Poll: Venezuelans oppose TV shutdown

More than two-thirds of Venezuelans oppose President Hugo Chavez's plan to kick an opposition-aligned TV station off the airwaves, many saying it will violate their right to choose what to watch, a private pollster said Thursday.

Seventy percent of 2,000 people surveyed last week opposed Chavez's decision not to renew the broadcast license of Radio Caracas Television, said Caracas-based pollster Datanalisis.

Chavez accuses the station of supporting a failed 2002 coup against him. He denies his aim is to silence a government critic, but argues the station has violated broadcast laws.

The station has challenged the move in court, but is set to go off the air at midnight May 27.

Critics accuse Chavez of trampling on freedom of expression, but Datanalisis Director Luis Vicente Leon said most of those polled opposed the measure because "they reject the violation of their right to choose" what to watch on television.

The government has said it plans to create a new public service channel on the frequency.

The poll, which had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points, showed 16.4 percent supporting Chavez's move, while 13.6 percent declined to respond.

This week, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the decision has prompted some news media to soften their coverage of Chavez's government. The Belgium-based International Federation of Journalists called it a possible "disaster" for press freedom.

Leon said the move could have "the biggest political cost" of any Chavez has taken during his eight years in office, but that the Venezuelan leader may be relying on solid public support to carry him through.

A separate Datanalisis survey of 1,300 people in March found that 65 percent approved of Chavez's administration, a figure virtually unchanged from that of late 2006, when he won re-election by a landslide. That poll had a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.