of Venezuela's
pioneering community television channels, Catia Tve. Personnel from
Vive have trained many community television producers, and in
return Vive gets to air the programs produced at the community
television stations. On the one hand, it allows communities to be seen
and heard on a national and international level: Vive can be seen
Literature Review 21

around Venezuela through the local UHF channels and on cable, and
worldwide via the Internet (Vive TV, not dated). On the other hand,
Vive puts pressure on community channels to comply with certain
content and schedule expectations and robs them of the intimacy of
local television.

2.4.Community television from global to local

2.4.1.Conceptualising community television
What community television “does best is listen to the
community heartbeat and the pulse of daily life” (Gumucio-Dagrón,
2003: 18). Every community television station is as unique as the
community it serves. There is no right or wrong way of making
community television, no prescribed styles; by definition it is
experimental not professional, a creative tool in the hands of those
who have a message to share with others. Community television is a
world-wide grassroots libertarian movement dedicated to the
principles of free expression, social justice and participatory
democracy, and committed to enhancing collective memory and
community relations, organization and solidarity (Gumucio-Dagrón,
2003; Howley, 2005).
Community television broadcasts events and issues that mainly
concern a group of people who share some form of identity. The
community itself can be defined by geographical boundaries as well
as in terms of common interests or lifestyle, or by ethnical, idiomatic,
religious or cultural groupings (Rennie, 2006). But the bottom line is
a sense of belonging and commitment. Nevertheless it is important
that members perceive that community projects will in some way
enrich their lives in order to secure their ongoing commitment and
interest, as successful long-term cooperation cannot rely solely on
socialistic or other ideological motivation (Levi and Litwin, 1986).
Community television is a high maintenance project as it must
Literature Review 22

produce and broadcast on a regular basis to be up to date with

community issues and keep the public tuned in and interested.
Community media is usually run on a not-for profit basis, and
any income generated is for the upkeep and continuity of the station.
Most people who participate in community media (producers, writers
and presenters) are volunteers, and if there are any paid employees,
they are usually in charge of technical operative tasks. Community
television in comparison to its media counterparts - community radio
and independent video - has much higher production, infrastructure,
broadcasting, organization and material costs.
The motivation to set up and participate in community
television is determined by the particular circumstances of each
community. When I asked the people in Venezuela why they set up
the station, several cited the April 11th 2002 civil uprising or coup
d'état (people define the event depending upon political affiliation), in
which around nineteen people died and sixty were injured, as a
catalyst that incited them to set up a television station through which
they could capture political and social struggles from another point of
view (compared to that of state or commercial television). But they
each also had their particular motivation: “we wanted better
programs for our children” (Lara Tve), “we wanted to show the
struggle of farmers” (Camunare Rojo TV).

2.4.2.CONATEL: facilitating community television in Venezuela

The Coordinadora Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (National
Telecomunicactions Coordinator) or CONATEL is the state agency in
charge of granting airwave space and regulating program content on
open-air television. Commercial, state and community television and
radio are all under its jurisdiction. According to article 200 of the Ley
Orgánica de Telecomunicaciones (Organic Law of
Telecommunications) published in 2000, amongst its duties CONATEL
must promote the existence of not-for-profit public service
Literature Review 23

community radio and television stations as a means for organized

communities to communicate.
Prior to the 1999 reform to the Venezuelan Constitution,
community media was not regulated, and therefore the few
community television stations that existed - Catia Tve and Tv Rubio –
were, in practice, broadcasting illegally (Podur, 2005). Catia Tve's
history dates back to the 1960s when it started up as the CineClub, a
group of neighbours from the west end of Caracas gathering to watch
films in people's homes. Through these meetings it developed into a
community organization, where people not only got together to see
the films but also to chat about community issues. In the early
1990s, Catia Tve acquired a video camera and began recording
community events and visits from politicians in order to hold them
accountable to their promises. They took the step from independent
video to television broadcasting when Tv Rubio helped them set up an
antenna (ibid).
Tv Rubio is located in a small town in Táchira State in the
Andes and was started up by a group of high school students in 1996,
promoting local news, cultural and sports events (Hernández, 1999).
Some universities also had their own television stations, but their
programs were for the student population and did not broadcast
outside of the university. Under the new legislation universities
cannot operate "community" stations because these can only be set
up by a community foundation (fundación comunitaria), whose
members must all live in the broadcasting area of the station and join
as individuals (personas naturales) and not as members of a legal
entity or institution (personas jurídicas).
The Open Broadcast Not-for-profit Public Service Community
Radio and Television Regulation (Reglamento de Radiodifusión Sonora
y Televisión Abierta comunitarias de Servicio Público, sin fines de
lucro, 2001) lays out the laws for community foundations and their
radio or television stations. There must be particular historical,
Literature Review 24

geographical, cultural and traditional characteristics that identify the

inhabitants of the community (article 2). Community inhabitants can
set up a foundation for the community, which must have the
exclusive objective of ensuring free and plural communication
amongst the members of the community (article 2). The station can
receive income through donations or from advertising by local
businesses and businesses from other communities (article 30), and
council and other government advertising, but may not receive
financial support from open-air television operators (article 19).
CONATEL assesses the technical feasibility of setting up a
station in a particular community, and if they approve the petition,
they also provide technical support to set up the station, and MINCI
(Communications and Information Ministry) provides the equipment
(antenna). Arnell Uzcátegui (interview, 2007) told me that now
CONATEL is also evaluating the community's social aspects when
considering their petition to set up a television station. They are
looking to see if the community is organized, if it has a communal
council, and whom are the people participating.
The station's coordinators and producers decide on program
style and themes, but these must follow certain parameters, like
having educational, cultural or informative value and benefiting the
development of the community (article 26). CONATEL periodically
evaluates television programming, ensuring content complies with the
parameters mentioned above, and that stations are broadcasting a
70% quota of community programs each day (article 28). Because
community television in Venezuela is in its early stages, this quota
can be hard to fulfil. Programs are rerun, or some channels choose to
rebroadcast the national state channels Vive TV or VTV, but this
should not surpass 2% percent of total programming (article 32).
Although article 26 states that stations should “absolutely abstain
from transmitting partisan or proselytising messages of any nature”,
the fact that they rebroadcast the government television signal seems
Literature Review 25

at odds with this because many programs are clearly supportive of

Chávez and his political views. Article 26 also says that community
media should aim to integrate and support community development,
indiscriminately of “political beliefs, age, race, sex, creed, social
condition or any other condition.”
It is early days yet, and most stations are still building their
identity and working on operating efficiently. Financial independence
is still a long way ahead. Uzcátegui was only able to give me
examples of a couple of community radio stations – Radio Llovizna
and Radio Unare – that are self-sustained. CONATEL has provided
community foundations with the legal, technical and operational
bearings they must follow to set up their television stations, it is then
up to the members of the community to make it theirs: develop a
sense ownership of and responsibility for the channel.
Data 26

3.Data and Discussion

3.1.Methodology
3.1.1.Making contacts
I started off on this project not knowing what to expect once I
arrived in Venezuela, as I was not sure how closely what I had been
able to learn through cyberspace reflected what actually existed in
the tangible world across the oceans. Furthermore, only two
television stations had replied to my email asking about their work
and explaining my interest in visiting them. One of them, Tve Apure,
was still in the “project” stage, and the other was actually an
independent video production collective (colectivo) called Voces
Urgentes. This turned out to be one of my most fruitful contacts.
Gerardo Rojas is part of Voces Urgentes, a group intent on
recording and promoting popular participation and social change
through alternative media. The group runs three community radio
stations in Barquisimeto, and also produces videos and publishes
articles on Internet (Voces Urgentes blogspot, not dated; Colectivo
Ana Soto, 2002). Gerardo wrote back saying he would be happy to
help. When I called him upon my arrival in Caracas, he put me in
contact with the coordinators of Camunare Rojo TV and Lara Tve
community television stations, and he was kind enough to let me stay
at his house with his family during my visit to Barquisimeto. I got in
touch with TV Caricuao through my son’s uncle, a sociologist who had
met some of the team from this community station while working on
a project to clean up El Guaire River, in Caracas. I also organized an
interview at CONATEL.

3.1.2.Research approach and methods

I was interested in combining my anthropology research project
with media because I am a social communicator (journalist)
graduated from a university in Caracas and I had worked for several
years in various areas of the industry. At the same time I wanted to
Data 27

focus my research on the political and social changes that are

happening in Venezuela. So community television was an obvious
choice as it combined politics, society and media, as well as allowing
research to be conducted on a grassroots level, using ethnographic
methods like observation, participant-observation and open-ended
interviewing. My media background allowed me greater immersion as
a participant-observer.
I only recorded one interview and a couple of classes because
the digital voice recorder was too intrusive, as many felt uneasy
having their testimonies recorded. In most cases I just jotted down
fieldnotes as I conversed with people, everyone seemed comfortable
with this. The interviews were opened-ended, and I would usually
start up the conversation by asking the person how he or she became
involved with the community television station, and my subjects
would take it from there. These conversations inspired me to focus
my research on how community television stations create their
individual identities within the Revolution. As Whyte (1984, in May
1997: 143) puts it:
Observation guides us to some of the important questions we
want to ask the respondent, and interviewing helps us to
interpret the significance of what we are observing.

So what was I observing? The age, background and family

circumstances of the different people working at the television
stations; how they dressed (lots of red shirts with the guys);
attitudes towards schedules, mistakes, decision making, and roles
and hierarchies; the general atmosphere of the channels; and how
people related to each other depending on all these circumstances.
Based on these observations, I directed my questions to find out
what expectations they had from working at the station and their
level of commitment and involvement. I only pressed coordinators
with questions regarding the political stance of the channel, not the
general staff. But mostly I just let people tell their stories.
Data 28

Because my stay at each of the stations was brief (from four to

ten days), I had to rely on my background as a “native
anthropologist” (I am originally from Caracas) and social
communicator to give me added insight and skills, and help me piece
together all the information. Participation opportunities came
spontaneously. I got to work as camerawoman on one occasion for
the producers of Por Dentro y Por Fuera at TV Caricuao. I was also a
guest on the children’s program Tiempo de Aventura on Lara Tve.
Before the show I had been asking the young hosts about their
involvement in Lara Tve; so when they saw me “hanging around” the
studio (observing people at work), they invited me to participate. This
was a new and testing experience for me, as most of Lara Tve’s
programs are aired live. The hosts did not just ask about my visit to
the channel, but also my views on people with Downs Syndrome (a
subject that I know very little on), because it was World Downs
Syndrome Day (March 21). Through these and other experiences I
was able to engage in some of the same activities, or at least be as
close as possible to the actions of others, to consider myself a
participant-observer and gain some insight into their world.

3.1.3.On informed consent and participants

All those people whom I interviewed were properly informed of
the nature and purpose of the study I was conducting before they put
forward any information. Either they already knew about my project
from their colleagues and friends, or if they did not, I explained it to
them as a way of introducing myself. Certainly it was helpful that the
media is a public domain, and therefore most information related to it
is already public in nature. I only asked the channel coordinators and
the Technical Support Manager at CONATEL to sign the consent
forms, thereby providing them an “official” document they could use
to get in touch with the university or me if they chose.
Data 29

Although Fluehr-Lobban (1998) says social research nowadays

favours the terms “collaborators” and “participants” instead of
“informants” and “subjects”, I have chosen to use the words:
“contact,” “participant,” “subject” or “colleague,” depending on the
sort of rapport or relationship I had with each individual or group.
Although many people were very helpful, I would not hold them
responsible as “collaborators” to anything I might interpret or write in
this thesis.
Data 30

3.2.Case studies
3.2.1 TV Caricuao (photos Appendix D)
Motto: “Communitarian, participative and alternative”
Location: former UNESR building, Zona A, Caricuao,
outskirts of Caracas.
Broadcasting area: Caricuao, Las Adjuntas, Ruíz
Pineda, Los Teques.
Frequency: Channel 66 UHF.
Founding year: initial project 1978. Broadcasting since December
2005.
Focus: Strengthen commonality by working as an educational,
informative and entertaining audiovisual communication link. Compile
and safeguard historical footage of the community.
Coordinators: María de Stefano and Jesús Blanco
Head of operations: Lenín

New to the airwaves, TV Caricuao has only been broadcasting

since 2005, yet has over twenty-five years producing independent
video for Caricuao and its surrounding communities, and boasts a
well endowed video archive. Since 1980, TV Caricuao has been
located in a building that used to function as the Universidad Nacional
Experimental Simón Rodríguez (Simon Rodriguez National
Experimental University or UNESR), which has various campuses or
nuclei around the country. The university relocated because the
precarious conditions of some of the buildings could not hold large
numbers of students. The building now functions as the community
television station, as well as a gathering place for the consejos
comunales and missions.
Data 31

3.2.1.1. Caricuao
Taking its name from an Indian chief or cacique from the time
of the conquest, Caricuao was conceived in the late 1960s as a
satellite town at the far west of Caracas, and is now one of the most
densely populated parishes with more than 150,000 inhabitants
(Censo, 2001). Nestled in the valley are large blocks of housing
project buildings called “UD-2” (Development Unit 2), “UD-3” and so
forth, all similar structures, with mostly white façades. Being on the
outskirts of Caracas, about thirty-minute train ride away from the city
centre, Caricuao has preserved much of its natural environment; and
it is considered one of the greener or “ecological” parishes of Caracas.
The mountainside vegetation shares space with several urbanized
areas on the slopes, consisting mostly of winding roads, small houses
and ranchos (self-made homes). TV Caricuao is located not far up one
of these hills, a fifteen-minute walk from the Caricuao train station.
As with any dormitory town, most Caricuaenses (the
inhabitants of Caricuao) catch the train in the early morning to work
in Caracas and come back to Caricuao to rest at night. But in spite of
little commercial leisure activity Caricuao has developed its own
personality in various spheres, one of the most distinguishing traits
being that it is the home of Venezuelan ska and reggae. One
afternoon while I was at TV Caricuao, Morodo, a Spanish reggae
singer was invited by one of the producers of TV Caricuao to be
interviewed on their variety program Por Dentro y Por Fuera (From
Inside and From Outside).

3.2.1.2. Programs and production

Por Dentro y Por Fuera is produced by a group of young women
from Caricuao with José Rengifo, a retired teacher, at the helm. The
program covers a variety of themes, from politics and health to
humour, music and entertainment, and anything else that may be
going on in Caricuao, or Caracas for that matter. One of the
Data 32

producers told me “it varies depending on the moment”. This

flexibility was evident when the Spanish reggae singer turned up
(unscheduled), and Mariuxi, the program’s moderator, threw on
summery clothes and proceeded to interview her guest.
Because I was visiting the station in February, the Por Dentro y
Por Fuera production team had just covered the carnival parades and
festivities organized by the municipal government. As they previewed
the footage they were particularly interested in picking out the
interview with Desorden Público - one of Venezuela's most famous
ska bands - because the band members said on camera that they
would like to perform in Caricuao. Nevertheless the girls then mulled
about the fact that maybe there was too much attention on Desorden
Público – being so famous already- and it would be better to focus on
other performers. As independent producers they have the freedom
to shape and change their program, and they were deciding what
would be most appropriate for the viewers in Caricuao. According to
the station’s coordinator María de Stefano, Por Dentro y Por Fuera is
an experimental program, and the producers are open to suggestions
and are continuously trying to improve it. They sometimes have the
station phone number up on screen so the audience can call in with
feedback or criticism.
Escuela de la Vida (School of Life) is another program produced
at TV Caricuao that talks about topics of daily life, environmental
problems, the country's financial situation, and the debate on XXI
Century Socialism.xiii Hernán Soto, who told me he has been working
with TV Caricuao since 1983, produces Esucela de la Vida. Other
programs on the station include ‘Contact with the Community’;
Vuelve Cigarrón, which focuses on national singer-songwriters
(cantautores); and ‘EP’, a music program. Although the station offers
studio and technical support if need be, most independent producers
bring their programs ready made to be aired on the station. Programs
Data 33

in general must have some social value, wether it be educational, or

supportive of local talent or community organizations.

3.2.1.3. The people

At TV Caricuao there are people from a variety of backgrounds.
There are those who are teachers like Rengifo, Soto and coordinator
Jesús Blanco, who is a music teacher. Most of the crew lives in
Caricuao, one of the major exceptions being Jesús, who actually lives
quite far away. The other coordinator, María, is a local form Caricuao.
Producers are volunteers, and only the technical, security and
maintenance personnel are wage earners. The technical staff
sometimes does production work. The paid staff is equally attached to
the sentiment, ideals and community commitment of the station. Like
the producers, they are there to learn, not only the techniques, but
also the values of community television. All are encouraged to
participate in the various workshops on television content and
techniques offered at the station.

3.2.1.4. Media, technology and broadcasting

Although up on the hillsides, one of the main problems TV
Caricuao is battling with is poor reception to some of its broadcasting
areas. Apparently those closer to the station have fuzzy reception.
“When they put up the antenna, they came at 7 o’clock at night and
did it by eye and wrong. They haven’t come back to fix it”, one of the
technical staff told me. Lenín said that they were not allowed to
adjust or make repairs to the antenna themselves because it is
government property. In spite of this serious drawback in
transmission scope, the station is well recognized and liked within the
community, probably partly due to the fact that it has been recording
the events and lives of the inhabitants of Caricuao long before it
became a television broadcaster or was identified with the
revolutionary movement. The transmission problem does, however,
Data 34

mean that many potential viewers are not reached, hindering their
development as a television station and a communication tool for the
community.
The station is on air 24 hours a day; throughout the night, it
broadcasts music with TV Caricuao’s carátula (logo or test pattern).
They broadcast their own programs from 5pm to 10pm. Occasionally,
they have live broadcasts and people can call in, but most programs
are pre-recorded and broadcasted later. Most of the production and
log programming is done during the afternoon and then broadcast in
the evening. Because the system is automated, there is little need for
the staff to be there around the clock. Only the security guard and a
couple of Maria’s dogs stay the night shift.

TV Caricuao is recognized in the parish because it had

functioned as independent community video producer for 25 years
before becoming a television broadcaster in 2005. TV Caricuao’s
video archive is listed as one of its strengths, a place where the
audiovisual historical memory of the parish is carefully organized,
classified and safeguarded on an up-to-date format. The station also
provides a physical meeting space for other community organization
and activities. The coordinators are dedicated in their efforts to
continuously improve the station’s standards, by training staff and
volunteers and updating media equipment. They teach not only the
technical aspects of production, but also the social role of television.
Data 35

3.2.2 Camunare Rojo TV (photos Appendix E)

Motto: Essence of pueblo (the people, or of the
small town)
Location: Camunare Rojo, Yaracuy State.
Broadcasting area: Camunare Rojo, Urachiche, Sabana de Palo,
Chivacoa.
Frequency: Channels 61 and 117 UHF, channel 43 on cable.
Founding year: 2005. Broadcasting since April 2006.
Focus: record the efforts of peasants and farmers as they reclaim the
land and get organized in cooperative fundus; report on community
events and issues that receive little or no coverage by the local
media.
Coordinators: Wendy Durán and Werling Durant
We awaken with the soft cry of our creative conscience,
through the images and sounds of our people; history,
struggles and experiences that begin to draw paths of hope,
paths of dreams. With the liberating vision and voice of our
country's peasants. Camunare Rojo TV (Camunare Rojo TV
banner). xiv

Camunare Rojo TV is born out of the inspiration of two sisters:

Wendy and Werling. After watching what they considered was unfair
media coverage of a violent clash between landowners and peasants,
where the latter were vilified, the sisters decided it was time
Camunare Rojo had its own television station, one that was on the
side of the farmers. Since then, Camunare Rojo TV has followed the
journey of peasants who have taken over land, formed cooperatives
and have set some of the precedents of the revolutionary ideal on
cooperative farming and production.
Brick by brick, literally, the sisters built the station. They
acquired a little house on a plot of land and put up the studio at the
back of the house. A group of people who were doing a construction
course at Misión Vuelvan Caras (see chapter 2.3.3) voluntarily helped
build the station as a practical exercise for their course. They used
Data 36

artesian equipment to make bricks out of a mixture of cement, water

and camunare earth. “ We used this earth to build the blocks”, Wendy
said as she showed me the yellow soil on which the station was built.
This area was originally inhabited by indigenous people from the
Caquetío group called the Camure-enare, which Wendy said means
“the place where there is yellow earth”; this is one of the theories on
the origin of the name Camunare. Another explanation is that
Camunare means “the place where you can get camaso”, a bejuco
(type of reed) the Indians use to make the baskets they carry on
their backs.

3.2.2.1.Camunare Rojo
If the word ‘Camunare’ links the town and its people to their
earthly and indigenous origins, the name ‘Rojo’ (red) identifies
without a doubt their political tendencies. “Camunare Rojo is the crib
of Communism [in Venezuela],” César, one of the producers, told me.
Camunare Rojo is called Rojo because in the 1960s its hillsides
harboured the leftist guerrilla resistance. Camunare Rojo has been
identified for several decades as a focal point of resistance, not only
because of political dissidents hiding in the sierra, but because of its
history of confrontations between latifundistas (landowners) and
peasants. But this history has had little recognition, and even less
have the people who lost their lives in the violent conflicts. Camunare
Rojo TV wants the stories of those who are fighting for the land to be
recorded and acknowledged.
According to Wendy, there are about 4000 people living in
Camunare Rojo; the small town forms part of the Urachiche
Municipality, which has around 18,200 inhabitants living in the major
towns and villages and scattered among the smaller and isolated
caseríos (hamlets) and farms. Camunare Rojo TV also broadcasts to
some areas of the larger neighbouring Municipality of Bruzual. The
station's viewers share a tie with the land and farming, animal
Data 37

rearing or country life in general. Camunare Rojo itself is not isolated;

it is only a two-minute drive from the major highway that leads to
Barquisimeto in less than three-quarters of an hour.
Wendy said that before endeavouring in community television,
she had toyed with the idea of setting up an internet and online
games centre in Camunare Rojo, but they do not have broadband
yet, and the community television opportunity took its place. It is
only a question of time before broadband and internet reach the
small town, since some of its neighbours, like Chivacoa, are already
connected. Nevertheless, smaller settlements high up in the sierra or
located far inland, are quite isolated in services and lifestyle.
Camunare Rojo TV makes a conscientious effort to visit these areas
and record and publicize events and issues that concern them, that
way recognizing and integrating the people of the remote areas into
the greater community.

3.2.2.2. Programs and production

Of the three stations I visited, Camunare Rojo definitely
embodied the most romanticised version of community television, not
only in content but also in style:
Clear and sharp are the words of the old peasant: ‘a community
station is an instrument of social struggle…’ He dries his eyes,
and takes a breath. ‘…A tool for cultural development, which is
so important for the people of our villages.’ Many remember
this scene from an interview to a blind peasant done by the
participants of a Community Television workshop in Yaracuy…
(Deronne, 2003)

Wendy and Werling began their journey in community television

in 2003, when they heard CONATEL was going to hold a workshop on
television production in Yaracuy. Wendy told me that at the beginning
they were hesitant to participate because Werling and she, although
from Camunare Rojo, did not work as farmers. She thought the other
participants might reject their presence because they did not “work
Data 38

the land”. But her fears did not materialize, and in a way, their
particular circumstances allowed them to continue the work in
television production. All together, twelve women from the area took
the community television production course taught by Thierry
Deronne, a filmmaker and the vice President of Vive TV. Of the twelve
participants only Wendy and Werling went on to set up a community
television station. The other girls dropped out because they had to
work or had children and homes to tend, Wendy told me.
A filmmaker and journalist originally from Belgium, Deronne’s
influence can clearly be seen in the audiovisual language and
camerawork on Camunare Rojo TV. They have a preference for close
shots of the face and hands, as way of “capturing expression”, and
allow for long sequences in order to give the interviewees a chance to
express their whole ideas without interruption during recording, or
dissecting it later in the editing. This style differs greatly from TV
Caricuao or Lara Tve, which use the more dynamic style of punching
up (selecting between) the different in-studio cameras.
The coordinators have tried to set up some regular programs at
Camunare Rojo TV, but have not been able to find people to commit
to their production. Some of these projects were a news program
called En la calle (On the streets); Comunidad organizada (Organized
Community), about the consejos comunales; and Entre pupitres
(Among schools desks). During my fieldwork I observed Werling
trying to get some teenagers involved in relaunching Interacción
Juvenil (Youth Interaction), a program that focuses on young people’s
issues within the system by reflecting on the past, present and
future. She was teaching them how to do pre-production research
and how to answer audience questions (it was to be aired live).
They had not had much success in creating ongoing programs,
and their strength lay in one-off documentaries and reportages.
Wendy told me that they get a lot of invitations to cover events.
These can vary from celebrations and festivals, school and sports
Data 39

events, or problems that are occurring in the vicinity. I got my first

chance to join one of the camera and production men called César,
on Thursday March 15, when the station was asked to cover a conflict
over water supply and burning in the sierra. We travelled up in the
municipal jeep to a remote area called El Vegón (fieldnotes in
Appendix G). Through this event I was able to observe how closely
Camunare Rojo TV works with the formal government institutions,
like the council, and new tertiary sector groups, like the community
councils and missions. Support was mutual, the television station
covering the events that concerned the government and community
agencies, and these in return provided information and sometimes
resources (like transport) to the station.
Another event they covered was an interschool sports carnival
that took place in a remote small town called Nuarito. Werling
(coordinator) and Miguel (cameraman and producer) interchanged
roles recording and doing interviews. Werling and Miguel recorded all
aspects of the event and some additional interviews. For Camunare
Rojo TV what was important was to get the local children on
television. “Officials always want to be interviewed”, Werling said
dismissively; nevertheless she did interview the Mayor of the José
Antonio Páez municipality, and the chief of education of Yaracuy
State.
Camunare Rojo TV has done many documentaries and follow-
ups on the trials and progress of the peasants who are working on
the communally run farms. In the video (Appendix H) I include some
footage on program they did on the Cooperativa Integración Yala
2005. The peasants are seen watching footage of themselves that
Camunare Rojo TV had recorded (on a previous occasion), and then
they are commenting on the good job the station has done at
documenting their efforts to reclaim and work the land as a
cooperative within the socialist proposed scheme. I included parts of
this interview in the video because I felt it showed one of the most
Data 40

important issues for the people at Camunare Rojo TV, at least at this
point in time.

3.2.2.3. The people

Wendy is in charge of community and public relations and
Werling has taking over production and particularly editing. There are
several paid employees who work at the station on a fairly regular
basis, but I was told that the wages were below “minimum wage”.xv
The low wage undoubtedly had an impact on people’s commitment to
work at the station and is probably one of the main reasons footage
goes cold for so long before being edited and broadcast, as they must
engage in other activities in order to make ends meet.
All the people at the station were either from Camunare Rojo,
Urachiche or its surrounding areas. They were all involved in some or
other aspect of the revolution or at least sympathized with the ideals.
For example, César had participated in Misión Barrio Adentro and is a
member of the casa communal de Curasao cooperative. According
Wendy, her own revolutionary roots date back 150 years: “we are not
here because of Chávez, my great great grand father was a
revolutionary since the times of Zamora”, she said. Her father had
been a left-wing supporter since the 60s when the guerrillas were up
in the sierra. Not surprisingly a sense of engagement with the
revolution permeated many of Camunare Rojo’s programs, even
those that had nothing to do with politics. Wendy said the reason why
they have so many programs about the consejos comunales, mission
or motores de poder is because “…a revolutionary sentiment is what
drives us […] is what makes us do it”.xvi

3.2.2.4. Media, technology and broadcasting

Camunare Rojo TV is on air 24 hours a day. During most of the
day they put on reruns of their own programs or programs sourced
through Vive TV; these include productions from other community
Data 41

television stations, independent productions, and even international

productions. They occasionally retransmit the VTV signal. Their
programming of the day – new programs - commences at 5 or 6
o’clock in the evening and finished at around 10. Sometimes they just
have the carátula (test pattern or name) and soft background music.
If there are any local notices (like communal meetings) or
emergencies (a girl came in to say her dog was lost), the information
is written underneath the station name on the test pattern.
Camunare Rojo TV’s major technical problem is that the studio
they built has very high brick walls with no foam panels, therefore
sound echoes all around the room. Wendy said that CONATEL had
provided an architect and an engineer to help them design the
building, but she suspected they had little experience in the matter.
They also face broadcasting limitations. Apparently there is no
reception in the centre or lowlands of Urachiche. Other smaller towns,
like Nuarito, cannot see the station either. This is shame given that
the station’s aim is to include the people of these areas and get them
to participate, which is difficult if they cannot even watch broadcasts.

The commitment to a revolutionary ideal is what gave the initial

breath to Camunare Rojo TV. It is no small task to set up a television
station in a sparsely populated semi-remote area with people who
have no previous experience in audiovisual production. One of the
major challenges they now face is recruiting and maintaining a
committed staff to ensure regular program production. By moderating
their “revolutionary image”, Camunare Rojo TV could attract local
people who do not necessarily support Chávez, but would like to
participate in community television production.
Data 42

3.2.3 Lara Tve (Photos Appendix F)

Motto: “Image with popular flavour”.
Location: La Carucieña neighbourhood, on the
outskirts of Barquisimeto, Lara State.
Broadcasting area: Irribaren municipal area.
Frequency: Channel 60 UHF.
Founding year: 2004.
Focus: Live programs to encourage viewers' feedback on air.
Children's programs, with children and teenagers participating in
production.
Coordinators: Richard Azuaje and Haibi Rodríguez.

The motivation to set up Lara Tve stemmed from the unreliable

media coverage of the April 11, 2002 social uprising or coup. “The
country changed, we had to do something different,” said Richard
Azuaje Lara Tve’s coordinator. Although Lara Tve was born out of a
commitment to offer citizens an alternative medium of information
from state or commercial television, it has gone beyond this initiative
to genuinely provide a space where people can share their ideas.
Programs are produced and broadcast live from the Lara Tve’s studio
to Barquisimeto’s Iribarren Municipality, and according to Richard
possibly someday to all of Lara:
…If we had [the appropriate] equipment we could truly change
the concept of media and communication here in the State of
Lara, and that’s what we’re aiming for.

3.2.3.1. Lara
Barquisimeto, the capital of Lara, is a city with just under one
million inhabitants. It is located on an axis between the llanos or
planes that are farming and cattle land, at the foot of the Andes
Mountains and close to Maracaibo, the oil capital of Venezuela.
Nonetheless, the city has a tranquil air compared to the pulsing
rhythm of Caracas. Music is what characterizes Lara, and many
Data 43

Guaros (as the people of Lara are know) of all ages and walks of life,
either sing, dance, play a traditional instrument or do all three. It is
not surprising then that Lara Tve's most popular spot is its Saturday
music program, featuring Salsa and local sounds like Tamunangue
and Raspacanillas. Richard said:
When a Salsa program gets 150 text messages in less than an
hour and 50 phone calls…[from viewers saying] ‘I’m here with
my mom, we want to watch Salsa…’ then we know we are doing
something [right]. (interview Azuaje, 2007)

Lara Tve is located on the outskirts of Barquisimeto in a

neighbourhood called La Carucieña. “La Carucieña used to be a farm
estate belong to the Caruci family, and was known commonly as la
carrucha” (correspondence Rojas, 2007). Nowadays it is a satellite
neighborhood consisting mostly of small houses, recreational areas, a
sheltered market, and the Centro de Participación Ciudadana
(Citizen's Participation Centre) or CPC, where Lara Tve is located. A
couple of months prior to my visit, the CPC had changed hands in
what was described as a pacific takeover by some members of the
community (Voces Urgentes, January 20 and 23, 2007). It is now
called the Centro de Poder Comunal (Communal Power Centre).

3.2.3.2.Programs and production

On the day I arrived at Lara Tve, I got to sit in on their
production meeting. There were all sorts of people, ranging from
youngsters to people their fifties, and of different work, educational,
economic and religious backgrounds. They must prepare their
programs before coming to the studio: organize props, guest
speakers and video footage. All the programs I saw had similar
formats but very different themes, varying according to the interest
and background of the producers. The format is “in studio”, the
producer is usually also the moderator, and sits facing the cameras,
talking about the subject matter or event. Producers or hosts
Data 44

sometimes have a guest who may or may not be an expert on some

theme, and they chat to the audience at home.
“The point of being communitarian is that the community
listens to us, that we are heard,” Richard told producers at the
meeting. Producers are expected to create a program that has a
social function (educational, informational, cultural), but at the same
time is well received by the community. The phone number is put up
on the television screen so people at home can participate by calling
in or texting. This feedback is also used to evaluate audience
reception of a program.
When a program has been on air five or seven times, we
measure it [audience viewing] through the incoming calls from
different areas of the city […] and we ask what do they want to
see. (interview Azuaje, 2007)

One of Lara Tve’s missions is that 40 percent of their programs

be made specifically with children in mind. They took on this task
because “we saw that there was more on national television made for
adults, but not much for children,” said Richard. It is a reasonable
audience to target, as roughly 30 percent of Venezuelans are under
the age of 15. Some of the programs like Renacer Radiante (Radiant
Rebirth) and Caritas Felices (Happy Faces), are actually presented,
partially scripted and produced by the children themselves. Lara Tve’s
most popular children’s program is Amiguitos (Little Friends), which
runs for an hour-and-a-half on Saturday afternoon. “This gets full of
girls and boys. We invite the community to come [to the studio]”,
said Richard. Other programs for young people include Tiempo de
Aventura (Time for Adventure), which is geared to a wider age range
of children and teenagers.
Like the children’s programs, most of the adult programs are
also broadcast live from the studio at the CPC. According to Richard’s
survey, audiences were not too keen on opinion programs (debates,
discussions, usually political), as they wanted to be able to watch
Data 45

something informative but relaxing when they got home. The most
popular programs with adult viewers were musical, like El Club de los
Príncipes (The Club of Prices) and Raspacanillas, which are a block on
Saturdays that people stay tuned in to.
With these programs through which we have built up our
audience, we are going to add more sections. With the Salsa
program we are going to introduce sports because [the man
who produces this program] has experience with sports, has
experience with community councils, and we can insert news
items within the entertainment. (Ibid)

This strategy allows the station coordinators to inform the public

about things they consider to be important – like activities of the
missions and community councils and local news items - but which
might not get community attention if left solely as an informative
program.
Another important function of Lara Tve is to go where private
and state television stations dare not or care not. “We are always
there, in the community, in positive, to broadcast the best [side]”,
explained Richard. For example, a group of people had held an
employee of the local water company hostage in his car as a way to
pressure the company to take their issue seriously. Richard said that
Lara Tve was there the whole time, not only to capture the conflict,
but stayed throughout the whole process until it was resolved. He
contrasted their methods to typical commercial television news
coverage: “[They make] a summary or sample [of the event] of
what’s happening. But we do everything, we go further.”

3.2.3.3.The people
Richard, a former postman, said he got involved in community
television because of the political and social changes happening in the
country. He had five years of experience in media as a producer and
director of a community radio station. Along with his partner Haibi, he
coordinates Lara Tve. Producers are all independent, and most
Data 46

seemed to have arrived through word of mouth. There were at least

three programs where the producers were involved in a Church
group, others were involved in missions or community councils, as
well as other groups, like the Arab association, or students from the
local high school. Producers work voluntarily, yet they must also
participate in finding ways to raise funds for the station, like selling
raffle tickets and looking for sponsorship and advertising from local
businesses. Most did not have a background in television, and many
were given the opportunity to learn television production through
courses given at Lara Tve. At the production meeting independent
producers spoke about the challenges they faced on set and proposed
ways to help each other out:
- “It would be good if colleagues helped each other out […]
because sometimes there is no one here”, said Yolanda, the
producer of Pinceladas Venezolanas (Venezuelan Paint-
Strokes). “Here those who know more have to help those that
don’t know [about television production]”.

- Nectali, producer of Aventura Ecológica (Ecological Adventure)

suggested that Yolanda do what he had done: “On our program
we announced that we needed a cameraperson [to do an
internship]”. He then told the others about his own mishap, “I
recorded for half a day, and didn’t register anything [on tape]”.

- Jackson a producer and cameraman at Lara Tve gave some

technical suggestions to the other producers: “Sometimes one
spends a long time alone just talking, we could change the
shooting angles and distance, to try to create more energy”.

Haibi said at the meeting that the station did not have money to pay
technical staff to assist producers. They are mainly in charge of
setting up the camera, master control and broadcasting.
Most of the operative staff are quite young, in their late teens
or early 20s. Some of them have been with Lara Tve since it started.
… I had always been interested, because at the beginning it
was all rumours […] it was hard to tell if after all those
meetings the [community television] project was really going
to go through or not. (interview Jhopser, 2007)
Data 47

Jhopser was 13 when he began working at Lara Tve. He is now one

of the people in charge of master control, camera and editing; he said
he only likes the “practical stuff”.

3.2.3.4.Media, technology and broadcasting

Lara Tve is fortunate to be located at the CPC because it is easy
to reach and the centre is involved in various community activities,
not to mention that they do not have to pay rent or electricity. Lara
Tve was originally proposed as a parochial station to be called Roble
Tve, but when the project was introduced at CONATEL they changed
the name to Lara Tve because it was the first community station of
the state (interview Rojas, 2007). Richard is convinced that Lara
Tve’s identity can encompass the whole state, but for the time being
they were gathering signatures from Barquisimeto’s surrounding
neighbourhoods on a petition for approval and equipment from
CONATEL that will allow the broadcaster to reach these areas. He
feels it is important to broaden their coverage in order to reach
communities where people actively involved in social movements
need the station to acknowledge, record and broadcast their
struggles:
[They] can come here to the studio and make their program.
They don’t have to come on behalf of anybody. [They] just
need to come, and we will coordinate a time slot […] If you go
to a private media station, they are not going to provide that
space for you. (interview Azuaje, 2007)

Richard is confident of Lara Tve’s expansion throughout the

different communities of Barquisimeto, which in turn will attract new
volunteers to work at the channel. Thanks to the volunteers and their
diverse backgrounds and interests Lara Tve has a wide-range of
programs. Most of the programs are produced in studio. The station
coordinators ideally would like to have some of the crew out on the
streets on a daily basis gathering footage from the community (local
news), and then just coming in the afternoon to edit and broadcast it.
Data 48

Their main drawback is the maintenance of video equipment, as at

the time of this study they were confined to the studio because four
of their cameras were broken. The high cost of acquiring and
maintaining equipment is one of the major reasons why television as
a form of alternative media is still out of reach for most communities
(Gumucio Dagron, 2001).
Discussion 49

3.3.The identity and role of community television in

Venezuela

3.3.1.Community television as an instrument of social change

The connection of the new community television stations in
Venezuela with Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution are obvious and
undeniable: most promotional and advertising material is government
funded and on government schemes; they produce programs that
address and explain government projects and goals; in some cases
they share space with government bodies; and they receive their
equipment and assessment through CONATEL, a government agency.
In fact most community media worldwide receives some sort of
external support and funding, sometimes from churches, universities,
foreign agencies or NGOs. But in Venezuela, government support
affects the role of community stations as instruments of social
change. As such, they are basically following the guidelines set by the
Revolutionary process, and this limits them as a medium through
which to question its projects.
Shragge (2003) suggests that community organizations should
contribute to the process of opposition in society by resisting
capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and environmental destruction. While
alternative media worldwide claims to challenge the power of
governments, in Venezuela it finds itself in a totally different
situation. The state identifies itself as the “alternative” from the
status quo, and those who call themselves the “opposition” are in fact
advocating a return to how things were prior to Chávez’s revolution.
The government may have paved the wave for the development of
alternative media, but this should not hinder the media’s role as an
alternative, even to the Revolution itself. “We want to get rid of this
state, and the one that follows too […] to eventually become an
autonomous peoples,” an independent radio producer told me. Even
those in community media who advocate independent or anarchical
Discussion 50

values of self-governance, are stuck supporting the government

because they are not self sustaining. This may undermine their
independence more profoundly than if they were supported by a
variety of commercial entities, given the ideological fortress
encompassing politics, education and media that the Revolution is
building for itself.
“A truly anarchist and social revolution will not be the work of
revolutionaries but of society itself” (Baldelli, 1971: 8). If community
television wants to be taken seriously as an instrument of social
change, it must strive to achieve independence from government
financial support without falling into the hands of the oligarchic
commercial media. In the end it is the communities that must
support and give life – financial and social capital - to their television
station. Society itself must make the choice and effort to change, if
not, it cannot be considered a social revolution, and it is simply the
substitution of one group of leaders for another.
On the other hand, one must accept that Chávez proposed the
missions, cooperatives, and other alternatives to traditional
institutions and community groups, because there was and continues
to be an enormous chasm in the comparative living standards of the
Venezuelan population. To not address this somehow or other simply
demonstrates a lack of sensitivity on the part of political and financial
leaders, not to mention of one strata of the population towards the
other. So social change in Venezuela was and is a necessity, if the
nation were to uphold high ethical principles of equality.
Although community action and development tend to focus
inwards on the community itself, the forces that shape practice are
structured by wider political and economic conditions that can affect
the availability of support for community organizations (Shragge,
2003). If in Venezuela all proposals and structures for social change
available are coming from the government, then that is what
community television will support and promote. If there is a change
Discussion 51

of strategies or government, more than likely community television

will adapt itself to whatever social programs are available in the
future. Ideally community television will be an instrument through
which to evaluate existing policies, and promote alternatives offered
by community members. Possibly growth in the sense of community
could give way to a more caring and cohesive society. Wether or not
it is achievable, it is the goal for which to aim.

3.3.2. Community television and adult education

Wether Chávez’s programs survive the test of time or not, at
least those who got involved learned about alternative forms of
production and distribution, especially socialism. The majority of the
peoples in third world countries do not enjoy the benefits derived
from liberal markets, so when economists worry that nationalization
or cooperatives could ruin the country’s economy, they fail to see
that to most people this does not mean much, if anything at all.
When I asked a street vendor (buhonero) in Caricuao about his
thoughts on the country’s current situation, he said: “We’re alright,
we’ve got work, we’re not going hungry. What more do we need?”
Political and economic reforms come and go, the social order remains
fixed.
Adult education “is inspired by a utopian vision of a society
characterised by greater social justice” (Mayo: 1999, 138). The
underlying mission of adult education is more than teaching literacy
or practical skills; it is to change the thinking of society, particularly
the minds of those oppressed by the social order. Many of the
workshops I saw, heard or read about were partly inspired by the
dialogical and dialectical engagement teaching methods proposed by
Freire. Programs like the NUDES, Misión Vuelvan Caras and Misión
Cultura (Appendix C) are meant to incorporate learners’ culture and
traditional knowledge into their lessons. But they are also about
changing the mode of production; this is not incidental, as radical
Discussion 52

adult education initiatives intended to alter the level of consciousness

and aimed at social transformation are most likely effective during
periods of economic transformation (Mayo, 1999).
For Freire the climate for social transformation can be created
through non-formal popular education groups and cultural circles. All
sorts of adult education programs have arisen within the
revolutionary framework: from basic literacy and tertiary education,
to traditional knowledge. Community television has taken an active
role in adult education, not only promoting government programs but
also applying them. Passing on knowledge is expected within the
television stations, it is a social duty as well as a means of recruiting
new volunteers to work at the station. Here is a summarised extract
of my fieldnotes on a young man’s learning experience at Lara Tve:
I didn’t know what a community station was […] Mrs. Nancy
brought me here, and I learnt many things […] I’m in charge of
the master in the mornings. I set up the cinema school and
documentaries [programs]. My dream was to play the guitar,
television was not an option for me, I always used to say that I
was going to be a journalist, joking I’d say I’ll go around the
UCLA [university] selling journals […] And now television is
what I want to do all my life […] They gave me the opportunity
to do a course [taught by Haibi] as soon as I got here. They
treated me so well. They sent me to Caracas to do a course
with the Cuban teacher Guillermo Centeno, what I really liked
was that he talked – if they start writing I don’t get anything –
he talked to us, he was practical, he put me on a computer
practically the very day I got there, he started with the practical
work. (Weissman, 2007)

By getting in involved in Lara Tve, Weissman got the opportunity to

learn a trade that provided him with greater job prospects than he
had originally aspired to in life. At Lara Tve people who have done a
television production course have to teach the new recruits. During
my fieldwork, I saw some form of teaching and training happening at
all three stations, though the dynamics varied from one station to
another. The only two classes I actually participated in - at TV
Caricuao - were quite traditional in their methods, with the teacher at
Discussion 53

the helm talking about a particular theme, in these cases audiovisual

techniques and language, and the historical background of capitalism
(among other things).
Both Gramsci and Freire see educational activity in the area of
civil society as essential to transforming power relations. In Gramsci’s
terms, it serves to challenge the existing hegemony. The coordinators
seemed to fit the role of Gramsci’s organic intellectuals: educators or
guides who are helping empower people with less privileged
conditions (in this case perhaps better called the pueblo instead of
the proletariat, masses or peasants).

3.3.3. The community station revolutionary

Por donde quiera que ando ella anda conmigo
Wherever I go she goes with me
Conmigo de la mano siempre estará
Holding my hand she will always be
Luchando por el pueblo y el oprimido
Fighting for the people and the oppressed
La revolución no se cansará
The revolution will never rest
(Song lyrics by Rafael Mena)

Many of the people in community television share the

Revolutionary desire for social transformation, and believe – at least
to a certain extent – that Chávez’s proposals can bring about change.
Some people expressed their loyalty to the Revolution
wholeheartedly, like Zoila the administrator at Camunare Rojo TV,
who said she would listen to Chávez’s entire program Aló Presidente,
even if it lasted eight hours.v Many of the young men visibly wore
their support: red caps and shirts with Che Guevara or a Bolivarian
icon printed on them. Wendy, Weissman, and Rengifo, amongst many
others, said their revolutionary roots predate Chávez’s movement.
And yet others just see the Bolivarian Revolution as a stepping-stone
to either a socialist or an anarchical society.
On the other hand, I also heard many people in community
television and other grassroots organizations complain about
government officials either being corrupt or false revolutionaries.
Discussion 54

We have to be self critical… root out the bad things too […] We
have to start a revolution within the revolution, if not this is
just going to continue to be the same […] There are people who
just dance to the tune… they seem more Chavistas than us.
(Mena, 2007)
Rafael Mena, a composer and interpreter of revolutionary music, said
that many people (he gave me a specific example of a band) show
support for Chávez because they want government funding or
contracts, but do not uphold Revolutionary ideals. Wendy said she did
not know if there was “a way of changing that culture [of self-service
and corruption]”. To the dismay of all those who once hoped that
Chávez would do away with corruption, there seems to be a tendency
amongst some in government to work harder at reaping the state
coffers, than at sowing the seeds of revolution.xvii “The red right is the
new political class with a lot of money, like the local governor,” a
community radio producer said. To anarchist writer Baldelli this
inexorably happens when any group comes into power, no matter
what their ideology; “inevitably and significantly, any Left that is
triumphant becomes the new Right” (Baldelli, 1971: 8).
Voluntarism sets community television apart from the negative
connotations that envelop bureaucratic institutions. The main
motivations for people to volunteer at the stations seemed to be:
• A sense of duty towards their community or society in general.
• A particular cause or interest they championed (religious,
musical, political) and wanted to communicate to others.
• A desire to learn about television production.
In any case most producers were not getting any money for their
work, most of the operative staff earned minimum wage, and
although coordinators managed the stations’ finances, and may have
received a percentage of the budget for their efforts, they did not
seem to be getting rich from it.
Voluntarism influenced the structure and dynamics of the
stations as well as the nature of the programs. It allowed participants
greater freedom of expression than employees of state and
Discussion 55

commercial channels (because their livelihood was not at stake),

creating a more horizontal organizational structure. Program themes
and style were in most cases chosen by the producers, not imposed
by the station coordinators. On the other hand, people felt less
committed, and there were higher levels of absenteeism and
tardiness than in private enterprises.

3.3.4. “What kind of television do we want?”

“What kind of television do we want?” was a question put forth
in state and community media forums in the wake of RCTV’s closure.
Everyone believes that RCTV lost its concession to air because it
aligned itself with leaders of the opposition to publicly criticized state
policies and political leaders, and ultimately supported a (failed) coup
to oust Chávez. The government also claims some of their programs
did not respect certain standards expected of open air television.
MINCI considered many of RCTV’s programs to be shallow and
sensationalist, or aired irresponsibly at inappropriate time slots
(where they might reach children viewers), among other criticism.
MINCI published a 360-page booklet explaining why they were not
going to renew RCTV’s concession. The following statement in the
booklet sums up the government’s view on the matter:
The non-renewal of the concession granted to RCTV, at the end
of its expiry, is a legal prerogative of the Government, but,
also, is demanded by Venezuelan civil society in response to
the social responsibility misdemeanours of the media
company RCTV. (Libro Blanco sobre RCTV, 2007)

Community television stations are expected to produce

programs that are educational, cultural and informative; but when it
comes to addressing their responsibility towards civil society, this
becomes more complicated. “Before we ask ourselves what kind of
television we want, we have to figure out what kind of society we
want,” said Gerardo pondering on this question. Venezuela is
currently going through a phase of rethinking society - if not
Discussion 56

transforming it - and community television has being caught up in the

middle of the chaotic nature of this readjustment. How do you know
what kind of television programs to produce if you are in process of
questioning the values of your society? What is valuable information
or newsworthy? What is acceptable entertainment? How should
people dress and express themselves? What should society look like
reflected in community television? And how do you address the
political changes? Community television should know where it stands
on these issues. If it works at true grassroots level, then it must be
able to reflect what is happening in society in a fairly accurate
degree. They have a duty to find out and broadcast how people really
feel, how these changes have transformed – or not – their lives, what
kind of society are Venezuelans hoping for, what are our true
expectations, what kind of television do we really want.
At no point while doing research did I encounter anyone, not
even Arnell Uzcátegui at CONATEL, saying that community television
must talk about government programs and politics. It seemed to
occur naturally and willingly. Maybe it is an unspoken understanding,
maybe it is lack of imagination, maybe they think this is the television
society wants or needs. The only station that had a method for
measuring community feedback was Lara Tve. The other two did not
seem to be evaluating their popularity with the public, although Jesús
from TV Caricuao did say they ought to be doing it.
María said that the problem with alternative media is that it is
institutionalised by CONATEL, and that sometimes recognition was
based more on who you knew, than on merit for your work and
trajectory. But this is regarding recognition within the television
industry, and not within the community. María also said that the state
does not evaluate its own audience receptivity. Since the state
projects itself as a sort of cultural authority in charge of the
preservation, development and creation of values, its television
programs also have cultural authority. Being an authority on the
Discussion 57

matter it may find it very hard to evaluate itself. On the other hand
community television is far from projecting itself as an authority; it is
there to listen to and serve society. As Wendy said: “My
understanding of community television is that it is instrument of
battle through which the community can present its needs.”

3.3.5. Carving an identity

The community television coordinators have the difficult task of
carving out an identity for their community station. They do not want
their station to be enveloped in the mantle of government television
as Richard pointed out:
We don’t want to be a copy of Vive […] and even though we
have had help from Vive, and we are very grateful to them, it
doesn’t mean we want to copy their format. Remember that
each area, each pueblo [group of people], each community is
a very different culture. (Azuaje, 2007)

At each channel they seemed to focus on a different aspect of

identity: image, style, quality, dynamics, ideals or relationship with
the community. At TV Caricuao, Jesús and María were focused on
quality and fine-tuning producers’ understanding of appropriate
television techniques. “That image that you capture is what others
are going to see,” said Jesús, while teaching us at an evening
workshop how to do adequate camera shots. He zooms in and out of
our faces, showing how different angles and shots can covey different
feelings. Jesús reminds us that although the community producer is
not held to the same standards as commercial producers, he or she
should still do things properly, “simple but good.” I also found an
article on the Internet in which Jesús talked at a forum about what
kind of television the community wanted, and he said there is a
deficit of qualified people to build the television that the community
needs, particularly a lack of actors and writers (Bracci Roa: 2007).
On the other side of the country, in Barquisimento, Gerardo
told me that the reason they did not produce many scripted and
Discussion 58

fictional programs is because “Venezuelans are more vocal; we don’t

like to write […] telling a story you jump from one point to the next…”
And in effect looking at Lara Tve’s programs, there is no fiction.
Furthermore, their emphasis is on live interactive television. Richard’s
main worry at the time was that they could not do any on scene
reporting because of damaged cameras. To them quality was getting
out there and covering the events that were happening in the
community, or a live studio program that the public identified with
and enjoyed. From my observations there seemed to be more focus
on content than camera technique.
Camunare Rojo TV’s approach was different. They wanted to
capture other people’s stories through a sensitive use of audiovisual
language. They were very careful with their camerawork and editing.
But their point was not to entertain audiences with a well-made
program. It was to capture the essence of the event they were
portraying, to do justice to the efforts of the people on camera, be it
peasants working the land or children in a sports event. Also people
in the countryside have a different perception of time and space, and
it was not the first time I had seen or read about a tendency for them
to use long uninterrupted sequences in their audiovisual work.
All three stations felt they had a duty to cover local news,
although they found this to be a demanding task. The immediacy in
processing and broadcasting required of news events, the cost and
risks to equipment, and the cost of paying someone to be on call to
cover the events, in general proved too much. Nevertheless in the
event of political upheaval or some other social uprising similar to
what happened in April 2002, the community stations are set to be
on the spot. This is one of their founding motivations, that the people
of the community be informed of what is really happening when
events may be obscured and twisted on national television. This is
their duty to the community.
Discussion 59

3.3.6. How the community sees the channel

According to Studdert (2005) a person can only be a member
of a community if he or she is accepted as a member by other
community members. Likewise a television station must enjoy the
recognition of community members if it is going to represent them.
If community members are to be inclined to participate in the
makings of community television or support it in some way, they
must feel a sense of “ownership” over the media (Gumucio Dagron,
2001). Of the three stations I visited, Lara Tve most demonstrated
these qualities. They had a heterogenous representation of the
community (producers of many different ages, backgrounds and
interests), measured their audience ratings, tried to get financial
support or donations from local businesses, sold raffle tickets within
the community, and invited community members and audiences to
participate on the programs. Although the other two stations wanted
community acknowledgment and participation, they did not seem to
have a clear strategy to achieve this yet, and seemed more
preoccupied with other identity aspects, like recording important
community issues or creating an image for their channel.
Because I spent the longest amount of time in Camunare Rojo
and was lodged at the station itself, I had the opportunity to wander
around town – Urachiche - and ask the locals if they watched
Camunare Rojo Tve and what they thought about it. They had a
variety of responses:
a) “Well-to-do” ladies coming out of church: xviii
- I like it when they have educational activities […] but they
always give everything a political twist.
- They should change that red image [test pattern with the name
of the channel]… they could sometimes make it blue, yellow or
red.
- Sometimes you want some other kind of programming that […]
everything isn’t politics and revolution.
Discussion 60

These women felt Camunare Rojo Tve reflected the ideals of the
revolution, and they were sympathetic to the opposition; one
lamented that RCTV was soon to close. Because they said they did
charity work with the church, I suggested that maybe they could
make a program on Camunare Rojo Tve. One of them said there was
an eloquent young man at the church group; he might be good on
television, that they could do a program on sexual awareness and
responsibility for youths. “They should invite the people of the
community [to participate] through the television station”, one
suggested.

b) Local clothes shopkeeper:

“I like a channel with variety not just one ideology,” he said to me in
English (he had lived in the USA). He said he actually could not see
Camunare Rojo Tve where he lived (broadcasting problems), but
seemed aware of their “revolutionary” reputation. I asked how about
having a commercial for his shop on Camunare Rojo Tve, to which he
responded “it’s not a good investment.” He then suggested they
should talk about environmental issues on the station, like illegal tree
felling. I pointed out that they did.

c) Local spiritism (santería) shopkeeper: xix

He said he liked Camunare Rojo Tve “because they do reports on the
missions and cooperatives”. He said that although he is not into
politics, he likes to be informed. He said:
- They teach you a lot […] what’s going on in the community […]
areas that are affected […] about poverty.
- They are interested in the elderly and children.
- They are concerned with felling and burning of the trees […] the
droughts […] the problem with the sands.
He then said that one day he might go by to visit the station and its
people. “This town [pueblo] doesn’t question […] we are too
Discussion 61

sectarian”. I asked one of his customers on her opinion on the station

and she replied dryly: “That television talks a lot about communism”.

d) At the local bar and restaurant in Camunare Rojo:

The restaurant owner said he liked the themes on Camunare Rojo
Tve, the fact that they go into the community to show what is going
on. He suggested they could put on movies, have a news program,
and some cartoons on weekday afternoons to entertain children. “We
support [the television station] because they are of the community
[…] I told them they could hold their meetings at this establishment.”
A customer at the restaurant said he liked that they had programs on
farming, “the kind of work people around here do,” and that they
explained about the credits available for farmers.
Wendy was interested in what people had responded, but she
felt that they are not ready to deal with audience demands as they
currently struggle to find enough people to keep the station
functioning. She said that they have tried recruiting people, they
have gone to the schools, but that it is hard to find people who will
commit to regularly produce a program. They either are not
interested, or if they say they are, they do not turn up. “There is a
problem with responsibility”, she said, people do not want to take on
the responsibility of working at the television station.
TV Caricuao does not suffer this problem so acutely since they
have regular operational staff on the payroll. Because TV Caricuao
has functioned for such a long time as an independent video producer
and archive, it seems to be in a process of readjusting to the
demands of its role as a broadcasting station. They have an
advantage of already being well know in the community: “They
recognize us when we are on the streets [on scene reporting], people
treat us very well,” said Elvis. He said they get community feedback
through phone calls, “10-15 people would call each day to ask about
the program schedule and congratulate us.” When I asked him about
Discussion 62

other community members making programs for the station, he said

“plenty of people call [to make a program], but they don’t turn up,
like they change their mind”.
Most Venezuelan community stations have only been
broadcasting for about three years and are not yet well known within
the community. Furthermore, audiences can be unfamiliar with the
role of community media, and sometimes compare them to national
or regional television, expecting to see commercial films or cartoons
for example. Of the three stations I studied, each had a different way
of handling its identity and role with the community, focusing on the
aspects they considered were important to develop at that time.
Eventually all three stations could do some survey work to get
an idea of what the public thinks of the station and what they would
like from it. I feel that although programs that concentrate on social
change are important, children are a key target audience, given they
make up a large segment of the population, and that there are not
really many programs designed for them. It is also a great way to
engage an audience that can “grow up” with the station, and possibly
participate in its makings when they reach their teens.

3.3.7.Mirroring the community

Community television is made for the community by members
of that same community, therefore the people on television look like
the local people, unlike the hosts, reporters and actors of mainstream
media. Venezuela’s commercial television is dominated by
stereotypical female and male archetypes that share some features
with the predominant national population, but for most part fit
current globalised standards of ideal physique and fashion. State
television channels like Vive TV have made a point of portraying
“real” people. But because they broadcast nationally to different
areas of the country, what is daily-life for one group is foreign to
Discussion 63

another. Therefore Vive’s programs represent a “variety of realities”

not common to all communities.
At the community stations hosts and moderators were allowed
to be themselves, no matter how scruffy or groomed. Men usually
appeared on their programs dressed as they had been all day. The
ladies made more of an effort to dress up and fix their hair, some
wore make up others did not. These women did not embody
globalised standards of beauty (figure, complexion, features, and
age) they were dressed and groomed by their own individual choices
and capacity, yet they all looked nice. Community television can be a
source of pride and inspiration for local women and men, because
they see themselves portrayed in the moderators on screen.
Rural life seldom appears on national television. Community
television puts the interests of local people in the forefront. This could
be seen clearly in Camunare Rojo TV’s emphasis on farming, land and
machinery credits, and other country-life matters. People involved in
local community groups, like schools and churches, produce Lara
Tve’s programs, so their themes are influenced by or about the
activities of these groups. TV Caricuao’s programs are tied to
developments, events and activities that directly affect the parish. In
community media the “dominant culture” is the local community’s
way of life, traditions, festivals, language (expressions) and issues.
Conclusion 64

4. Conclusion
Community television in Venezuela shares the essential purpose
of worldwide alternative media: giving local people control over
information and communication sources, conserving traditional
practices and values, and allowing alternative creative expression.
But the Venezuelan experience is unusual because, unlike most
alternative media in other countries, its main financial, structural and
ideological support comes from the state itself, and not from
churches, universities, NGOs or international institutions. This support
frees the stations from the whims and demands of foreign agents, but
ties them to the current political process Venezuela is going through.
These stations have arisen and built their identity within the
Revolutionary framework, but aim to achieve financial independence
and individual personality. It will be interesting to see how they fare
in the future, particularly given the volatile socio-political and
economic circumstances of Venezuela, especially with rapid changes
in the price of petroleum. Community television’s survival will greatly
depend on the people’s capacity to adapt to political and technological
changes and use them in favour of their stations. Because community
television belongs to the community and not to the people who are in
charge of the station at any given moment, adaptation could mean a
change of hands.
Presently, those at the helm have given the project their best
effort, although it tends to be confined by Revolutionary ideology.
Without the hard work and vision of the coordinators, these
community stations would not last the trials and tribulations of
setting up such a complex endeavour as television, without
anticipation of personal financial gain or the privileges of hiring
ready-trained personnel.
I feel that if anything community television is a reflection of
those who participate in its makings: coordinators, as well as
producers and operations staff. The dynamics between all the
Conclusion 65

individuals that worked in the stations were respectful, cheerful and

positive. It was a true learning opportunity for many who might
otherwise not have access to formal training in television. These
stations were also an instrument to incorporate people into other
community projects and create networks within the community. The
only drawback I felt was the large number of community members
who – for obvious reasons - saw the stations as Chavistas and,
therefore, rejected them.xx If I have any recommendations, it would
be for the stations to find a way of incorporating a more
heterogeneous sample of the community, not only politically, but also
participants who may have alternative views on sexuality, art, modes
of production, and spirituality, as well as from different economic
strata, recent immigrants, and others. This will enrich community
television on creative and social levels. Coordinators should try to
create spaces for those who do not support the Revolution but would
like to use the television station. By toning down their political
obedience and loyalty to the current regime, they could tear down the
barriers between Chavistas and non-Chavistas, and encourage the
integration of the community based on shared interests rather than
promoting specific sectarian agendas. The stations can then work
together with the whole community on improving living standards
and communication, as part of striving towards social justice.
The possibilities of further study on community television in
Venezuela are numerous and varied. There are the obvious
comparisons between community television and State and
commercial stations. Delving in the past one can compare today’s
structures with those set up within the educational and religious
frameworks, some of which are still functioning and others that have
closed down. Presently, community television is at such a dynamic
stage of experimentation and growth that it is well worth doing in
depth work focusing on the people, the programs, or regional
differences, just to name a few possibilities. To project them into the
Conclusion 66

future, one could ask many questions, some linked to current

Revolutionary solutions to the country’s problems. For instance, one
could study the possibility of community television forming part of a
parallel society (a tertiary sector) in Venezuela, one with its own
production, educational, social and communicational structures. With
regards to technology there is the question of how the Internet will
affect the future of community television: will it complement it or
supplant it? And finally there is the question of whether or not
community-based stations will succeed as an instrument of social
change.
With this project I hope I have been able to provide outsiders
with a more tangible feeling for the social readjustments that are
going on in Venezuela. National and international media have
projected the situation as an irreconcilable debate between two
factions: Opposition against Chavistas; capitalists against socialists
and communists; oligarchs and bourgeois against the pueblo. It is
easy to stand on either side of the debate. It is very difficult to
express a moderate or unaligned opinion from within. So thankfully I
have had this opportunity to study my own country from outside.
Writing a project for a foreign university provided a level of
disengagement that allowed me to move freely in this political
minefield without being asked about my motivations or allegiances. It
was understood that I was there to observe and study the work of the
people in community television without looking to criticize or evaluate
them.
It is to the people at TV Caricuao, Camunare Rojo TV and Lara
Tve that I would like to express my utmost gratitude and admiration.
Gratitude for their friendliness, hospitality and confidence in allowing
me to be a participant-observer in their midst, as well as for
answering my questions and sharing their personal and collective
experiences in community television. Admiration for their vision,
courage, hard-work and sensibility for their communities.
Notes 67

i
Plaza Francia is one of the main squares of an affluent commercial and living area
of Caracas, which has served as a public gathering space for leaders and followers
of the opposition (those who oppose Chávez’s government).

ii
The petition handed out for people to sign read as follows:

Citizens.
President and other members of the
Inter-American Commission of Human Rights
The office

We, the people who have signed below are appealing to the rightful
application of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, as a means to
emphatically reject the aggressions to freedom of speech and the right to be
informed in a real, truthful and suitable way, displayed through the current
actions of the Venezuelan authorities, whereby they show the true
authoritarian nature of a government that crushes all forms of democratic
action.

The unjustified arrogance and wielding of power by the Executive

[Presidential] power against the media station called RADIO CARACAS
TELEVISION, announcing that it will be closing, represents a clear threat to
the independent exercise of journalism, unprecedented in any democratic
system in Latin American or the world. This action also is an evident threat
to freedom of speech in general, transforming it into a negative action that
could extend itself to other media institutions in Venezuela that do not
comply to reproduce the “OFFICIAL TRUTH”.

The document has a space for peoples name and surname, identity card number
and signature.

iii
Fourth Estate: a term to describe the media’s position to publicize and evaluate
political issues.

iv
Clientelism: is system whereby those who hold a position of political or
bureaucratic power, grant favours to other citizens in exchange for electoral
support.

v
Aló Presidente (Hello, President) Chávez’s Sunday morning program where he
converses with the people, they can phone in to ask questions. It is broadcast live
on state radio and television.

vi
The use of the term Indio (Indian) “applied to the long-time inhabitants of
America, and to their descendants who are not mixed with any other race” (Crespo,
2004), has fallen in and out of favor tied to the political currents of the time.
Currently it has been revived (Rojas, 2007) as a liberating term, as in the words of
Don Constantino Lima: “Como indios nos han conocidos y como indios nos vamos a
liberar” (As indians they have known us and as Indians we will free ourselves) (Don
Constantino Lima, in Crespo, 2004).

vii
La Gran Colombia was a union of Nueva Granada (what is now Colombia),
Venezuela and Ecuador, with Bolívar as president.
Notes 68

viii
Art. 69 of the 1947 Constitution specified that ‘The State will undertake a
planned and systematic program, oriented to transform the national
agrarian structure, to systematize agricultural and stock-raising
development, to organize and distribute credit, to improve living conditions
in the rural medium and the progressive economic and social emancipation
of the peasant population. A special law will determine technical and other
conditions…’ The October 1948 Agrarian Reform Law was designed to carry
out this constitutional mandate. (Lieuwen, 1961: 84)

ix
Punto Fijo, was the name of COPEI leader Rafael Caldera’s house where this
group of politicians met to discuss the agreement.
x
The passage quoted in the text appears in the context of a longer explanation
taken from Chavez’s speech on public television following his capture in 1992:
First I want to say good morning to all the people of Venezuela, but this
Bolivarian message is directed specifically to the courageous soldiers of the
parachute regiment of Aragua and the tank regiment of Valencia.
Comrades: unfortunately, for the moment, the objectives that we had set
ourselves have not been achieved in the capital. That’s to say that those of
us here in Caracas have not been able to seize power. Where you are, you
have preformed well, but now is the time for a rethink; new possibilities will
arise again and the country will be able to move definitely towards a better
future.
So listen to what I have to say, listen to commander Chávez who is sending
you this message, and, please, think deeply, Lay down your arms, for in
truth the objectives that we set ourselves at a national level are not within
our grasp.
Comrades, listen to this message of solidarity. I am grateful for your loyalty,
for your courage, and for your selfless generosity; before the country and
before you, I alone shoulder the responsibility for this Bolivarian military
uprising. Thank you. (Gott, 2005: 67)

xi
IV República or the Fourth Republic: designates the 40 year democratic period
starting from the Pacto de Punto Fijo in 1958 up until 1998.

xii
2001 Special Law of Cooperative Associations (Ley Especial de Asociaciones
Cooperativas) published in the Official Gazette Nº 37.285.

xiii
Socialismo del Siglo XXI: “XXI Century Socialism and Participative Democracy” is
Heinz Dieterich’s (2005) theory on how society and institutions can evolve into a
postbourgeois and postcapitalist civilization. Chávez’s government is divulging and
building on the concept of XXI Century Socialism, adapting it to the particular needs
and idiosyncrasies of Venezuela.

xiv
'“Despertamos con el grito suave de nuestra conciencia creadora A través de
imágenes y sonidos de nuestro pueblo; Historia, Luchas y Vivencias que empiezan a
dibujar caminos de esperanzas, caminos de ensueños.
Con la mirada y la Voz Liberadora del Campesino de mi pueblo” “Camunare Rojo
TV”' (Camunare Rojo TV banner, located at studio, in Camunare Rojo TV station)

xv
In Venezuela, basic or minimum wage is a set national standard for all industries,
and is usually quoted on the total earnings for a one month period.
Notes 69

xvi
Motores de Poder: The five “Motors of Power” is the name given to the
transforming guidelines in political, social, economic, military and ethical issues
proposed by Chávez (see Glossary for more details).
xvii
I include this comment to summarise a sentiment I heard expressed by others. I
have not done an elaborate investigation on this matter; all the incidents of
corruption I am aware of I have heard through word of mouth, or read or heard
about in the media.

xviii
Women in their fifties and sixties, retired teachers and secretaries, well dressed,
some gold jewellery, sometimes do charity-work with the Catholic church.
xix
These shops are common in this area because it is close to Sorte, a sacred
mountain where the Venezuelan Indian deity María Lionza is venerated.

xx
Chavistas: Chávez supporters.
Glossary 70

Glossary
Local and “Bolivarian” terms
Barrio: unplanned neighbourhood, usually located on the outskirts or
hillsides of cities. Could be compared to a shanty or to the Brazilian
favela. Not all barrios are the same, and even within a barrio there
can be large discrepancies of living standards (access to water,
electricity, transport). The houses in barrios are called ranchos.
Campesino: peasant, farmer, countryperson, country-folk.
Cacique: South American Indian chief.
Caserío: hamlet, small village or settlement.
Chavista: Chávez supporter.
Clientelism: is system whereby those who hold a position of political
or bureaucratic power, grant favours to other citizens in exchange for
electoral support.
Colectivo: people organized into a collective or group under a
registered name.
Comunicador Popular: Popular Communicator. Is the name given
to people who work in community media as reporters, journalists,
producers, and moderators who have not completed the degree in
Social Communication.
Comunicador Social: Social Communicator, journalists, reporters,
or any person who has a degree in Media Studies. It is a title
acquired through studying a five-year undergraduate degree course
in Media Studies called Comunicación Social (Social Communication).
Criollo: a person born in Latin America of European parents. Also
used to designate traditional Venezuelan objects, music or cuisine.
El Proceso: the Process. Refers to the revolutionary or social change
process proposed by Chávez.
Libertador: liberator. Term given to Simón Bolívar for freeing
several Latin American countries from Spanish domination in the 19th
Century.
Metro: underground train or subway.
Glossary 71

Misiones: Missions are action plans or ongoing operatives that the

Bolivarian Revolution uses to alleviate mainly the public health and
education scarcity problem.
Motores del Poder: The five “Motors of Power” is the name given to
the transforming guidelines in political, social, economy, military and
ethical issues of the National Project Simón Bolívar, proposed by
Chávez (2007). The five motors are:
1. Enabling Law: through which the National Assembly authorizes
the President to issue decrees-laws in the Council of Ministers.
2. Constitutional Reform. [Was declined by referendum in
December 2007].
3. Moral and Lights: instilling values, culture and solidarity at all
levels of education (school and within society).
4. New Geometry of Power: rearrangement of the nation’s
geopolitics, for example council boundaries and budgets. This is
supposed curtail bureaucratic mismanagement.
5. Explosion of the Popular Power: following geopolitical
rearrangement, the country will be divided into federal
territories managed by the communal councils.
Opposition: those who are against Chávez’s Revolutionary
movement, and want him removed from the Presidency. It
compromises a large heterogenous group of the population, with
various political views (from Right to Left), and of different ages and
economic strata. They are also sometimes called escuálidos
(squalids).
Pueblo: small town or village; or the people (of a nation), or the
common people.
Ranchos: self-made dwellings usually built with no permits. Name
given to most of the houses located in barrios. Ranchos
characteristically have un-rendered brick walls and sheet metal
roofing, but there are great variations in the quality of the
construction and materials used, either due to financial circumstances
Glossary 72

or dictated by the geography of the area. In spite of their unfinished

external appearance many ranchos are fully equipped houses inside.
Santería: is the practice of worshiping and believing in the power of
the spirits of the saints and other entities. It is fairly complex, as
“saints” have different levels and powers and courts of fellowships. It
is a mixture of Catholicism, African spirituality and some indigenous
elements or personalities. In many cases it is combined with Catholic
worship.
Socialismo del Siglo XXI: “XXI Century Socialism and Participative
Democracy” is Heinz Dieterich’s (2005) theory on how society and
institutions can evolve into a postbourgeois and postcapitalist
civilization. Chávez’s government is divulging and building on the
concept of XXI Century Socialism, adapting it to the particular needs
and idiosyncrasies of Venezuela.
Telenovela: Latin American soap opera. They are world-renowned
and big business.
Acronyms 73

Acronyms

1BC: 1 Broadcasting Caracas. Conglomerate that owns RCTV.

AD: Acción Democrática (Democratic Action). Founded in 1941, by
Rómulo Betancourt and others.
ALBA: Alternativa Bolivariana para las Américas (Bolivarian
Alternative for the Americas)
Is a proposed alternative to the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA, ALCA in its Spanish initials),
differing from the latter in that it advocates a socially-oriented
trade block rather than one strictly based on the logic of
deregulated profit maximization. (Arreaza, 2004)

CIDH (IACHR): Comisión Internamericana de Derechos Humanos

(Inter-American Commission of Human Rights) is an autonomous
organ of the OAS.
CONATEL: Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (National
Telecommunications Commission). Part of the Ministerio de Poder
Popular para las Telecomunicaciones y la Informática (Ministry of
Telecommunications and Computing).
COPEI: Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente
(Political Electoral Independent Organization Committee). Founded
in 1946 by Rafael Caldera, COPEI is known as the Social Christian
Party, and although is represented by the color green, is not
affiliated to “the Greens”.
LCR: La Causa Radical (The Radical Cause). Political party started by
metallurgy industry trade unions in Bolívar State, in 1971.
MAS: Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement Towards Socialism). Left
wing party formed in 1971.
MBR-200: Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200 (Revolutionary
Bolivarian Movement 200). Subversive political party created by
Chávez and group of young officers in 1983 (year which marked the
bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Simón Bolívar, hence the
Acronyms 74

number 200). MBR-200 amalgamated into the MVR - which includes

civilians - during the 1998 elections.
MINCI: Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Comunicación y la
Información (Ministry of Communications and Information)
MVR: Movimiento Quinta República (Fifth Republic Movement)
ODC: Organización Diego Cisneros, now Organización Cisneros.
OEA: Organización de Estados Americanos (Organization of American
States or OAS)
PCV: Partido Comunista de Venezuela (Communist Party of
Venezuela). Founded 70 years ago, the members of PCV engaged in
guerrilla warfare against the government in the 1960s because the
party was outlawed by ADs Rómulo Betancourt. The PCV backed
Hugo Chávez in the 1998 elections.
RCTV: Radio Caracas Televisión, was one of Venezuela’s main
commercial television station that broadcasted nationally on open
television until May 2007. Now can be seen on cable or satellite.
SUNACOOP: Superentendencia Nacional de Coopertivas (National
Superintendence of Cooperatives). Set up within the 1966
Cooperative Associations Law, SUNACOOP is the institution in charge
of regulating the activities of Venezuelan cooperatives.
UCAB: Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (Andrés Bello Catholic
Univeristy).
UCV: Universidad Central de Venezuela (Central University of
Venezuela).
ULA: Universidad de los Andes (University of the Andes).
UNESR: Universidad Nacional Experimental Simón Rodríguez (Simon
Rodriguez National Experimental University).
URD: Unión Republicana Democrática (Democratic Republican
Union). Political party founded in 1945 by Elías Toro and Jóvito
Villalba.
References 75

References

Books and journals

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pp. 181-232.

Baldelli, Giovanni (1971): Social Anarchism. Chicago: Aldine

Atherton, Inc.

Buxton, Julia (2001): The Failure of Political Reform in Venezuela.

The political economy of Latin America series. UK: Ashgate Publishing
Ltd.

Castro-Klarén, Sara (2003): ‘Framing Pan-Americanism: Simón

Bolívar’s Findings’. The New Centennial Review, 3.1 (2003), pp 25-
53.

De Ferranti, David; Perry, Guillermo E; Ferreira, Francisco H. G. and

Walton, Michael (2004): Inequality in Latin America. Breaking with
History? Washington D.C: The World Bank.

Derham, Michael (2002): ‘Undemocratic Democracy: Venezuela and

the Distorting of History’. Bulletin of Latin American Research, Vol.
21, No. 2, pp. 270-289.

Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn (1998): ‘Ethics’. In H. Russell Bernard, ed:

Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology. Walnut Creek, CA:
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Gott, Richard (2005): Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution.

London: Verso.

Gumucio Dagron, Alfonso (2001): Making Waves. Stories of

Participatory Communication for Social Change. New York: The
Rockefeller Foundation.

Gumucio Dagron, Alfonso (2003): ‘Follow the Heartbeat. Guiding

Principles of Community Television’. MEDIAFORUM Special Edition 2/3
(2003), pp. 18-22.

Habermas, Jürgen (1962): The Structural Transformation of the

Public Sphere. An Inquiry into a category of Bourgeois Society. Trans.
Thomas Burger with Frederick Lawrence. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
1991.
References 76

Hallin, Daniel C. (2000): ‘Media, political power, and democratisation

in Mexico’. In Curran, James and Park Myung-Jin, eds: De-
Westernizing Media Studies. London: Routledge, 2000, pp. 97-110.

Hawkins, Kirk A. and Hansen, David R. (2006): ‘Dependent Civil

Society. The Círculos Bolivarianos in Venezuela.’ Latin American
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Howley, Kevin (2005): Community Media. People, Places, and

Communication Technologies. UK: Cambridge University Press

Levi, Yair and Litwin, Howard (1986): Community and Cooperatives

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Lieuwen, Edwin (1961): Venezuela. London: Oxford University Press.

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Mayo, Peter (1999): Gramsci, Freire and Adult Education. Possibilities

for Transformative Action. London and NY: Zed Books.

McCaughan, Michael (2004): The Battle of Venezuela. London: Latin

American Bureau.

MINCI (2007): El ALBA: La Gran Batalla contra el Capitalismo donde

cada día estaremos más unidos. Caracas: MINCI.

Myers, David J (2003): ‘The Normalization of Punto Fijo Democracy’.

In McCoy, Jennifer L and Myers, David J (2004) eds: The unraveling
of representative democracy in Venezuela. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
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Reglamento de radiodifusión sonora y televisión abierta comunitarias

de servicio público sin fines de lucro (2001). Official Gazette Nº
37.359 January 8, 2002. Decree Nº 1521 November 3, 2001.
Venezuela

Rennie, Ellie (2006): Community Media. A Global Introduction.

Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Rodríguez, Francisco (2004): ‘Proceso sociopolítico actual y

subjetividad en Venezuela’. FERMENTUM Revista Venezolana de
Ciencias Sociales, July-December, year/vol. 8, 002, pp. 257-266.
References 77

Schirber, Martin E. OSB. (1945): ‘Cooperatives and the Problem of

Poverty’. The American Catholic Sociological Review, Vol.6, No.1,
(Mar., 1945), pp. 13-22

Shragge, Eric (2003): Activism and Social Change. Lessons from

community and local organizations. Canada: Broadview Press.

Studdert, David (2005): Conceptualising Community. Beyond the

State and Individual. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Vilas, Carlos M (2003): ‘Between Market Democracies and Capitalist

Globalization: Is There Any Prospect for Social Revolution in Latin
America?’ In Foran, John, ed: The Future of Revolutions. Rethinking
Radical Change in the Age of Globalization. London: Zed Books, 2003,
pp. 95-106.

Waisbord, Silvio (2000): ‘Media in South America’. In Curran, James

and Park, Myung-Jin, eds: De-Westernising Media Studies. London:
Routledge, 2000, pp. 50-62.

Wiarda, Howard J (2005): Dilemmas of Democracy in Latin America.

Crisis and Opportunity. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Internet References

Alcaldía de Barquisimeto (not dated): Medios comunitarios y

alternativos – Lara Tve.
http://www.alcaldiadebarquisimeto.gov.ve/iribarren/laratv.html
(Accessed November 7, 2007)

Arreaza, Teresa (2004): “ALBA: Bolivarian Alternative for Latin

America and the Caribbean”. Venezuelanalysis.com
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/docs.php?dno=1010
(Accessed July 19, 2007)

BBC News (2007): “US condemns Venezuelan TV closure”. June 5,

2007.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6721167.stm
(Accessed June 7, 2007)

Bracci Roa, Luigino (2007) ‘Realizado el foro “Hacia la televisión que

queremos” sobre el uso de la señal de RCTV y otros temas’.
Blogspot: El Espacio de Lubrio: January 24, 2007.
http://lubrio.blogspot.com/2007/01/realizado-el-foro-hacia-la-
televisin.html(Accessed January 16, 2008)
References 78

CENSO 2001 (2002): Distrito Capital. Primeros Resultados XIII Censo

General de Población y Vivienda. November 2002. Instituto Nacional
de Estadística. Venezuela
http://www.ine.gov.ve/censo/fichascenso/tiro.asp?cod_entidad=1
(Accessed October 23, 2007)

Chávez Frías, Hugo Rafael (2007): “All the Constituent Motors to the
Maximum Revolution… Towards Socialism!” Compilation of Chávez’s
speeches from January 8, 10 and 17, 2007. Published by MINCI.
http://archivos.minci.gob.ve/doc/dipticos_5_motores_inglesw.pdf
(Accessed Ocotober 12, 2007).

Colectivo Ana Soto (2002): “Voces Urgentes. Red de Medios

Alternativos en Barquisimeto Venezuela”. Available from: ANIA
http://ania.urcm.net/noticia.php3?id=2729&idcat=10&idamb=3
(Accessed July 12, 2007)

CONATEL: Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones. República

Bolivariana de Venezuela. Part of MINCI, Ministerio del Poder Popular
para las Telecomunicaciones y la Informática.
http://www.conatel.gob.ve> (Accessed June 5, 2007)

a. <http://www.conatel.gov.ve/faq_Comunitarias.htm> (Accessed
September 23, 2007)

b. Medios Comunitarios Habilitados

http://www.conatel.gov.ve/downloads/comunitarias/
Medios_comunitarios_habilitados03-08-05.pdf (Accessed
September 25, 2007) and
http://www.conatel.gob.ve/downloads/
comunitarias/Medios_comunitarios_habilitados_abril_2006.pdf
(Accessed February 9, 2008)

Consejos Comunales (2007). Ministerio del Poder Popular para la

Participación y Protección Social (Social protection and participation
Ministry)
http://www.consejoscomunales.gob.ve/index.php?option=com_conte
nt&task=view&id=20&Itemid=34 (Accessed July 20, 2007)

Crespo, Román (2004): [aymara] “El término indio”

<http://www.aymara.org/lista/archivo2004/msg00407.html>
(Accessed May 31, 2007)

Deronne, Thierry (2003): “Camunare Rojo TV, primera televisora

campesina de América”. Published on Aporrea 11/09/03. Accessed at:
Rebelión http://www.rebelion.org/otromundo/030911camunare.htm
(Accessed November 16, 2007)
References 79

Dieterich, Heinz (not dated): “Socialismo del Siglo XXI”. Rebelion

http://www.rebelion.org/dieterich/dieterich070802.pdf
(Accessed February 19, 2008)

Dieterich, Heinz (2005): “The World Revolution Advances Through

Hugo Chavez”. (Rebelion 26/03/2005). Translation John Manning.
Accessed at: http://reality.gn.apc.org/econ/chavez2.html (Accessed
February 19, 2008)

Globovisión: http://www.globovision.com/ (Accessed February 26,

2008)

Hernández, Tulio (1999): "La felicidad sí existe". El Nacional.

19/09/1999. http://www.analitica.com/bitblioteca/tulio/felicidad.asp
(Accessed September 25, 2007)

Herrera, Francia; Romero, Milagros; Valdespino, Lisbeth and Vivas,

Nelly (not dated): “Desarrollo de la televisión en Venezuela”. Caracas.
<http://www.monografias.com/trabajos13/televis/televis.shtml>
(Accessed August 26, 2007)

Ley Orgánica de Telecomunicaciones (Organic Law of

Telecommunications) (2000). Published Official Gazette Nº 36970,
June 12, 2000. Venezuela. Can be accessed at
http://www.conatel.gov.ve/deley.htm (Accessed September 25,
2007)

“Libro Blanco Sobre RCTV” (2007). Published by MINCI.

http://archivos.minci.gob.ve/doc/libro_blanco_RCTV-Web.pdf
(Accessed January 15, 2008)

MINCI: Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Comunicación y la

Información (Communications and Information Ministry)
<http://www.minci.gov.ve>(Accessed June 14, 2007)

a. Cancillería (2007): “Proyectos grannacionales del Alba

permitirán avance productivo, cultural y social”. News, National,
July 16, 2007. Accessed at:
<http://www.minci.gov.ve/noticias/1/14812/proyectos_granna
cionales_del.html> (Accessed July 17, 2007)

b. Ley Resorte: Ley de responsabilidad social en radio y television

(Radio and television social responsibility law)
http://www.leyresorte.gob.ve/index.asp>
(Accessed September 23, 2007)

c. Aló Presidente. http://www.alopresidente.gob.ve/ (Accessed

January 14, 2008)
References 80

Misiones Bolivarianas: “Misiones”

http://www.misionesbolivarianas.gob.ve. (Accessed August 26, 2007)

Monsonyi, Esteban Emilio: “Población Indígena. Historia”. Available

from: Gobierno en linea
http://www.gobiernoenlinea.ve/venezuela/perfil_historia6.html - >
(Accessed June 28, 2007)

Podur, Justin (2005): VENEZUELA- Community TV, Interview with

Blanca Eekhout, Director of Vive TV. AlterInfos
http://www.alterinfos.org/spip.php?article55
(Accessed September 25, 2007)

RCTV
a. (2007): <http://www.rctv.net> (Accessed May 29, 2007)

b. (2008): Programs: http://www.rctv.net/Programacion/

Programacion.aspx (Accessed February 26, 2008)

“Social Missions” (not dated). From the website of the Ministerio del
Poder Popular para Relaciones Exteriores (Foreign Relations Ministry):
Canadian Embassy. http://www.misionvenezuela.org/ingles/misiones
/index.htm (Accessed August 26, 2007)

SUNACOOP (Superintendencia Nacional de Cooperativas) (2007): “La

Cooperativa”. http://www.sunacoop.gob.ve/link201.html
(Accessed August 10, 2007)

Televen http://www.televen.com/. (Accessed February 14, 2008)

Tves (Televisora Venezolana Social)http://www.tves.org.ve/nuestros-

programas/10 (Accessed February 27, 2008)

ULA (Not dated): Indicadores Socio-Demográficos Censos 1990 y

2001. Características Estructurales: Población. ULA or Universidad de
los Andes: http://iies.faces.ula.ve/Censo2001/IndicadoresSocio
Demograficos/indic_carac_estruc_pob.htm (Accessed June 28, 2007)

Vale TV (Valores Educativos Televisión): http://www.valetv.com/

(Accessed September 28, 2007)

Venevisión

(2005): El Canal, Historia http://www.venevision.net/

(Accessed July 22, 2007)
References 81

(2008) Programs
http://www.venevision.net/programas/programas.asp
(Accessed February 26, 2008)

VIVE TV

a. Vive TV (not dated) http://www.vive.gob.ve/ (Accessed

February 9, 2008)

b. Tv Comunitaria “Lara TVe” I.

http://www.vive.gob.ve/capitulos.php?id_p=25&id_c=154&ano
=&mes=&mostrar=palabra_clave&pag=1
(Accessed December 20, 2007)

c. Televisora Comunitaria Campesina “Camunare Rojo TV”

http://www.vive.gob.ve/capitulos.php?id_p=25&id_c=305&pag=7
(Accessed December 20, 2007)

d. Comunicando.
http://www.vive.gob.ve/programas.php?id_p=25 (Accessed
January 5, 2008)

Voces Urgentes

a. Voces Urgentes, blogspot (not dated)

http://vocesurgentesanmcla.blogspot.com (Accessed June 14,
2007)

b. Voces Urgentes (January 20, 2007): “De toma a control social:

Primer Centro del Poder Comunal (CPC) de Venezuela”.
Available from Aporrea:
http://www.aporrea.org/medios/n89428.html (Accessed
December 11, 2007)

c. Voces Urgentes (January 23, 2007): “Centro del Poder Comunal

en Barquisimeto: ‘La rebeldía es característica del poder
constituyente’” Available from Aporrea:
http://www.aporrea.org/poderpopular/n89568.html (Accessed
December 14, 2007)

VTV (Venezolana de Televisión):

http://www.vtv.gob.ve/VTV(reload)/quienes_somos.php?p=1
(Accessed September 28, 2007)
References 82

Interviews and correspondence

• Azuaje, Richard (2007): coordinator of Lara Tve

• Bermúdez, Flor (2006): coordinator of Apure Tv (telephone
interview)
• De Stefano, María (2007): coordinator of TV Caricuao
• Durán, Wendy (2007): Coordinator of Camunare Rojo TV
• Durant, Werling (2007): Coordinator and production manager
of Camunare Rojo TV.
• Mena, Rafael (2007): revolutionary composer and musician.
• Rojas, Gerardo (2007): coordinator of Voces Urgentes (personal
interviews and email correspondence).
• Uzcátegui, Arnell Carolina (2007): Analista de Asuntos Sociales,
Gerencia de Acompañamiento Técnico (Social Matters Analyst,
Department of Technical Support), CONATEL.
• Weissman (2007): master control operator at Lara Tve.
• Interview with member of a consejo comunal in Caricuao
(2007).
• Interviews with members of Cooperativa Mixta Aracal (2007).

Colloquiums and classes

• El Poder Popular y la transformación de Caracas (February 14,
2007). At the Centro Cultural Chacao, Caracas.
http://www.chacao.gov.ve/noticiasdetail.asp?Id=2271
Speakers:
- Evans, Nicmer
- Graterón, Emilio
- Hernández, Tulio
- Mascarreño, Carlos
• Comunicación alternativa (February 24, 2007). At TV Caricuao,
Caracas. Classes by: Jesús Blanco, María de Stefan, Sara Nazoa
and Ana Mercedes Viloria.
Appendix B 85

Venezuela’s national television stations

Information obtained from their websites, listed under each
channel’s name in Internet references.
Commercial television
Venevisión (channel 4)
Venevisión’s motto is “Pure entertainment”. Their core
programs are telenovelas (soap operas) and variety shows. Now that
RCTV is off the air Venevisión has no rivals in its category, and can claim
undoubtedly to be Venezuela’s most watched television station.
Venevisión’s parent company is Organización Cisneros, which
belongs to one of the wealthiest families in Venezuela. Aside from
Venevisión, Organización Cisneros has several other national and
international television stations, a cable television company, a satellite,
several consumer product industries (food, beer), and even holds
concessions in gold mining. A story of rags to riches, Don Diego
Cisneros, the founder of ODC started-off as an ice cream vendor after
emigrating from Cuba, and built up his commercial empire using his
shrewd and ruthless business sense.

RCTV (former channel 2, now on cable)

RCTV and Venevisión held a long-standing rivalry because they
provide very similar entertainment. But currently RCTV can only be seen
on cable or satellite, because the government refused to renew its open
broadcasting concession in 2007 (yet did renew Venevisión’s). RCTV is
appealing this decision, and also claims that the government has taken
possession of some of its broadcasting equipment. RCTV is owned by
Empresas 1BC, a corporation founded in 1920 by William Phelps, and
currently headed by Marcel Granier as CEO.
Appendix B 86

Televen (channel 10)

Launched in 1988, Televen provides sightly alternative
viewing from its commercial counterparts RCTV and Venevisión, with
more imported programs, like US series and Brazilian telenovelas. In
their repertoire of “opinion” programs there is one called “José Vicente
HOY”, hosted by José Vicente Rangel, who held several key positions in
Chávez’s government, including that of Vice President.

Globovisión (UHF channel 33 and cable)

Can be seen in Caracas, Zulia and Carabobo.
Launched in 1994, Globovisión specializes in news and information. The
station is associated with several Venezuelan regional channels, and
international channels, like CNN’s Spanish network. Globovisión has
gained the animosity of the government for similar reasons as RCTV,
related to the events of April 2002 and negative attitudes towards
government decisions.

Vale TV (channel 5, only Caracas)

Channel 5 originally broadcasted Venezuela’s first state
television station called Televisora Nacional (National Television station).
It closed down in the early 90s, and was taken over by the Catholic
Church in 1998 and relaunched as a not-for-profit civil association called
Valores Educativos Televisión (Educational Values Television). Vale TV is
an educational channel with up-to-date documentaries and some
national productions. They group their programs into four knowledge
groups: Arts, History, Geography, and Science and Technology.
Appendix B 87

State television stations

Venezolana de Televisión (channel 8)
Channel 8 started broadcasting in 1964 as a privately owned
channel called Cadena Venezolana de Television (Venezuelan Network
Television). Following financial difficulties it was purchased by the state
in 1974 and renamed Venezolana de Televisión (VTV). Its focus has
largely been on national interests, culture, education, local issues and
local productions, but has also served as a promotional tool for
governments.

Vive TV (UHF channel 21 in Caracas, channel varies by city)

Vive was launched in 2004 by the Chávez government. It
combines the idea of “public access television” where common citizens
can participate in production through community media or as
independent producers, with that of socialist “people-empowering”
media. Community media has strong ties with Vive.

Tves (channel 2)
Televisora Venezolana Social (Venezuelan Social Television
station) was inaugurated following the closing of RCTV on channel 2. Its
programs include national and Latin American productions, from
documentaries and cultural programs to telenovelas.
Appendix C 88

Description of various government Missions

Information obtained from Alvarado (2004), and the Venezuelan Foreign
Relations Ministry (Social Missions, not dated) and MINCI (Misiones
Bolivarias, not dated) websites.

Education
Misión Robinson: Literacy and numeracy program for adults and
young people over the age of 15. Launched May 2003, and reportedly
achieved its aim - teaching 1 million Venezuelans to read and write - by
December of that same year. It is also known as the Plan Extraordinario
de Alfabetización Simón Rodríguez (Extraordinary Literacy Plan Simón
Rodríguez). Simón Rodríguez was one of Simón Bolívar’s mentors, and
sometimes used the pseudonym “Samuel Robinson”.

Misión Ribas: Provides remedial high school level classes aimed to

encourage the five million Venezuelan high school dropouts to obtain
their high school diploma and improve their job prospects. It is named
after independence hero José Félix Ribas.

Misión Sucre: Provides tertiary level education to high school

graduates who have not found placement in traditional public
universities or cannot afford the fees of private ones. Programs are
tailored to the local needs and industries of the area. Antonio José de
Sucre was one of the most prominent Venezuelan independence heroes,
battling Spanish forces in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.

Misión Vuelvan Caras: (Mission Turn-to-Face or Turn Faces) Aims to

involve economically marginalized sectors of the population in programs
of endogenous and sustainable social development. Envisioned originally
for the participants of Ribas, Robinson, Sucre and Miranda missions,
Appendix C 89

Misión Vuelvan Caras has mainly evolved in agricultural and heavy

industry areas, where it has been easier to group people into
cooperatives and collectives, and set up the infrastructure for
collaborative production practices in the form of local development
zones known as NUDE or Núcleos de Desarrollo Endógeno (Endogenous
Development Nuclei). The mission was launched in February 2004.
"Vuelvan Caras" refers to an order given by independence war hero José
Antonio Páez to his soldiers, to turn-to-face the royalist troops who had
them cornered in order to confuse them, a tactic that saw them through
victoriously (Alvarado, 2004).

Misión Cultura: (Culture Mission). Promotes creative cultural

expression through various art forms. This Mission aims to consolidate
national identity, promote social justice and human development, and
construct the conscience and historical memory of the nation in order to
build a democratic and participative society.

Food
MERCAL: Mercados de alimentos (food markets). MERCALs are mobile
and permanent commercial food markets that sell their goods directly to
consumers at affordable prices. They also sell generic medicines and
other basic products.

Health
Misión Barrio Adentro: (Mission Into the Neighbourhood or Within the
Barrio). Provides free health care, dental care and sports training to
residents of hard to reach communities, like barrios and isolated rural
areas. The doctors must reside in or close to the clinic in order to be
available 24 hours a day in case of an emergency. Barrio Adentro's
actual focus is not on emergency care, but rather preventive health
Appendix C 90

care, diagnostics, and social work. According to Contreras (in Alvarado,

2004) Barrio Adentro provides medical assistance to 15 million people
who have limited or no access public and private medical institutions.

Housing
Misión Habitat: Build houses for the most needy, and develop
integrated housing zones that provide a range of social services, like
education and healthcare.

Specific groups of people

Misión Guaicaipuro: Attend the issues of the Amerindian peoples of
Venezuela. These issues differ from those of the rest of the population
regarding certain matters, like land and inhabitation rights. Launched in
October 2003. Guaicaipuro is the name of a famous 16th Century
Venezuelan cacique (native chief).

Misión Piar: Develop the sustainability of small miner communities in

order to improve their living standards. Manuel Carlos Piar was a
General in the Venezuelan war of independence.

Misión Negra Hipólita: Protect and provide shelter for homeless

children, youngsters and adults. Launched in January 2006. Hipólita was
Simón Bolívar's nursemaid.

Misión Zamora: Transfer land tenure to peasants and small farmers

and help them develop and sell their harvests. Through the Mission
farmers receive land titles, credits and machinery in order to work the
land. Ezequiel Zamora fought in the Venezuelan civil war of the 1840s
and 50s, and proposed a program to transform the country's rural
economy in favour of the needs of the peasants (Gott, 2005).
Appendix C 91

Misión Miranda: A military reserve composed of ordinary Venezuelan

citizens. Francisco de Miranda was a revolutionary and precursor of the
war of independence.

Environment
Misión Árbol: (Mission Tree). Create environmental awareness and
restore damaged parks through tree planting programs. Launched June
2006.

Misión Revolución Energética: (Mission Energy Revolution). Setting

up green energy industries, like solar and wind, and regulating energy
consumption. Launched in November 2006, it has started by distributing
52 million free energy-saver globes to Venezuelan homes. This mission
has been launched with Cuba as an intermediary, and has been
surrounded by controversy, speculation and rumours. From people
questioning additional financial costs incurred from buying the light
bulbs from Cuba instead of directly from China (where they are made),
to suspecting that the light bulbs contain surveillance devices, or that
the Cubans that distribute them are in actual fact surveying how many
rooms each household has.
Appendix D 92

TV Caricuao

A view of Caricuao from the hillside TV Caricuao/UNESR building

Recording in studio Por Dentro y Por Fuera production team

TV Caricuao's video archive Interviews at PCV conference

Appendix E 93

Camunare Rojo TV

Camunare Rojo TV station. Back view

shows the bricks made by the station's
team and volunteers from Misión Vuelvan
Caras.

Pre-production of youth program Wendy and César interviewing a

Interacción Juvenil farmer in Nuare

Aracal cooperative farm

Appendix F 94

Lara Tve

Lara Tve station and antenna are

La Carucieña located in the CPC

Children get to participate in many Master control. Most programs are aired live
aspects of program production

Live from the studio

Appendix G 95

Appendix G
Fieldnotes on El Vegón
Summarised extract from my fieldnotes on our visit to El Vegón. Related
to chapter 3.2.2.2.Programs and production on Camunare Rojo TV.

Today César and I went up to El Vegón along with two council policemen
(armed with guns), a lady from Barrio Bolivar, and four public servants
(Lucrania: director of Social Development, Pablo: MD for Social
Development, William: driver, and Arelis: in charge of environmental
issues). We went to investigate who is burning areas up in the sierra,
because they are affecting the water supply of the inhabitants down
below, particularly of Barrio Bolivar.
“The national guards will arrive when the corn is already sown”,
says William jokingly, referring to the fact that the National Guard has
not gone up to investigate, and has not responded to the council reports
on the problem. We stop to pick up a representative of the concejo
comunal of Barrio Bolivar. “We’re not going up there to be in danger”,
she says apprehensively about going to confront the people who are
burning the forest. The public employees, and particularly Arelis, try to
convince her to come along with us: it’s important that a representative
of the affected consejo comunal come along, to see, talk, etc. The lady
fidgets nervously with her blouse as she decides; finally she goes in her
house, gets changed and hops in the jeep. “How’s the corn?” César asks
her. “They still haven’t planted it, they are going to plant in April”, she
replies. When someone suggested that her community council should
join forces with another to address the water issue she says: “…they
won’t support us because they get their water from (another source)”.
Barrio Bolivar is a new neighbourhood with few and very spread out
houses. As we ride up the steep hill, William keeps cracking jokes, which
pretty much calms the lady down. “Everything is with the community
Appendix G 96

council,” says Lucrania. She, William, and the doctor are actually going
up to get together with the people from the consejo communal of El
Vegón to discuss some other matter.
As we get to the end of the road, close to where they think the
burning is taking place, a donkey announces our arrival, but no one
comes out of the only house close by. We start walking down a track to
see if it takes us to the burnt area. Someone asks the policeman if he
has got the safety off his gun, if he is prepared for a confrontation, the
policeman says the gun does not have a safety lock.
César says to me: “they don’t do it to be bad… the government
gives them money so they get organized into cooperatives and plant
stuff… sometimes it’s ambition…” He is explaining that the farmers that
live up in the sierra burn the area to clear it in order to grow their
produce. Apparently the government has given them seeds, money and
tools in order to help them grow more produce. He says that sometimes
they go overboard: “ambition”, and are not careful. “We are country
folk, we know nothing about the ozone layer…” says César, empathising
with the situation because his family are also farmers.
We walk down the hill a little while, and Arelis looks around trying
to identify the area that has been burnt. César records some of the
scenery; down below we can see way beyond Camunare Rojo and
Urachiche. Suddenly we realize that we have ticks crawling all over us.
We run back up the path to the road. The three government employees
drive off along another road to their meeting. The owner of the house
has arrived, she is a sturdy woman about 60 years old, she’s just been
to get some wood for her stove, and is now milling corn in the pilón
(mortar). Arelis, César the lady from Barrio Bolivar and one of the
policemen go down another track looking for the fire culprits. I stay
behind with the other police officer and we chat with Ana, the elderly
lady.
Appendix G 97

As we eat the black bean soup and drink the coffee that Ana
offered us, she tells us how she came to live in El Vegón, “We’ve spun
around more than a top […] from the Andes to Caracas and from
Caracas to Nirgua, Aroa, high up in the sierra and now here”. The
policeman says it is a good place to live, people close to their
environment. He says Urachiche is very dangerous. I ask him if they
would be interested in having Camunare Rojo TV accompany them on
their rounds (I do not remember if I asked this thinking of a “Cops”
program, or to help resolve the crime issues). He said it would be good
to have a visual testimony of events, “I would get the support of the
person that goes with me”.
The others finally come back; apparently they walked a long way
and found Mr. Ramón (a farmer from the sierra), and spoke to him
about the problem (see footage on return to station). Arelis tells Ana
and her daughter in law (who had arrived later) that they must be
careful, that if they clear land and are no longer are going to use it they
should plant trees so that it can recover. She also asked about the
returns from the credit the government gave them for some caraota
(bean) seeds. But according to the two ladies, apparently “no dieron”
(the seeds did not yield much produce) because they were inadequate
for the climate, they were originally from Monagas State, and it’s too
cold in the sierra for these beans. Arelis said she has to write up a
report about it. As we go back down the hill she tells me that they will
write a report on the issue of the burning, and hope that culprits were
scared off by the policeman and do not come back. They are not
inhabitants of the sierra.
Appendix H
Video
View the video on the dvd included at the back of this thesis or on the
Internet: www.archive.org/details/CommunityTelevisionInVenezuela

This video provides readers with an audiovisual sample of the

programs produced by the community television stations in this
study. It also illustrates some of the points made in the monograph
chapters and allows the reader greater immersion in the project.
The sample commences with the opening credits of
Comunicando (Communicating), a half hour program on Vive TV that
is dedicated to spread the work of the country’s community and
alternative media. I obtained the presentation of Comunicando from
Camunare Rojo TV. It is followed by footage from Camunare Rojo TV.
The first part is an interschool sports event that took place in the
village of Nuarito, captured on video by Miguel (producer and
cameraman) and Werling (coordinator). I edited it myself from loose
footage. This is a typical example of an event that Camunare Rojo TV
considers important to cover because it involves combined
community efforts and the local children. The second video is a follow
up program Camunare Rojo TV did about a group of people setting up
a cooperative farm. This program is a few of years old, and dates
before the station went on air. It includes many aspects farm life, and
also people talk about cooperative farming and socialism. It is a good
example of the type of camera work and audiovisual style they use at
Camunare Rojo TV. This program is not complete as I cut some of it
out to make it shorter for the sample.
I was not able to obtain samples of the live studio programs
produced at Lara Tve because their recording machine was not
working. In its place I made a collage of some still photographs I took
of in-studio programs, namely Pinceladas Venezolanas (Venezuelan
Paint-strokes) and Tiempo de Aventura (Time for Adventure), and
inserted background music (Tamunangue). It is followed by
promotions for a couple of their programs: Aventura Ecológica
(Ecological Adventure), which is about the natural sites of the local
area, and Renancer Radiante (Radiant Rebirth), a children’s program
produced by a Christian group and moderated by children and
puppets.
TV Caricuao had a ready-made demonstration video. I tried to
include samples of most of their programs, but I did not use all their
material so it would not outweigh the other two stations. These
promotions cover “Arts and Entertainment”, “News”, “Contact with
the Community”, “EP” and a short film called “Miranda through the
eyes of a girl”. They did not have a promotion for Por Dentro y Por
Fuera. There is also an advertisement for Misión Cultura, which I left
in to illustrate the relationship between TV Caricuao, the UNERS and
the missions.
Following the credits I put some photographs I took of Caracas,
Camunare Rojo and la Carucieña during my fieldwork. This is just to
add some sites of the country.
Most stations are still experimenting with the style and content
of their programs, as they figure out what works for their particular
community and needs. Therefore not all programs enjoy longevity or
continuity, and many of those presented in this video possibly no
longer exist. But they are still a valuable illustration of pioneering
efforts, and definitely landmark this phase of community television in
Venezuela.