Background The government of Hugo Chávez is in the process of consolidating power after a number of electoral victories and a failed coup in 2002. This process has taken two forms: undermining judicial independence and wresting greater control over the media. Judges on...

In May of this year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez decided not to renew TV station RCTV's license, and troops seized the station's equipment. In Pakistan, President Musharraf ordered some TV stations to be shut down in June, and an apparent...