Brazilian leader says Venezuelan decision on TV network internal affair

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday refrained from commenting on the Venezuelan authorities' refusal to renew the license of a TV network accused of supporting a coup attempt against President Hugo Chavez, saying only it is Venezuela's internal affairs.

Lula added that the whole issue is Venezuela's legislation and that government's business.

He stressed that he would not like the Venezuelan government to meddle in Brazil's affairs, so he would not do the same in relation to the neighboring country.

Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), a network that has been critical of Chavez's government, was ordered to stop broadcasting Sunday, when its license expired.

Last year, Chavez said the government would shut down RCTV when its license expired, accusing the broadcaster of supporting an April 2002 coup attempt against him.

Founded in 1953, RCTV broadcast a mix of talk shows, sports, locally-produced soap operas and a popular comedy program called Radio Rochela that regularly pokes fun at Chavez.

At a meeting of chancellors of the South American Common Market (Mercosur) last week, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim voted against a Venezuelan proposal to include a paragraph expressing support for Chavez's decision not to renew the permit in the meeting's final document.

Source: Xinhua